Last Friday was supposed to be nothing more than the last day of my summer program and an opportunity to finish souvenir shopping. In a matter of hours, it became the most tragic day in Norway since World War II. Jenny, Liz and I had returned from souvenir shopping downtown (near Parliament & the government area...) and were working with the other Americans to prepare a dish for our farewell dinner that evening when we heard the news. In an attempt to assassinate the prime minister of Norway, some maniac had set off a car bomb in the government building of Norway's capital. Not far from where we had just been souvenir shopping within the past hour and a half. Not far at all. (Not close enough that we would have been injured, but close enough that, had souvenir shopping taken a little longer, we may not have had to hear about it from the internet.)
Since it had just happened, not many details were available via the media other than that at that point no one had been killed and only a few injuries had been discovered. Although we were upset by the news, there was nothing we could do except try to stay calm and embrace our last day with the group. Since, unfortunately, bombings like that happen every day in various parts of the world, we really were not sure how big this news would be in the U.S. or if it would even be a blip on the radar of the American news media, but we decided to shoot quick e-mails to our families just in case to let them know we were alright. Although we were anxiously awaiting more information regarding the incident, none was available, so we proceeded with the evening as planned.
At the international dinner I learned of the second attack, which was certainly more than an incident, a shooting at a summer camp on the nearby island of Utoya. I must say, at the time we were a bit too preoccupied & distracted with the festivities to be too shaken up about that day's events. Perhaps this was partly a defense mechanism as well. It was not until after the dinner that we discovered the severity of the events that had transpired and that the "thunder" many of us had heard earlier from our apartments was not a natural phenomenon but the bomb meant for the prime minister.
Initial suspicions were that the attacks were the work of Al-Qaeda or a similar terrorist groups, made more likely by the fact that many of them took credit for these horrific events. With that in mind, I think everyone's first thought was, "Why Norway?!" It is literally one of THE most peaceful, ethical and neutral countries in the world. If Norway is not safe from these types of attacks, no place is. Period. Unfortunately, the state of affairs in the world today has led us to expect terrorist threats every day in America and to keep the possibility in the backs of our minds nearly all the time. However, no one expected anything like this to happen in NORWAY, least of all the Norwegians. If you watch a video of the attack on the government building, the shock is palpable; the Norwegians are standing or walking around, many on their phones, gaping open-mouthed and silent. There was no chaos or mass pandemonium, just pure shock. Perhaps even more shocking than the attacks being the work of a terrorist organization was the truth: both attacks were carried out by a man named Anders Behring Breivik FROM NORWAY. The lunatic of a man is a self-proclaimed Christian who, according to his "manifesto," is outraged at HOW ACCEPTING NORWAY IS OF OTHER CULTURES, NAMELY MUSLIMS. Seriously? SERIOUSLY? Basically, he sought to mirror Al-Qaeda but on the exact opposite end of the spectrum of extremism. To read more about this sociopath & his twisted beliefs, click here: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/24/world/europe/24oslo.html?_r=1&emc=eta1. This just goes to show that, although many people throughout the world confuse the two, the issue is not religion, but extremism. Practicing every religion are ethical, morally upright people who wouldn't hurt a fly as well as the occasional misguided extremist. As far as I am concerned, the only religious issue here is the religious/ethnic intolerance of this terrorist.
This particular extremist first used a car bomb to blow up the government building on what was fortunately a public holiday, so the prime minister was working from home. However, seven others were killed. Newspaper covers in Norway show images of this scene from which I will never recover. I will not share details, but some of the images of the casualties, one in particular, are burned into my brain forever. As though this were not enough, the same guy left the scene and entered a youth political camp, claiming to be a police officer there for routine extra security due to the earlier bombings, complete with police uniform. He then proceeded to shoot and brutally murder 80-something people. Including innocent children who were simply trying to participate in politics. (I am not positive, but fro what I understand this camp is loosely similar to something like Young Democrats/Republicans or College Democrats/Republicans in the U.S. But like I said, that's just an educated guess.) What happened at that summer camp on the island of Utoya was brutal. Accounts and interviews from survivors were some of the most moving, bone-chilling words I have ever heard. I will not subject anyone who does not want to hear/read to the gory details, but if you want to know more, gruesome images, detailed accounts, horrifying stories and, of course, the cold, hard facts, are easily accessible via various news websites should you be interested in reading more about the events of that day.
I truly can not imagine how someone could do something like this anywhere, let alone in a country like Norway, and even though I wasn't born & raised there, I called Oslo "home" for a month of my life, so I am not traumatized or anything, but I do feel somewhat personally affected. After learning so much about Norwegian culture and experiencing firsthand the integrity & calmness of these people, I am outraged & shocked that anyone, regardless of his nationality or religion, would commit such acts of terror in this beautiful place. If you have read my previous entries, you know that Norway is a trust-based society. The government trusts the people, the people trust the people, and the people trust the government. You don't have to swipe your card to ride the subway; they just trust that you bought one. People rarely abuse this system, and this true integrity of the Norwegian people as a whole is one of the things that attracts me to the country & culture in the first place. There is debate in the media about the potential long-term effects of this tragedy on Norway and its people. Every country has sociopaths, but this particular one inflicted so much damage that is quite possibly irreparable. They were completely unprepared for the events of that day, but now they will have to be. This may or may not require making adjustments to their seemingly Utopian society where everyone trusts everyone, everyone cleans up after themselves and everyone does what they're supposed to. I'm no expert on national security, so I will be waiting to see if these adjustments are all political/governmental or if there will be drastic impacts on the Norwegian people & culture. Of course I hope they are prepared to prevent & respond to things like this in the future. I just hope it doesn't take away Norway's innocence.
I would like to close with a quote from Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg that I found very moving and optimistic: "No one will bomb us to silence. No one will shoot us to silence. No one will ever scare us away from being Norway. You will not destroy us. You will not destroy our democracy or our ideals for a better world."
(Photo from Google Images)
Please keep the Norwegians in your thoughts in this difficult time & hope for a safe future for their country! Also, thanks to everyone for the positive thoughts & concerns while I was over there. While I was perfectly safe (as was everyone in my program), it was a sad time, and it was so nice to have support & concern from friends & family.
