The new terror in Norway Need to gather all major religions on one table
THE need to stop for a while and ponder on the evolving nature of terror in Europe became apparent when Anders Behring Breivik, a 32-year-old Norwegian, went on a killing spree and carried out a bomb attack in a peaceful and rich country like Norway.
The deadly attacks clearly manifested the intention of right-wing radicals in some parts of Norway and West Europe to disrupt the harmony of an open society, which has easy immigration and asylum rules. For these radicals, the attacks were aimed at saving the country and the entire continent from the growing Islamic population in the region.
The new extremist decided to resist what is currently happening in this country through the formation of a different type of opposition, in addition to conveying a strong message to those who will participate in the upcoming elections in September 2011 to change the general direction of the existing political ideology.
In principle and in practice, those radical ideas actually break through the foundations of European democracies, which are strongly built on the concept of protecting public rights and freedoms, specifically the right to express one’s opinion and practice one’s own religion granted equally to all nationals and immigrants.
Considering the NATO bombing of Serbia in 1999, the end of genocide in the same area is regarded as betrayal of Christians in favor of Muslims. In his 1,500-page manifesto, Breivik mentioned the year 2083 as the European declaration of independence. After the siege of Vienna in 1683 by the Ottoman Empire, Norway does not only need to stop and think about its situation, it should also push for an international conference to gather all major religions on one table to lay down the real grounds of a peaceful treaty between the believers and combat extremism. Extremism is like a ticking time bomb because the intolerant and aggressive groups in any society around the globe have no qualms in attacking even the innocent people.
Email: Labeed.abdal@gmail.com
By: Labeed Abdal