Content area
Full Text
Despite the change in leadership, not all believe Norwegians will forget their prejudices
Conservative candidates in Norway won landslide elections last month, deposing the Labour party majority that ruled for nearly a decade. Many are hopeful that the new government will address social intolerance in Norway, including the rampant anti-Semitism affecting a population of nearly 2,000 Jews.
But Dr. Manfred Gerstenfeld, an author who has written extensively on the prejudices facing Norway's Jewish community, is skeptical that Norwegians will be able to forget their prejudices. He uses the phrase "part-time anti-Semitism" to describe common attitudes and to highlight the general public's susceptibility to bias.
"In its origins, Lutheranism promoted Jew hatred," Gerstenfeld said, recalling Norway's long history of intolerance. "Norway was the last country in Europe to admit Jews in the mid-19th century."
At the heart of the new conservative coalition stands Erna Solberg, nicknamed "Iron Erna." Elected Sept. 9, she will succeed Jens Stoltenberg and will be Norway's second female Prime Minister.
Gerstenfeld argues that many discriminatory instincts and old-world anti-Semitic beliefs about Jews still influence perspectives on the modern Jewish community. He cites a study commissioned by the Oslo Municipality in 2011 that found that onethird of the...