Extreme right-winger boasts of killing 77 during court trial
Anders Behring Breivik, who has bragged about killing dozens of people last year, displayed his hate of the labor movement and Islam. His speech on the second day of his trial was again directed against "cultural Marxists" and against immigrants.
Breivik is charged with 77 murders and 42 attempted murders on 22 July 2011, in Oslo district and on the small island of Utøya. His extreme cruel and meticulously planned attacks were politically motivated. His actions are the extreme expression of ideas that common among the far right, Islamophobes and racists.
This was demonstrated, yet again, when Breivik was allowed to speak before the court during his current trial. He described himself as a "patriot" and "militant nationalist."
The day before, the court was shown a photo of Breivik posing with a gun. On his uniform, he had an emblem declaring he was a certified ’hunter’ of Marxists and multi-cultural traitors.
According to Breivik, Norway after World War II became a "culture-marxist dictatorship." The Social Democratic Labour Party introduced, "feminism, quotas and the sexual revolution, to name but a few. A socialist egalitarian society was created."
Fact: 77 dead, 42 attempted murders
On Friday July 22, Anders Behring Breivik detonated a 950-kilo car bomb outside the government building, Høyblokka, in Oslo. Eight people were killed instantly, Two-hundred received physical injuries, while nine suffered more serious injuries.
Because it was a Friday afternoon, in the middle of the summer, there were far fewer people at the site than usual.
Breivik then went on to the AUF-camp on Utøya island, where he killed sixty-nine people.
In a racist manner, Breivik stated that, "Norway has been transformed into a multicultural state and the country takes on so many immigrants that we risk becoming a minority in our own country." He singled out Muslims, in particular. Breivik labeled them as violent, saying they must be stopped.
His arguments are very close to those put forward by the Sweden Democrats [a racist party in Sweden’s parliament]. The SD’s MP Kent Ekeroth has, for years, warned of an "Islamisation" of Sweden. On 11 April, this year, Ekeroth approvingly quoted on his blog another writer who warns of, "a change in the balance of the Swedish population in favor of immigrants from distant counties."
Breivik also praised ruling right-wing politicians in Europe, such as Sarkozy in France, Merkel in Germany and Cameron in the UK, because of their statements that a multicultural society does not work.
Responsibility for the "mass immigration", according to Breivik, lies with the Labour Party. His massacre at the party’s youth organization’s AUF summer camp, at Utøya, was described by him as part of a preventive war. "AUF is very similar to the Hitler Jugend," he said during the trial.
He made a positive reference to "Laser Man 2," who shot 12 immigrants, resulting in 3 deaths, in the city of Malmö, in Sweden. It’s "important that more patriots in Scandinavia and Europe take responsibility, as I have done, as Peter Mang from Malmö has done."
The far right terrorist attacks have led to the development of a strengthening of anti-racist sentiment in Norway, especially among young people. The racist FrP (’Progress Party’) suffered heavy losses in the local elections in September. However, the policies of the Labor Party, similar to those of the Social Democrats across the rest of Europe, of ’downsizing’ and privatization, has not changed. The equality and progressive reforms that upset Breivik and others who share his views are being reversed. Along with other measures, the Ap-led government is planning the mass expulsion of refugees to Ethiopia, where a dictatorship is in power.
For many youth, anti-racists and workers in Norway, the question is: how can racism and right-wing extremism be stopped? Racists exploit the growing uncertainty and dissatisfaction within society, stemming from the trend of job insecurity, increasing pressure in the workplace, downsizing etc. A united struggle is therefore needed to combat these issues. Alongside this a battle against the racists’ attempts to split workers and youth is required. Anti-racism must therefore go hand in hand with the struggle over class and social issues – jobs, housing, education and health – and for women’s rights, for equality and everything that Breivik "hates".
Breivik was active in racist party
Anders Breivik Behring was a member of FrP’s Youth League from 1997 and of FrP (’Progressive Party’) 1999-2006. He held local positions from 2001 to 2004, and was a candidate in the local elections in Oslo.
In 2006, he joined the Free Masons, and three years later, he reached the third degree of Freemasons.
He has described himself as being one of several cells within the "Knights Templar," an international right-wing organization of which a police investigation found no evidence of existence.
Breivik has a long history of political internet activity. During 2002-03 he wrote hundreds of articles on the FrP Forum. He went on Islamophobic websites and later had facebook ’friends’ with similar views in Sweden and Britain.
He also participated in events with and praised the violent, Islamophobic English Defense League. At the trial he said, "the view from the ultra-nationalist circles was divided on my actions: Most supported the attack on the government quarter, but not the massacre of Utöja."
Just like the Sweden Democrats, the FrP kept a slightly lower profile after the terrorist attacks on 22 July, but those days are over now. The FrP Congress is now taking place simultaneously with the trial and its party leader, Siv Jensen, promised further provocative statements.
According a Norwegian newspaper, the FrP’s MP, Christian Tybring-Gjedde, "attracted much attention during last year’s national congress when he, in a contribution about Groruddalen [an immigrant district of Oslo] declared that "Islam’s power is increasing day by day and the politically correct Norway is about to commit cultural suicide." The infamous Islamophobic website ’Gates of Vienna’ has several times tried to use Grouddalen in its attacks against Islam. Prior to the FRP Congress Tybring-Gjedde, said that Breivik’s actions will not affect the party’s demands for "tougher immigration policies."
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