In January, 2009, Mr. Støre told Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet that: “It is unacceptable to single out Jews as a group. This spans from a comedian’s apparently primitive remarks, which end up being distasteful and grave, to demonstrations where Jews are stigmatized as a group. This is completely unacceptable. We want to make that absolutely clear.”
The Norwegian Government deplores any action or statement that expresses contempt for a person on the basis of his or her religion or ethnic background. Norway has always supported efforts to combat religious intolerance, and consider such efforts to be essential for preventing distrust and conflicts between people.
The Norwegian government is very serious in its efforts to combat anti-Semitism and other forms of racism and religious intolerance. All people have the right to respect for their religion and the right to protection from religious discrimination. Tolerance, mutual respect and dialogue are fundamental values both in Norwegian society and in foreign policy.
The leader of the Mosaic Religious Community in Norway, Ms. Anne Sender, and the Director of The Centre for Studies of Holocaust and Religious Minorities, Mr. Oddbjørn Fure have challenged allegations that Norwegian society is anti-Semitic.
In his recent book “Making a difference” Foreign Minister Støre discusses the importance of combating intolerance and hatred towards Jews and other minorities in Norwegian society. He discusses the plight of the Norwegian Jews during World War II and underlines the responsibility of all Norwegians to prevent acts of hatred.
Norway was among the first countries to grant economic restitution to the Jewish citizens who were victims of the Nazi occupation of the country during WWII. A total of 450 million Norwegian kroner, or approximately $67 million, was set aside by Parliament in 1999 to compensate the Jewish community in Norway for the atrocities committed during WWII by the occupying Germans. Since the compensation package was adopted, Norway’s Government has received many positive reactions from other countries. Both then Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the World Jewish Congress issued statements saying that Norway’s treatment of the issue should be seen as an example for other countries to follow. In April 1999 Prime Minister Bondevik was awarded the Raoul Wallenberg Prize.
The mansion belonging to Vidkun Quisling, the Nazi-appointed Prime Minister in Norway during WWII, who was convicted of treason and executed after the war, was transformed into a Holocaust museum and center for studies of Holocaust and religious minorities. The center opened in 2006. Norway is a member of The Task Force for International Cooperation on Holocaust Education, Remembrance, and Research.