It's unfortunate that my talkback got censored because I stated some facts that are common knowledge. So here goes an edited version without comments. Just facts. And please keep in mind that my original talkback was quite relevant to the subject of there being something rotten ~~~~~~~ I listened to David Bedein's Israel National Radio show "How the Israeli Government allows Arab Incitement" last night and he presented several issues such as: School textbooks used in the PA, Gaza and Jerusalem are funded by Israeli "allies" and by UNRWA. Israel has never demanded that those textbooks remove incitement and the call for the overthrow of the Israeli government? According to David Bedein, the Israeli government has frequently thanked all organizations involved in the funding and distribution of those textbooks! ~~~~~~~~~~~~ Another issue: The decades-long incitement against Israel carried out on PA Television. The airwaves are owned by Israel and rented to the PA. Nobody in Israel has ever demanded that anti-Semitic and pro-violence programs be removed. Israel gets income from renting those airwaves to the PA. ~~~~~~~~~~ Trade between Israel and the PA-Gaza is FIVE BILLION US DOLLARS. The Israeli milk conglomerate, the gasoline conglomerate, and the kibutzim do significant business with the PA-Gaza. ~~~~~~~~~~~~ The PA will declare unilateral independence in the next few months. There is no plan to deal with it. As a matter of fact, the Likud recently voted against a National Union bill for annexation. There were only four NU votes in favor. Arabs and Jewish parties voted against. Connect the dots, draw your own conclusions to explain Israeli policies and government inaction.

A 1000 plus Palestinians??????? WHAT are you talking abour? Either you are naive and a prey to muslim propaganda or you are a big liar.

Oh, we Norwegians have made lots of really useful things, like paperclips, cheese knife. We did not invent hypocrisy, but we work hard to improve it, so all in all, our contributions to the general welfare of the world, miles and miles ahead of Israels spearheading research, investment and development of such mundane things like medicine, internet technology, nano technology etc. Ah and almost forgot to add, we have this amazing hat, a knitted hat - nisse lue (fashion item for gremlins), when you just pull it far enough down over your ears and eyes, the world of reason is effectively shut out. Amazing stuff, everyone should have one!

"immigrant" populations . Israel won't be an issue for them when they are getting 90 lashes for drinking a beer or going out in public not covered head to toe in a black sack. As for me, I love the smoked salmon from Canada.it tastes better and I don't get indigestion when I think of their politics

The "frustrated" Norway has third GDP per capita in the World. I would say that antisemitism became an empty claptrap.

Norway is not neutral. Far from it. The proposed boycott against Israeli academics was racist and discriminatory. That's why thousands of academics from all over the world condemned the Norwegian university for proposing it. Alan Dershowitz is a famous Harvard law professor and specialist in international law. Most universities roll out the red carpet for his lectures. A free lecture presents a fabulous opportunity for students and other university staff. Obviously some in Norway are threatened by a view that would show Israel in a fair, legitimate or positive light. Why is that?

Dear Israel Israeli. There are many people around the world, like me in South America, that understand and admire the Jewish State. All ones that have democratic conscience, and faith in the true Unique God, do repudiate the repeated lies against Israelian struggle for life and for a honoured peace. I fully endorse your comment.

Gaza is ruled by hamas, an islamist palestinian organzation. No Israeli lives in Gaza. The west bank is governed by the Palestinian authority. What occupation are you talking about? The so called settlements? Well the Palestinians have created settlements in Israel en masse. Approximately 2000000 Palestinians have settled in Israel. And I am not even mentioning the numerous attack wars started by the Palestinians starting from the first day of the creation of the modern state of Israel.

Why is the Norwegian GDP status relevant in regards to Israel hate? Your point being that the amount of money you have decides have righteous you are?

Then, what else to expect? We have a national TV/Radio system which educates their journalists to hate USA and Israel, just like the education system in islamic contries. If you don't hate, you are out! Their biased-hate-news-reports are spread daily to poision our people. We have a leftist government acting in the same way as the media, totally based on hate for Israel. One governement member even rallied in support for Hamas some years ago. Another wrote a harmful book abouth Israel. So, do not be surprised, if a little mouse do a fart in Israel, all biased norwegian media and TV/Radio would create terrific hateful stories and show hateful pictures of Israel, without telling the truth, it was just a little mouse who did a pleasant fart...

the majority of the population of these 2 countries are hardcore athiest, so what do you expect but they're scared of muslims, really!

I think the solution to get Norwegians more positive to Israel is that the Norwegian media gives Israeli politicans and idf officers much more talking tim ine the tv news ,becaue then the norwegians get much more balanced news,and the get the truth not biased news

It IS funny how much Israelis like to take pride in the number of Nobel prizes awarded to Jewish people, isn't it? How proud can you be for the recognition from such harsh anti-semites??

My grandfather had that exact rifle in his basement that a friend of his brought back from the Battle of the Bulge. Yes, the Nazi stamp is quite visible, and dark symbolism aside, it is an interesting old bolt-action rifle, and definitely has quite a kick to it when fired.

Prosperity is not an excuse.

This guy Gerstenfeld has a job for life writing vitriolic claptrap on countries that don't like Israel. Only another 200 or so to go.Tthe thought of Dershoiwitz giving a lecture on how in the face of overwhelming evidence he got that murderer Simpson off would be spectacular.

Just like they used to be take over by Germano-Nazis

Jarda writes, "The "frustrated" Norway has third GDP per capita in the World." But would that be the case without oil? Checking OECD data from 2008, Israel is #1 in R&D expenditures as a percentage of GDP (4.86%), while Norway is #13 at 1.62%. Israel also beats them at Triadic patent families earned (494 vs. Norway's 124), and in exports of ICT equipment (USD 6.524 billion vs. Norway's USD 2.174 billion). So what else does Norway give us besides oil and whale meat? Well, the Nobel Peace Prizes, of course - to the likes of Kissinger, Arafat, El Baradei and Obama. Maybe they should award themselves a prize for moral sanctimony.

Unfortunately the majority of norwegians watch only norwegian TV news. And correct : the anti Israel propaganda is massive. The official Norway has stopped believing in " the God of israel. " they are choosing darkness instead of light, lies instead of truth. Collective blindness is closing in. The journalists are like pack of wolves, when one senses blood, the others blindly follow. As for the ignorant " Tore " above: Alan & Israel please forgive such stupidity !

During WWII it was not uncommon for Norwegian women who sympathised with the nazi occupiers, to have relations with German soldiers and many of them became pregnant. After the Nazi defeat, Norway tried to clean its image by sweeping this bit of their history under the rug. The Norwegian government officially declared all these women and their offspring as "mentally ill" and secluded thousands of them in mental houses. This was a clear continuation of the practices employed by the Nazis. Some of these women were lobotomized or subject to medical experiments. Mengele would not have done it better. A known victim of these practices is Frida Lyngstad, the red haired singer of ABBA, who escaped Norway with his mother to avoid imprisonment for being the daughter of a German soldier.

Don’t some of us have an uncanny knack of turning friends into enemies! Here we have an article about present-day criticism in Norway of our current Israeli policies. Why bring in outrageous statements such as “In Norway during the war, the Jews to be murdered were arrested and robbed by Norwegians and not by the Germans”? It is known that the Norwegian people during the war years risked their lived and went out of their way to assist Jews. “The Norwegian underground transported eight hundred Jews across the country to safety in Sweden under exceptionally perilous circumstances”. This was reported by Gideon Hausner in his book on the Eichman trial “Justice in Jerusalem” (Harper & Row, NY, 1966, page 256). As to Vidkun Quisling, after the war he was tried for high treason and executed by a firing squad at Akershus Fortress, outside Oslo.

where troubled teenagers - even if it was nothing worse than a case of early sexual activity in girls or minor mischief in boys - were locked up for years in "reform" schools that were nothing less than hard-labor prisons and kept there for years. I wonder whether you'd have some good references regarding the Norway case. I did a quick Google search but there does not seem to be much online. Links are not allowed here but website names or reports would be fine.

Tore, first, solve your "new citizens" problem THEN preach us about "hate". You know suqat about what we feel about you and Norway, but unfortunately, YOUR feelings are open for all to see. Manfred only EXPOSED them. It hurts, I know, but "peaceful" and "advanced" Norway is now a craddle of racism, incitement and double-speak. It's a hard pill to gulp, but regardless if you agree or not, your country's ACTIONS and WORDS speak plenty. It'll take you and your country more than one talkback to convince us otherwise.

Both USA and Israel know how to confront evilness and how to deal with it. Europe is a giant fossil of very little importance in the world. Many Europeans find it easier to hate Jews and Israel than to confront their real enemy of Islam. Stop running and face these Muslim terrorist with a sword and M16.

Norway is a noncountry who totally depends on its allies and EU. We have an oilfund soon reaching 600 billion$, and we depend on our allies come help us, if we need it! The elite in Norway is in Brussel, where the Eurocrats runs everything mobstyle!

I remember a few years back they arrested a young mother and imprisoned her for a terrible crime. She gave her son a Hebrew name, and that is a crime in Norway. They kept her in prison for over 6 months until she agreed to change his name. The Norwegians loved the Nazis, over 6,000 of them volunteered for service in the SS during World War II.

There was no declaration of them being mentally ill, and no lobotomies. What happened was that the children would suffer hazing in school, and often abuse. The mothers would also suffer. Frida Lyngstads mother left Norway for this reason. There was a lot of hatred toward the Germans after the war due to the occupation, and people in the years following the war transfered this hatred towards the children and their mothers. Norwegian society might have had more problems giving forgiveness than other countries that were occupied. These women were viewed as traitors, and their children viewed as the offspring of traitors. It was shameful to blame children for the sins of their mothers.

Was happy to read your posts (33, 41 - good sense of humor). Let's hope there are more of you in Norway. Shalom.

Your argument is, of course, specious. Many university speakers are non-academics who are invited not on the basis of their university qualifications, but on the basis of their experience and current responsibilities. Dershowitz is a functionary and lobbyist who has certainly done his homework, as far as putting together an argumentation promoting his point of view. Your problem is that you do not believe in freedom of speech. A university is supposed to be a place where ideas are tested and contested. This interplay of ideas is part of the process by which we sharpen our understanding and gain new insights. The students should have the opportunity to listen to and challenge Dershowitz. I, too, often disagree with what he (or Gerstenfeld ) says, but the best way of dealing with it is to come up with a stronger counterargument.