Two sides of the same dark coin

In the immediate aftermath of the bombing of government offices in Oslo last month (later that day followed up by an even deadlier shooting spree), media speculation swirled over who was responsible. In particular, blame settled on Islamic extremists (though not without some justification — one militant group falsely claimed responsibility). Of course, as we now know, the perpetrator was a deranged Norwegian fascist hell-bent on expelling immigrants. In fact, as Waleed Aly writes, there is much in common between the stated philosophies of al-Qaeda and Anders Behring Breivik. Neither has much regard for democracy. Al-Qaeda wants an Islamic caliphate unifying the Middle East, and free from Western intervention. Breivik wants a culturally conservative, Christian Europe, without Muslims.

You don’t have to be a terrorist to share such views. Even in condemning violence, efforts to preserve cultural ‘homogeneity’ still appears to enjoy support from many quarters — observable from published op-eds to rants by Joe Public in online comments to news articles. While one would hope that massacres like those in Norway would help promote tolerance, there is no guarantee that they will encourage greater appreciation for diversity. But for Norway’s xenophobic far right, it is not Muslims who have inflicted the greatest harm to their country, but one of their own.