Fjordman Has Norway’s Unconditional Attention

Despite their persistent ridicule and dismissal of Fjordman, the Norwegian media remain preoccupied with him. And, according to an article in today’s VG, an entire book about Fjordman will be published shortly.

Many thanks to our Norwegian correspondent The Observer for the translation:

Journalist is writing a book about Fjordman

The journalist and writer Simen Sætre is currently writing a book about the anti-Islamist blogger Fjordman, who was one of those who inspired Anders Behring Breivik

“Like everyone else, I was severely affected by this incident emotionally. I’m trying to find out why Peder Jensen Nøstvold, who is better known under the alias Fjordman, became so radical,” Sætre tells Aftenposten.

Just two days after the terrorist attacks in the government quarter and on Utøya on July 22 last year it was alleged that Anders Behring Breivik was inspired by one man, the blogger who would turn out to be Peder Nøstvold Jensen.

Sætre, who works as a journalist for the newspaper Klassekampen [“Class Struggle”], says that he has been in communication with Fjordman via e-mail for about a year, and that he has conducted several interviews with him. Sætre is not willing to reveal whether he has met the anti-Islamist.

He says that Jensen has changed since the terrorist attacks.

“It is no secret that the attack also scared Jensen. Prior to the attacks he used to write long essays on various websites, now he also writes op-eds in Norwegian newspapers using his real name.”

In October Klassekampen wrote that Peder Jensen Nøstvold is in the process of completing a book about Anders Behring Breivik. In the book, which will be titled “Witness to Madness”, Jensen will analyze Breivik’s so-called manifesto and describe the media’s coverage of the case.

Mr. Sætre has treated Fjordman relatively fairly, especially considering that he is a Norwegian academic. However, the Norwegian media seem to be playing Good Cop/Bad Cop with Fjordman, and the bad cop today is one Sven Egil Omdal, the former leader of the Norwegian Press Complaints Commission (Pressens Faglige Utvalg).

Aftenbladet published a vile hit-piece by Mr. Omdal today entitled “The mask ripped off Fjordman”. I don’t have a full translation, but the snips below were adapted from a Google translation and will give you the general idea:

So he [Fjordman] went into exile and stayed silent for a while. But now he’s back, and we can not allow ourselves the luxury of ignoring him.

[…]

He aligns well with the theory that the most extreme opponents of the multicultural society are not those who feel economically threatened by immigrants, but those who are culturally alarmed, fearing a future where their values are no longer dominant.

He says that Fjordman belongs “…among Europe's bouquet of right-wing extremists, fascists, neo-Nazis and violent fanatics. They are far from in agreement on everything, but they agree enough that they should have our unconditional attention.”