apparently no media at all except the ny sun is reporting this--and it merely picked up a report from andrew sullivan's friend, bruce, who informed sullivan he attended the ceremony.

it's difficult to believe it would not have been covered by at least one other original source.

You need to look further before making such accusations. The reason most other media failed to report this was because it was incorrect. Here is a link to a comment on the issue from the SOS racism group in Norway.

http://www.sos-rasisme.no/tekst.php?teksti=171

So to clarify, this entire stroy is wrong and is yet another attempt by people to portray Europe as anti semitism. There is a hell of that going on at the moment. You last paragraph is particularly sad considering that the story is so wrong.

Paul.

Solitar...okay well according to the link you provided...it seems that the inital reports may have been in error...I'll check bit more to see if I can find another source or two to back up your link..although from what I read it seems the authorities did make a concerted effort to ban any sign/flag representing Israel in anyway...which in my opinion a clear sign of bias..regardless....

On your point bout people portraying Europe as anti-semetic...well sad as it is its a very real and rising issue right now...prob stems partially from Europeans inability to seperate the Israeli issue with that of the native Jews in Europe....

Rising anti-semitism in Europe is sadly an issue that is being flamed and exagerated by politically motivated people. There is no doubt that hate crimes agains jews have increased, but this is not the full picture. Hate crimes against muslims have increased by almost a factor of 4 higher than crimes against jews, yet all people seem to care about is anti-semitism. The majority of these hate crimes are being caused by these two minority communities against each other and only a stable underlying level of hate crime is being caused from outside either group. This stable underlying level of anti-semitism is unacceptable, but it's not rising. No, what is happening is that the hatred occurring in Israel and Palestine at the moment has caused these two communities to increase their hatred against each other and go out of their way to attack each other, deface each others property, and burn each others places of worship. It is very very sad and something to worry about, but something that is not helped at all when the US and Israel are then seen to focus on what they call 'rising anti-semitism', making clear the the muslim (who are receiving far more hatred and level of crime) that the US and Israel don't care about what the Jews do to them.

A good example is the report above, where any pro or anti Israel flags had been agree with the organisers to be banned. Rather than reporting that some pro-Palestinian freedom protesters had their flags taken the article solely focusses on pro Israel supporters, who the organisers had already banned from the parade. This one sided pro-Israel reporting is what is flaming anti-semitism.

Paul.

" Rising anti-semitism in Europe is sadly an issue that is being flamed and exagerated by politically motivated people."

I don't think it can be talked about enough, given the biases of people like Chirac.

I think maybe you should go look up Kristallnacht again, solitair. I'd love to know why you think Palestinians NEEDED to be waving their flag at the commemoration of the slaughter of Jews by the Nazis. I think you are missing the point. Tact would demand Palestinians not tread on such an occasion with their activism, but it seems a bit strange to cut Jews out of a Jewish commemoration, doesn't it?

Anyway, the Simon Wiesenthal Center backs up the claims in the article.

"Rabbi Cooper continued, "Mr. Ambassador, the Simon Wiesenthal Center protests in the strongest terms possible this outrageous, hypocritical and ominous development. Can one even imagine a commemoration of a solemn anniversary of the Shoah that itself is Judenrein?" “As the largest human rights NGO devoted to the memory and the lessons of the Nazi Holocaust, I can only urge Norwegians not to bother to shed tears for dead Jews if they show no respect for live Jews," Cooper concluded. "

I'd have to agree.

good reply Baker....I'll checkout the link you gave...if the initial arguement in the article proves infact to be true....than it saddens me just bit more than before......but I do have to say I read a report that showed anti-semitism on the rise in France especially by 100-200% which has led that community to consider either immigrating to the US or Israel (roughly 40% of)....I belive the whole shadow bias stems increasingly from Europe's inability to hold Palestinians to the same account they hold Israeli's....this was never so blatant as it was when Arafat (yes I'm glad he's dead) was treated as if he was a great statesman..he wasnt..never was just a terrorist who siphoned off billions for his own pleasure....while forgetting the very people he was "elected" (Im still disgusted with that) to help.. if fact on a side note Arafat's death just reassured Americans that the UN is utterly beyond biased and its high time for it to be either re-orged under a new secretary-general (Annan is a useless bastard) or scraped (that whole flags at half-staff kinda put it over the top for me). sorry if I strayed abit.....anyhow I'll check your link

no problem. I'm still astounded by Solitaire's need to "balance" the situation. Kristallnacht is the remembrance of atrocities against the Jews. So what if the Palestinians can't stomp around and twist the situation to benefit themselves. It's like mourning the KKK not being able to take advantage of a lynching commemoration...

I haven't actually researched this so I am taking your word for what happened. First I completely agree that there is absolutely no reason for Palestinians to be protesting/demonstrating at this event.

Europeans inability to seperate the Israeli issue with that of the native Jews in Europe....

But this is the sentence that is sticking with me. I think this article demonstrates the same failure to separate. Kristallnacht was an atrocity against Jews, not against Israelis. There is no reason for any aspect of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict to enter into this event. It's a day for remembrance and mourning, not a day for advancing political agendas on either side.

There is no reason for any aspect of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict to enter into this event.

Shades...true...but this remembrance does in some aspects touch if only just slightly in the respect that Israel was established in the aftermath of the inhumanities of ww2....so in that regard...trying to bar any pro-Israeli signs or flags is petty and disgraceful.....whats even more outrageous is that Norway is under the illusion they did nothing wrong....

For myself...I'm not Jewish....I'm Roman Catholic (non-practicing)and while I understand the historical contex of Kristallnacht...in a religious/personal contex...I dont...I never really thought bout it much prior to my stumbling on to the report. But the saying is true...9-11 changed alot of things in America....I no longer simply pass by a story like this without taking a look...like alot of other things....I am no longer complacent with the growing hypocrocy in Europe or the rest of the world...

Did people bother to read the SOS racism link?

This incident is NOT TRUE. It's totally exagerated and inflamed. The Jewish organisers of the parade (Jewish Community of Oslo) requested that no political references be made. Star of david and religious memorbilia were welcome. That meant that no Jews would be allowed to carry pro Israel or pro Palestinian banners dealing with any political issue. A number of radical Norwegian political parties and Jews tried to by pass this rule. They were stopped from doing so. Remember that it was the Jewishers leaders themselves who organised the event who barred such banners. They wanted to remember being Jewish NOT politicise the event. It is sad that so many on this forum obviously believe that Jews cannot celebrate who they are without trying to drag the Palestine and Israel conflict into it. It is sad that peopel here should force their beliefs on the Norweigan Jews who have made their feelings clear by banning these radicals from their community. Do you not believe Jews in Oslo have the right to run their parade as they see fit and to ban radical Jews who refuse to follwo their rules?

Paul.

The majority of these hate crimes are being caused by these two minority communities against each other

Any support for that? I don't know if that is true today in Norway, but I know that as a generalization across Europe it is NOT true.

Here is a report form the US Embassy in Norway on European efforts to combat Anti-Semitism: http://www.usa.no/policy/eur/eur123.html

Quoting from that report "The authorities (i.e. European Union Monitoring Centre) have attributed many incidents to disaffected Muslim youth now residing in Europe; but the old-fashioned anti-Semitism that has been part of Europe for generations continues (to) surface."

Continuing from that same report "What we are seeing today in Europe is a perverse combination of the new and the old. The old is the ancient strain of European anti-Semitism (blood libels), which was nurtured in the Renaissance and thereafter as a method of controlling a minority population that the majority did not want or understand." "The basic anti-Jewish feeling that Europeans and others have held for generations is still very much alive."

Anyone not familiar with Vidkun Quisling and the Norwegian National Union Party from the 1930's should read http://www.cdn-friends-icej.ca/antiholo/norway.html Quisling was a Nazi supporter in Norway, who betrayed his country. Lest you think that this is simply to dredge up old history, through 1997 Norway still had not returned property confiscated from Jewish families during the war.

In 2002, some supermarket chains in Norway began placing "identification stickers" on goods imported from Israel. This was done to faciliate a boycott of Israeli products. While the intention was to support the Palestinians, those responsible were not themselves Palestinian. Now, the reason I point this out is that, while people are free to choose to boycott Israeli products if they want to, saying that the issue is between two minority communities is an over simplification.