There is so much nonsense on the Arab-Israeli conflict in Norwegian media that I can barely be bothered to read it, let alone comment on it all. The media coverage is so loop-sided against Israel that most Norwegians can't help being influenced in that direction. Yet, Norwegian author Jostein Gaarder pushed the envelope yet another notch with an op-ed in Aftenposten a few days ago, which is translated in full by Leif Knudsen on Heretic's Almanac.
No way back. It is time to learn a new refrain: We no longer recognize the State of Israel. Vi couldn't recognize the apartheid regime in South Africa, we didn't recognize the Taliban regime in Afghanistan. And there were many who didn't recognize Saddam Hussein's Iraq, or the Serb ethnic cleansing. So now we must get used to the thought: the State of Israel, in its current form, is history.
We don't believe in the illusion of God's chosen people. We laugh at this people's conceits and cry over its misdeeds. To act as God's chosen people is not only stupid and arrogant, but a crime against humanity. We call it racism.
And on and on it goes, in a style (badly) mimicking prophecies of doom in the Hebrew Bible. Indeed, Gaarder, who is a self-described Christian, faults Israel for not accepting the "humanistic" Rabbi Jesus Christ, and still living by the "eye for an eye" rule. Like other European anti-Semites has for centuries, Gaarder uses the New Testament as a justification for hating Jews.
Leif has also expressed his distaste and anger at Gaarder's anti-Semitic screed here and here.
Jostein Gaarder is one of a few contemporary Norwegian authors with some international success, thanks to his original mix of a naive youth story and a primer in the history of western philosophy, Sophie's World. The book was a national best-seller, so of course he makes a big splash in Norway when he launches a vitriolic attack on Israel.
Even with such a detestable hate-screed, Gaarder has met little opposition. Jewish author Mona Levin said this is "the worst thing I have read since Mein Kampf." Helge Øgrim, executive editor of Dagbladet, wrote a response. A historian of religion, Bente Groth, has picked up on his totally ignorant contrast between ethics in Judaism and Christianity, and also points out that Israel is a secular state, not one founded on ancient prophecies about right to a particular territory. On the other hand, Gaarder has received support from authors like Anne B. Ragde and Edvard Hoem, while communist and anti-Israel writer Jon Michelet merely criticised the article's form.
The religious aspect is a common misconception the Norwegian media is very eager to propagate. Whenever a Norwegian newspaper or TV station feels obliged to call on "friends of Israel" to answer the barrage, they try to pretend only evangelical Christians who see Israel as a fulfillment of Biblical prophecy.
If you only knew the conflict through the Norwegian media, you'd believe only Jews (of whom there are quite few in Norway, for historical reasons Gaarder could do well to recall) and Christian evangelicals have any sympathy for Israel whatsoever.
The Norwegian blogosphere has certainly proved this false.
I wrote my own response to Gaarder's anti-Semitic screed here and here. The excellent group blog Document.no has several responses to Gaarder, like here, here, here and here. Its editor Hans Rustad believes the public opinion appears to be turning against Gaarder; that this was one step too far. Maybe so, but I fear it is only the logical next step a bit too soon.
1:33:36 AM 
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