26 November 1942 is one of the darkest days in Norwegian history. On this date, the largest deportation of Norwegian Jews during the Second World War took place. A total of 773 Jews were deported from Norway, of which a small number returned.
Around 95 percent of those who were deported were murdered in Auschwitz. Political editor of Dagsavisen Lars West Johnsen has a comment on the occasion with the title “What would you think of Israel, Solomon?”.
It is easy to agree with Johnsen in much of what he writes about the situation of the Palestinians and the criticism of the Israeli government’s warfare. Yes, that there are cases where references to anti-Semitism are misused, we can also grant him the right.
The rhetorical move repeats a logic that makes all Jews collectively responsible for the actions of other Jews.
It is nevertheless highly problematic when the editor, through statements such as “victims have themselves become abusers”, draws a direct line from the situation of the Jews during the Second World War to today’s Israeli politicians.
This rhetorical move reiterates the basic anti-Semitic idea that there is something intrinsically “Jewish”, and a logic that makes all Jews collectively responsible for the actions of other Jews.
Now it is also the Jews of the future, Holocaust victim Salomon, who must be held accountable.
The editor is not alone in drawing such a parallel between past and present. The HL center’s survey of attitudes towards Jews from 2024 showed that fully 51 percent of the population supports the claim “Israel treats the Palestinians as badly as the Jews were treated during World War II”.
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Comparisons between the genocide of the Jews and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict must involve a deeper analysis of similarities and differences to make sense beyond expressing strong dissatisfaction with the current situation.
Parallels such as the one Johnsen draws are neither suitable to provide insight into the fate of the Jews during the Holocaust nor to provide knowledge about Israel’s policy towards the Palestinians.
Is the fate of the Norwegian Jews during World War II less bad in light of Israel’s actions today?
More seriously is that Dagsavisen’s editor through the move that turns the historical roles of victim and aggressor upside down; links a hatred of Israel with a hatred of Jews. Thus, Johnsen achieves the opposite of what we assume is his aim.
“Never forget. Never again.” writes the editor, but the comment seems to argue against the importance of historical memory after the Holocaust. “The date and marking have had shadows cast over them,” it says.
But has the fate of the Norwegian Jews during the Second World War changed as a result of subsequent events? Are they less bad in light of Israel’s actions today?
Johnsen mentions the growing hatred of Jews in Europe. It is important, but he buckles under his own argument and risks feeding the same hatred when he constructs with his broad brush a community of fate in which it is the “Jew” Israel who is guilty of the memory of the Holocaust being buried; “under the ruins of Gaza”.
In a climate of debate such as the one we have in Norway today, this is a comment with serious implications.
The Nazis’ bestial actions towards Europe’s Jews cannot be used as an argument in an ongoing conflict because it involves Jews. Anti-Semitism is always an illegitimate response, regardless of Israel’s policies.
We object to the attempt to use the innocent victims of the past as a post in a political debate.
As little as Dagsavisen’s editor, we know what Salomon would have thought about the state of Israel and how it has developed. Perhaps he had been distraught and angry about what is happening in Gaza, the West Bank and in Israel? Perhaps he had a greater understanding of Israel than Dagsavisen’s editor?
What is absolutely certain is that in a debate climate like the one we have in Norway today, where 28 percent of the population believe that there can be no peace as long as Israel exists and 33 percent openly answer that Israeli policy has made them more negatively disposed to Jews in general, this is a comment with serious implications – on the day that marks the greatest tragedy in Norwegian Jewish history.
Read Linda Noor: In order to be more successful in working against prejudice, we need to talk about the feelings that trigger them
Read Lars West Johnsen: Israel’s behavior in Gaza inscribes itself in humanity’s darkest chapters
Read also: The last remnants of “our values” died in a bomb crater in Gazawrites Linn Stalsberg
Read the debate: The heroic deed that disappeared from history (+)