Coverage of the Norwegian tragedy: jumping to conclusions, absurdist claims and unanswered questions

Madison Ruppert, Contributing Writer
Activist Post

As the days go by following the horrific slaughter at Utoya and the bombing in Oslo, the information has only become more confused and self-contradictory.

The media began with the baseless conjecture that it was an al Qaeda-affiliated group behind the attacks. The only evidence presented was the fact that threats had been made against Norway in the past and of course the highly reliable source that is jihadist forums.

Wired’s Danger Room ran with a story that only proposed Muslim terrorists as the culprits. Despite the same amount of evidence pointing to other interests behind the attack, they decided to run with the Islamophobic current that is all-too-common in the Western world.

I find it quite interesting that, before Breivik claimed responsibility, the perpetrators were being framed as terrorists. Suddenly, once it was established that the individual (or possibly individuals) responsible was a blond haired, blue-eyed Norwegian “extremist”.

Why does he not get slapped with the terrorist label? How is this act of terror any different from every other? Does Breivik’s ideological and religious leaning somehow exclude him from the label of terrorist?

An update to the above linked Wired article points out that their baseless conclusions and accusations should “teach all of us in the media – this blog included – a lesson about immediately jumping to 'jihad!' conclusions.”

Indeed this is quite true, but only if they had the ability to think rationally outside of the propagandized and demonized pseudo-Islamic extremists that the West loves to use as a bogeyman whenever possible.

The Israeli press has been covering the outrage in the Muslim world against the completely baseless accusations leveled against them, while deriding people who find a link between Mossad interests and the attacks on the pro-Palestinian Norwegian party’s youth camp.

The above-linked article claims that “many Arab and Muslim web surfers claimed that it was Israel who was responsible.”

Interesting how the only people who could find a link between Israel and these attacks are Muslim. I’m a bit surprised they didn’t throw in that the only others were neo-Nazis or some such ridiculousness.

I know this is hard for a lot of people to grasp, but it isn’t a racial or religiously based ideology to deplore the murder of innocent people along with covert, illegal activities in sovereign nations.

Unfortunately, the state of Israel has carried out and continues the systematic murder of Palestinians along with other highly illegal and immoral activities abroad.

The Jewish people have nothing to do with this, and to imply such is fallacious. I love every single person of every religion and ideology equally, which means that an Israeli who kills a Palestinian is just as deplorable as a Palestinian who kills an Israeli. This has nothing to do with ethnicity or religion; it has to do with murder.

Sure, some Muslims might dislike or even hate Jews. Imbecilic racists exist in every religious group and political party. Does this mean that every person who happens to be a part of that religious group or party holds the same ideas? No, and to suppose such is absurd.

However, the Israeli press seems to lump every single Arab and Muslim web surfer into a group of people who attempt to blame Israel and Zionists whenever humanly possible. They do mention two other theories that accuse the CIA and Muammar Gaddafi, although the focus is clearly on those supposedly Muslim individuals who think Israel could be behind the attacks.

Of course, the Organization of the Islamic Conference, made up of 58 nations, released a statement in condemnation of the event, labeling it a “terrorist attack.” This very important point is buried in the last paragraph of the article.

The warped view of some of the Israeli press that Muslims and Islam in general are a threat to Israel and all Jewish people is mirrored in the delusional view held by Breivik and the Norwegian Progressive Party.

Both Breivik and the Progress Party peddle a baseless theory that alleges there is a massive covert conspiracy organized by the Muslim world to subvert and “Islamize” the nations of Europe.

The level of paranoia surrounding this issue in Europe and the United States is somewhat frightening, especially given the growing popularity of this conspiracy theory.

One interesting point to take note of is the targets of the most deadly attack: pro-Palestinian youth activists.

This has been conspicuously absent in media reports and when they do cover the “anti-immigrant” policies of the Progress Party, they usually leave it at that without pointing out that the entire basis of their policy is that they believe Muslims are attempting to take over Europe.

While the mainstream media has pushed the reports of a second gunman out of the narrative, they are now including the claims from Breivik that there are two other associated cells prepared to conduct terrorist attacks.

We cannot know if this is true as it has not been verified in any way, as of yet. Breivik has boasted that more blood will be spilled, but is this just fear mongering or a legitimate threat?

Strangely, Anders Behring Breivik pleaded not guilty even though he confessed to the brutal attacks. Breivik was also incredibly calm, according to the prosecutor Christian Hatlo.

Breivik is already attempting to create a media circus around his trial, as if his laughable “manifesto” wasn’t giving his ludicrous theories enough attention. He began by attempting to speak publicly about why he carried out the attacks in court.

Thankfully the judge, Kim Heger, realized this and closed the trial in order to strip Breivik of his attempt to bring publicity to his cause.

There is some noteworthy evidence supporting Breivik’s claim that there are two affiliated cells ready to attack, or at least that there were other individuals involved in the attacks.

Not only were there eyewitness reports of shots coming from two places on the island of Utoya during the massacre, but it has also been reported that Breivik was with an accomplice when he attempted to buy bulk fertilizer earlier this year.

In the wake of the attacks Norwegian police officers detained several people in a raid who were suspected of being linked to the attack.

All of these individuals were released and determined to be completely unrelated.

I sincerely hope that the Norwegian law enforcement are able to track down the other individuals who were involved in this attack, as it seems that there were indeed other persons who collaborated in this brutal act of terrorism.

However, if this operation is nearly as advanced as it is being made out to be, this might be somewhat difficult.

One very strange fact that I must note is that the police knew Breivik’s name before they actually made the arrest. I can’t be sure what to make of this, but not including this important fact would be quite detrimental, in my opinion.

We will protect your privacy...guaranteed!

With all of these confusing and somewhat conflicting facts, some people are jumping to conclusions that I cannot find any support for.

One is a former State Department official and author interviewed several times by Alex Jones for his radio show, Dr. Steve Pieczenik, who has speculated that this was actually a neo-Nazi influenced action with help from the Swedes.

I fail to understand why a neo-Nazi would be part of a rabidly pro-Israel and anti-Palestinian party, and why he would attack a group of people who were in support of the end of Israel’s hegemonic control over Palestine.

Pieczenik is also promoting the idea that people will find themselves relating to Breivik due to the lack of jobs and other factors. I also find this to be completely baseless. Maybe I am just not paranoid enough to grab onto a “sneak Islamization” conspiracy theory that can justify the murder of young people who support the rights of Palestinians.

If anyone holds this belief, I would like to hear from you especially.

Another strange and noteworthy factor is Breivik’s manifesto. Not only are large sections plagiarized from the Unabomber’s rambling manifesto; some parts make absolutely no sense, at least to me.

People have been characterizing Breivik as a calculating and completely sane terrorist. I’m not quite sure how a detailed description of sugar beet production and benefits is indicative of a sane and calculating individual.

It is almost as if he thought he didn’t have enough material and started rambling about absolutely nonsensical topics. Go to page 1502 in the above-linked PDF of his manifesto if you want to see an example of the illogical inclusion of seemingly unrelated facts and figures.

Personally, I refuse to jump to conclusions at this point. There are so many facts that need to be addressed and far too many questions that are left unanswered. Jumping to conclusions at this point is hasty, to say the least.

I would love to hear what you have to say and what you think about this tragic terrorist attack. Please contact me via e-mail at admin@endthelie.com

Madison. Ruppert is the Editor and Owner-Operator of the alternative news and analysis database End The Lie and has no affiliation with any NGO, political party, economic school, or other organization/cause. If you have questions, comments, or corrections feel free to contact him at admin@EndtheLie.com

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