Lessons from Oslo massacre

killings in Oslo, Norway, last week I realised that a decade ago, I actually toured some of the places where Anders Behring Breivik committed his heinous crimes.

But, that tour is not the essence of this piece. The link is with the two questions in the introduction.
I was in Oslo for a week in June 2001 at the invitation of the Norwegian Book Club. The private dinner on June 4 with about 14 very friendly people brought back memories as I tried to make links.
Good people, remember that the land reform programme, which has been described in all manner had already started in earnest. Praises and backlashes were flying back and forth.

Three major events that premise what I’m trying to arrive at suffice. In September 1999, the MDC was launched.
This was followed by the referendum on the draft constitution in 2000, and thereafter, the parliamentary elections, which saw the MDC being part of the three arms of Government (in Parliament) for the first time.
All these events, happening at the backdrop of the land reform programme (called farm invasions or land grabbing in some quarters) put Zimbabwe on the international map – all for the right and wrong reasons.

For those who travelled beyond our borders, irrespective of the seriousness of the business to be conducted, some of the questions that always greeted them were, “What exactly is going on in Zimbabwe?
“Why are black people stealing white people’s land? If you claim that it is your land, why didn’t you take it soon after independence, and on, and on?”
Additions were claims that President Mugabe’s Government had been allocated funds by the British and the US governments, but they had abused them.

A few months before the Oslo visit, I had already had such an experience – which would have made me rubbish anything and everything Zimbabwean, especially the liberation struggle. Thus for the first time, Kari Spjeldnaes and Torhild Viken my hosts in Oslo will know that I accepted the dinner invite, but at the bottom of my heart, I prayed that we would limit our talk to general issues regarding our countries, and not politics. I dreaded that question, “So, what really is going on in Zimbabwe?”

For a while, it seemed like I was winning, but from the blue, one of them did exactly that, and suddenly everybody was interested. They wanted to know what was going on because Zimbabwe’s appearance on their news channels was becoming more frequent. What they did not know was that it would actually be main news headlines even on community newsletters, across the globe. What was my response? If pictures had been taken of those initial moments, my answer could have been evident.

But, someone saw that I was cornered, and that was Professor Helge Ronning. He came to my aid, and gave a very impressive history of the land issue not only in Zimbabwe, but all across Africa.
After the summary, it was easy to flow with the conversation, but I still felt guilty that I could not stand up to be counted where it mattered. How many of us are caught up in such scenarios, and we fail so dismally?
But as I reflect, it was very possible to say stuff that I could have regretted, just because I wanted to please my hosts. In-between the work, my hosts took me around, and this is when I got to see some of the buildings bombed last week, including the party headquarters of the Labour Party, whose youths were butchered by Breivik.

It was surprising to learn that once a week, private vehicles are not allowed in Oslo’s central business district and that motorists actually observed that. To this writer, the rule of law reigned high in this nation which also used to be a Danish colony, and which had refused to be a member of the European Union.
How does this link with last week’s horrendous killing of 76 people most of them youths by 32-year old Breivik, who at the time of writing was described as a pathological killer by his own lawyer?

A lot! Just like my hosts wanted to know what was going on in Zimbabwe then, especially the land reform programme, I ask (without judging them, but commiserating with them at the needless loss of life), what is going on in a land that seemed so peaceful, a land also so rich with oil resources?
It was surprising that moments after the news broke out; the first people to be fingered were Islamic terrorists. Headlines on satellite TV stations, e-newspapers and major newswires used terms such as “militants” and/or “terrorists attack Oslo”.

The news items pieced credible evidence – Norway had been targeted because of its involvement in Afghanistan and the on-going war in Libya.
Some reports called it Norway’s 9/11 equivalent: “The first newspaper to declare this Oslo’s 9/11 was Murdoch’s daily The Sun in London which went on to blame al-Qaeda, and a few so-called terror experts who’ve made a nice living out of Muslim-bashing and baiting over the years joined in the scramble to say who was behind the terror attacks.”

Not surprising, considering Murdoch’s far-right ideological leanings and his relationship with the Republicans and the Bush family in particular. When the truth FINALLY emerged that this was the work of one person, how much damage had this disinformation in a world of news-on-demand caused, especially to Moslems?
Yvonne Ridley said the BBC, New York Times and a number of other Western media dropped the use of the word terrorism when “it emerged the killer was a blonde, blue-eyed, white Christian fundamentalist”. Why, when the damage had been done?

Breivik’s own father said he was in a state of shock when he learnt that his son was the perpetrator, because like everyone, everywhere, he thought that this was the work of terrorists from yonder place: “I was reading the news on the Internet and suddenly I saw his name and picture,” Breivik’s retired father based in France told the Norwegian paper.
“I am in a state of shock, it’s absolutely horrific to hear that,” said Jens Breivik, who currently lives in France. Then again, I wondered how the Zimbabwe story has over the years, especially the last decade been spinned, without anyone bothering to check out the facts.

I also wondered why the Anglo-Saxon world always asks questions about the land issue in Zimbabwe, when they know full well that at some point in time, the Berlin Conference and the whole colonial and neo-colonial outfit would be fiercely challenged, not only by President Mugabe and Zanu-PF, but by future generations, just like the likes of Breivik are challenging the once lauded immigration policies in the Nordic states.

Yvonne Ridley, a British broadcaster and journalist, suggested that the bombing and massacre are a wake-up call “for the growing threat posed by far-right extremists in Western countries. I think the police across Europe and the USA need to look at the new threat presented by Christian fundamentalists who seem to be able to get guns, other weapons, police uniforms and bomb-making equipment with the greatest of ease,” she said.

“Just because the attacker is not olive or black skinned and does not follow the Muslim faith this does not make Friday’s horrific crime the actions of some recluse acting as a lone terrorist.
“He had to have a network and support to plan and carry out such an atrocity,” she added.

However, the narrative in Breivik’s case is an indictment on Europe and the US and their superiority complex.
While their politicians have been busy preaching democracy, rule of law and human rights to developing countries, they seem to have forgotten that they have backyards full of unconverted citizens, who are prepared to kill in order to make a statement that Europe is for Europeans.

As the thread continues, it is evident that some of the young people in Europe are so far right wing, and they will do anything to keep out immigrants from their countries.
It is, however, a mindset which defies logic. While immigrants in Europe are looking for greener pastures, people like Breivik forget that the Anglo-Saxon world’s sustenance depends so much on natural resources from countries like Zimbabwe, where they would also want to have total control of those resources, something these migrants they are chasing out have not done.

Breivik claims that there are two remaining cells, and his lawyer says that he is crazy. Most people would need to know what this term “cell” means.
Could the movie “The Siege” starring Denzel Washington provide the answers to Breivik’s two cells? It is not easy to go down memory lane after such an incident, which normally comes from the world of make believe.

But, Breivik has once again exposed our infallibility as humans. If Zimbabweans were “imperfect” because they “grabbed” back their land, how come we read, hear and view daily horrendous events which have nothing to do with human rights? The United States of America debt which stands at US$14 trillion is so perfect, I guess!

The counsel given by Pope Benedict XVI to the people of Norway suffices for all people in all nations: to be “spiritually united” and to “work together fearlessly in shaping a future of mutual respect, solidarity and freedom for coming generations”.

The world can do with a lot of love, peace and harmony. And this writer mourns with the people of Norway at a time they are seeking answers.
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