(Ahlul Bayt News Agency) - Since then, the rise of xenophobia and Islamophobia in Europe has been a major topic of discussion in media and academia as well as among the ordinary people on the streets. Now the trial of this pitiless terrorist has started and the world is again remembering the painful memories of July 22, 2011.
Andres Breivik who perpetrated the heartrending attacks and destabilized the security of one the world's most peaceful and tranquil countries was diagnosed by the court-appointed psychiatrists to be suffering from severe paranoid schizophrenia. But it was not his mental disorder, which some psychiatrists deny, that ignited the flames of hostility in his heart and led him to carry out the heinous actions. His 1,518-page manifesto which was emailed to more than 1,000 people some 90 minutes before the happening of the terrorist attacks clearly bespeaks his strong antagonism toward the Muslims, immigrants, non-Europeans and his unshakable attachment to Israel, white nationalism and right-wing populism.
Ironically, as soon as the news was published that 77 people were killed in two separate terrorist attacks which took place in less than two hours, the Western mainstream media pointed their fingers at the Muslims, introducing "Jihadist" groups as the main culprits. The first reports from the New York Times suggested that the Oslo bomber was a Jihadi. As reported by the British political analyst Vijay Prashad, Professor Will McCants wrote in a Tweet that "Ansar al-Jihad al-Alami" group was responsible for the killings. The Times repeated the same allegations shortly and held the Ansar group accountable for the killings. Perhaps it's a common routine in Europe and the United States to attribute every terrorist attack and violent action to the Muslims. The accusations against Ansar were removed only after Breivik's lawyer said that he has confessed to the killings during the police interrogations.
A few days later and once the independent media looked into the depth of the horrendous incident, it was cleared that Muslims were the main target of the attacks rather being the perpetrators thereof. Breivik's compendium unequivocally showed his enmity toward the Muslims and non-Europeans. He had talked of himself as a knight dedicated to eradicating the tide of Muslim immigration to Europe. Ulav Andersson, a close friend of Breivik, told Russia Today that Anders had "a big ego" and would be easily irritated by those of Middle Eastern or South Asian origin. Breivik was one of the proponents of Eurabia conspiracy theory which holds that the influence of Muslim Arabs is increasing in Europe and the European politicians and leaders are yielding to this influence. In part of his elaborate manifesto, the Nordic terrorist explains the basis for accepting this theory: "The Arab states demanded from Europe access to Western science and technology, European political independence from the United States, European pressure on the United States to align with their Arab policy and demonization of Israel as a threat to world peace, as well as measures favorable to Arab immigration and dissemination of Islamic culture in Europe. This cooperation would also include recognition of the Palestinians as a distinct people and the PLO."
This manifesto which is actually an unmistakable research project with hundreds of quotations and references, lists in details, all the pro-Palestinian, pro-Muslim statements which the European leaders have sporadically made in the contemporary history. He deliberately neglects the heap of anti-Islamic, anti-Palestinian sayings and actions of the European leaders and also the British-Canadian alliance for establishing the Israeli state in 1948.
On July 20, he uploaded a 12-minute video to the internet in which he summarizes parts of his dangerous ideology. "Multiculturalism," he says, "is an anti-European hate ideology designed to deconstruct European cultures and traditions, European identities, European Christendom and even European nation-states. And, as such, it is an evil genocidal ideology created for the sole purpose of annihilating everything European."
At the final part of the video, Breivik who has been wearing a quasi-military dress invites the Christians to rise against what he considers a peril to the European identity and receive a heavenly reward: "Onward, Christian soldiers! Celebrate us, the martyrs of the conservative revolution, for we will soon dine in the Kingdom of Heaven."
But why had the insane Norwegian terrorist selected his victims from among the members of the youth wing of a Labor party in his country? The answer is simple. Only one day before realizing his premeditated plan, on which he was working for almost two years, the Youth Camp in Utoya had concluded a pro-Palestinian rally, in line with their previous pro-Palestinian activities, calling for the recognition of an independent Palestinian state by the government of Norway. During the second day of Labor Youth League summer camp at Utoya, the Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Store met with the young hopefuls of the party. Amid the insistence of the young party members, Gahr Store indicated that his government is ready to recognize the Palestinian statehood. "The Palestinians must have their own state, the occupation must end, the wall must be demolished and it must happen now," said the Foreign Minister to cheers from the audience.
The Workers' Youth League has a background of supporting the Palestinians' cause and this was what irritated Breivik.
Now, the trial of Breivik is underway and the world is again thinking about the root causes of that dreadful incidence. But one important note that should not be overlooked: the Western mainstream media are once again distorting the reality and misleading the public opinions in a nasty and malicious way. Just let's take a look at the headlines of the news stories and articles published by some of the Western newspapers:
"… Norway's legal system deals with a confessed killer …" (San Francisco Chronicle, April 17)
"Mass killer Anders Breivik said today he …" (Irish Times, April 19)
"Right-wing extremist Anders Breivik, who has admitted killing 77 people during a politically-motivated murder spree…" (ABC News, April 10)
"Killer's sanity key issue in Norway massacre trial" (Boston Globe, April 10)
"Norway gunman Anders Breivik sane - new psych probe" (Herald Sun, April 11)
"Norwegian mass killer Anders Breivik planned to bomb President Barack Obama…" (Daily Telegraph, April 1)
The common point in the coverage of all of these media and other Western newspapers on the trial of Breivik is that they have euphemistically downgraded the Norwegian terrorist to a "mass killer" and even a "gunman", refusing to call him a terrorist, as if the word is exclusively devised to be referred to the Muslims. This hypocritical stance in approaching terrorism and extremism underlines the West's double standards in dealing with the Muslims and shows their insincerity. What if Breivik were a Muslim and had killed not 77 but two or three Norwegian teenagers? How would have the media in the U.S. and Europe treat him? Wouldn't they attack all the Muslim states in the world under the pretext that a Muslim "terrorist" has killed some European citizens? Yes, this is a kind of hypocrisy which narrates the sad story of double standards and Islamophobia. They simply don't have the courage to call a real terrorist a terrorist.
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