The recent act of terrorism in Norway that killed many innocent civilians has been twisted and used as an opportunity by the capitalist media and politicians to demonise Islam and Muslims, to justify ongoing Western terrorism. The aim is to enforce a distorted view that Islam is associated with terrorism.

Immediately after the attacks, U.S. President Barack Obama said: “It's a reminder that the entire international community has a stake in preventing this kind of terror from occurring, and that we have to work co-operatively together both on intelligence and in terms of prevention of these kinds of horrible attacks.” Obama seemed to imply that the terrorist acts in Norway somehow connected to America’s war on Muslim nations. Obama’s guest, the irrelevant New Zealand Prime Minister John Key, added: “If it is an act of global terrorism I think it shows that no country, large or small, is immune from that risk, and that is why New Zealand plays its part in Afghanistan as we try and join others like the United States in making the world a safer place”. John Key is “making the world a safer place” by participating in a U.S.-led bloodbath in Afghanistan.

The Oslo terrorist is a home-grown terrorist who provides evidence that the “war on terror” is a hoax and has nothing to do with terror, but much to do with war on Muslims and Islam, even when innocent Norwegians are slaughtered. As Peter Schwartz rightly observes: “It was a politically motivated terrorist attack by a fascist against a social democratic party”.

Meanwhile, the capitalist media and their so-called “experts” on terrorism (not Western terrorism) began their usual speculations focusing on what has been called “Islamic extremists” and “Islamist militancy”. Without a shred of evidence, Muslims were targeted. The source of the distortion is Will McCants, a dirty Islamophobe who is known as the “top expert” on terrorism at C.N.A., a research institute that studies terrorism. McCants was an instant celebrity even as the Norwegian Police tried to capture the terrorist. As Glenn Greenwald of Salon.com writes: “Al Qaeda [the hoax] is always to blame, even when it isn't, even when it's allegedly the work of a Nordic, Muslim-hating, right-wing European nationalist”.

Disseminating false propaganda and unverifiable information by Western “experts” and Western capitalist media has become the norm in spreading Islamophobia and demonising Muslim communities around the world. The man responsible for this heinous act of terrorism in Norway, Anders Behring Breivik, has a history of disseminating anti-Muslim and xenophobic ideas on the Internet. Breivik’s aim, according to his “manifesto”, is to send a hate message that Muslims are “dangerous” and are not welcome in Europe. It’s a fascist theory promoted worldwide by pro-Israel Zionists and seriously adopted by Western politicians, particularly right-wing extremists, as mainstream.

The 32-year-old Norwegian fundamentalist Christian has been described by the capitalist media as “a lone gunman”; he was not. Breivik is a well-informed and well-connected terrorist who had been planning his attacks for nearly two years. He has links to the current Israeli fascist regime, including foreign minister Avigor Lieberman and his fascist party Yisrael Beitenu. Breivik’s links extended to pro-Israel U.S. Zionists and Islamophobes, such as Daniel Pipes, Robert Spencer and Pamela Geller. Breivik has warned against any Norwegian support for the besieged Palestinians. According to Israeli media, Bereivik said: “The time has come to stop the stupid support of the Palestinians...and to start supporting our cultural cousins – Israel”.  It is well worth reading Greenwald’s (Salon, 07/23/2011) piece and Ali Abunimah’s (EI, 07/23/2011) piece.

Before the terrorist was captured by the Norwegian Police, the New York Times – Zionism’s mouthpiece – reported: “A terror group, Ansar al-Jihad al-Alami, or the Helpers of the Global Jihad, issued a statement claiming responsibility for the attack, according to Will McCants”. I tried to verify the statement, but there is no such thing. Apparently, only Will McCants has access to the website.

Without the slightest verification, the news was carried around the world by the global Zionist propaganda organs, such as the Guardian, the BBC, the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post. The Times has since changed course, but continues to associate terrorism with Islam. On July 23, 2011 Steven Erlanger alleged “a detailed manifesto [was left behind by the terrorist] outlining his preparations and calling for a Christian war to defend Europe against the threat of Muslim domination”. Erlanger added: “[his] acquaintances described him as a gun-loving Norwegian obsessed with what he saw as the threats of multiculturalism and Muslim immigration”. The capitalist media’s portrayal of the terrorist as a loner, whose action can be justified, is a clever way of deflecting attention away from Western right-wing fascist movements.

The aim of the capitalist media is to obfuscate the truth and fabricate a story that links terrorism to Muslims and Islam. The culprit is described as fearful of Muslims and Islam and hence he is entitled to act. The New York Times and the BBC in particular, by not condemning Breivik, tacitly justify the criminal attack as a legitimate reason for people who have concerns about immigration. Indeed, BBC News went as far as questioning the former Norwegian Prime Minister about Norway’s current immigration policies in a tone that almost endorses the terrorist action as, “gruesome but necessary”. Muslims in Norway were terrified by the attacks, fearing for their safety, and they stayed home.

Finally, Norway is not the peaceful neutral country it is always portrayed. Norway is a NATO member and strongly supports U.S.-led imperialist wars. The Norwegian armed forces are currently participating in the U.S.-led bloodbath in Afghanistan and the U.S.-NATO aggression on Libya. Like all European nations, Norway has anti-Muslim far-right parties – associated with the Israeli fascist regime – who want to take Europe back to the Dark Ages. In 1993, the Norwegian capital, Oslo, was used by the U.S. and Israel to stage and propagate the so-called “Oslo Peace Process” that legitimised the Zionist state and the brutal occupation of Palestinian land. The Peace Process proved to be a catastrophe for the Palestinian people. However, Norway is a wealthy and a progressive society that does not espouse the same Anglo-American fascist ideology.

It is essential to reject the racist propaganda of associating Islam with terrorism. Efforts by the capitalist media and Western politicians to twist acts of terrorism to fit their distorted views of Islam and Muslims are designed to disseminate anti-Muslim propaganda and justify Western terrorism. Anyone who associates terrorism with Islam is associating themselves with the perpetrators of terrorism.

*Ghali Hassan is an independent political analyst living in Australia.

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AXIS OF LOGIC COLUMNIST GHALI HASSAN