By Ruth Skilbeck
Mr Stoltenberg’s determined defence of his country’s values was supported by the public gatherings of over one hundred thousand Norwegians with flowers, in mourning and condemnation of violence, over the week. Most moving of all are the stories translated from the Norwegian media, of the courage and strength shown by the young people in the extreme horror of the hour and a half long massacre on the island of Utøya, that followed the bombing of Oslo's centre left government headquarters, that killed eight.
The annual summer Labour youth camp ended in a horrifying blood bath with 68 young people and adults murdered at point blank range by Breivik. The island conference was a Labour party tradition where prime ministers spoke to the youth.
Two survivor stories from the Utøya island massacre published in the Guardian this week reveal the extraordinary fortitude of two young women who exemplified Norway's national virtue of "keeping a cool head". The young women remained calm and coherent even whilst hiding and under fire from the mass murderer in a fake police uniform.
Leading others swimming to safety even when shot, or hiding in the rocks exchanging texts, brave young women delegates from the youth Labour camp on the island of Utøya showed remarkable fortitude and courage when the mass murderer attacked.
Amongst the multiple threads in the reporting of the double attack in Norway earlier this week is the ugly emergence of the rabid "anti-feminism" expressed in the obnoxious outpourings of mass-murderer Anders Behring Breivik, in his 1518 page manifesto entitled 2083: A European Declaration of Independence that he reportedly emailed to hundreds of contacts shortly before embarking on his drug-fuelled massacre. After initial media "fact free conjecture" that the attacks were by a 9/11-style terror cell was revealed as reflex prejudice, much of the focus of the global media has been on the significance of the mass-murderer's extremist anti-multiculturalism, including anti-immigration and anti-feminist prejudice, in the context of rising right wing extremism across Europe.
In striking contrast, what also has been widely reported is Norway's prime minister Jens Stoltenberg’s 'defiant' assertion: “The Norwegian response to violence is more democracy, more openness and greater political participation."
In striking contrast, what also has been widely reported is Norway's prime minister Jens Stoltenberg’s 'defiant' assertion: “The Norwegian response to violence is more democracy, more openness and greater political participation."
Mr Stoltenberg’s determined defence of his country’s values was supported by the public gatherings of over one hundred thousand Norwegians with flowers, in mourning and condemnation of violence, over the week. Most moving of all are the stories translated from the Norwegian media, of the courage and strength shown by the young people in the extreme horror of the hour and a half long massacre on the island of Utøya, that followed the bombing of Oslo's centre left government headquarters, that killed eight.
The annual summer Labour youth camp ended in a horrifying blood bath with 68 young people and adults murdered at point blank range by Breivik. The island conference was a Labour party tradition where prime ministers spoke to the youth.
Two survivor stories from the Utøya island massacre published in the Guardian this week reveal the extraordinary fortitude of two young women who exemplified Norway's national virtue of "keeping a cool head". The young women remained calm and coherent even whilst hiding and under fire from the mass murderer in a fake police uniform.
An edited SMS exchange between Julie Bremnes, 16, who was in hiding and her mother giving her latest updates from the news, was published in the Norwegian newspaper VG, then published in translation in The Guardian (guardian.co.uk) with the headline "Norway attacks survivor’s frantic texts to mother: ‘There is a mad man shooting people" on Tuesday 26 July 2011
Julie was with a group who were ‘hiding in the rocks along the coast’; the harrowing exchange starts with the urgent words:
17.42 Julie: Mummy, tell the police they must be quick. People are dying here!
What is remarkable about the text exchange is the degree to which mother and daughter manage to stay in control in such a terrifying situation.
J: I’m not panicking even if I’m shit scared.
On 27 July, under the headline "Norway attacks: a survivor’s account of Utøya" the Guardian published the translated account of Emma Martinovic, 18, an activist from the youth labour movement; the story was originally posted on her blog. She escaped by swimming from the island leading a group of others as Breivik’s bullets rained around her.
“I felt the pain. The panic spread to my breathing. I was gasping for air. Suddenly someone behind me shouts. “Emma, I can’t go on.”
It was one of my girlfriends. I gritted my teeth and swam back to her, then told her to keep the rhythm: Breath for you and breath for me. We’ll soon be safe and warm, you’ll see. I let her climb up on my shoulders and keep swimming with her legs; together we managed to keep going....
Suddenly she said: “Emma you’re bleeding, and when I looked down at my left arm, there was blood pouring from it...
Emma ends her remarkable story with the assertion that she is not going to leave politics.
“The bastard will not stop us, we won’t give in.”
She adds “Just think of it, he dressed himself in a police uniform, the symbol of safety and support. He abused our trust in the police.”
Both of the survivors’ stories entered the mainstream media through channels of social media bringing into the public global realm the immediacy and authenticity of the young women’s voices. They add a powerful dimension of human courage to the mainstream media stories that is profoundly inspiring and at least as important as debate over the killer’s politics.
The courage and level-headedness of these brave young women provides a chillingly poignant contrast to the cynical cowardice of the murderer. Like prime minister Jens Stoltenberg’s call for increased tolerance and openness, and the mass display of calm opposition to violence from the Norwegian people over the past week, their stories of bravery and strength are signs of hope for our global future.
© Ruth Skilbeck 2011
© Ruth Skilbeck 2011
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