Over the weekend, Norway was rocked by a horrid terrorist attack on their own soil orchestrated by one of their own citizens. A Right Wing Conservative nutball decided to go on a murder spree against his own people — among them children and teenagers — in an insane attempt to stop the supposed spread of [...]
Over the weekend, Norway was rocked by a horrid terrorist attack on their own soil orchestrated by one of their own citizens. A Right Wing Conservative nutball decided to go on a murder spree against his own people — among them children and teenagers — in an insane attempt to stop the supposed spread of Muslim belief in Europe. In the wake of this terrorist attack, upwards of 70 people were killed. Today approximately 100,000 Norweigians marched in Oslo in The Rose March in an effort to stand tall as a singular unit against the threat of terror. Click below to see stunningly beautiful yet somber photos from today’s Rose March.
At least 100,000 Norwegians attended Oslo’s “Rose March,” an anti-violence rally held in front of City Hall, on Monday evening in response to the terrorist attacks that killed at least 76 people last weekend. Demonstrators, most of whom had been invited to the event via social networking sites, clogged the streets in Norway’s capital of 1.5 million people. Norway’s Crown Prince Haakon and Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg gave speeches this evening that echoed the stoicism with which Norway has borne the recent tragedy. “Evil can kill one person, but it can never defeat a whole people,” said Stoltenberg. Most people at the event carried a single red or white rose, which has quickly become ubiquitous in Oslo as a national symbol of the tragedy. The crowd raised their flowers together to Crown Prince Haakon, who said that “tonight the streets are filled with love.” Oslo has seen a steady stream of memorials and vigils after prime suspect Anders Breivik’s deadly bomb attack against the prime minister’s building and shooting rampage at a youth camp on Utoya island near Oslo. Just hours earlier at noon on Monday close to 10,000 people gathered near the Domkirke Cathedral as part of a national moment of silence. One of those at the rally, Annalisa Stubberud, said that individual attacks and hate crimes had galvanized Norway’s 4.6 million people in the past, but that the march was beyond anything she had seen before. “There have been attacks,” said Stubberud, “But this is different. It’s much bigger. It’s a national catastrophe as well. So I think that people have come from everywhere to join this.” “This isn’t a time for anger. We shouldn’t respond like that,” said Liban Mohamoud, a paramedic who was among the first at the scene of the bomb blast on Friday … If charged with crimes against humanity, Breivik could face up to 30 years in prison, Prosecutor Chritsian Hatlo said on Tuesday. The new charge became possible after Norway adopted a law in 2008 on war crimes and crimes against humanity. Breivik could therefore serve more than the current maximum 21 years for terrorism-related charges. Norwegian police are ready to disclose the names of some of those killed, NRK television company reported. Police warned that the names would be announced gradually, “only after their relatives are notified,” Oslo police chief Arnstein Gjengedal said.
As much as Breivik’s horrid actions are a reminder that evil can be found in all parts of the world, this huge outpouring of love and strength is an even stronger reminder that good can resist against bad. It’s hard for those of us who aren’t personally touched by this tragedy to ever understand what the people of Norway must be going thru … but it is my hope that we can all stand tall with Norway and lend our love and support. Just as the world came together for the US in the wake of 9/11 to declare that we were all New Yorkers, I think we can all stand with Norway as Norwegians right now.
Eliza Dushku
Adriana Lima
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