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Norway — Action plan against Antisemitism 2021–2023

Mesures

  1. Further develop the schools project ‘Democratic Preparedness against Racism, Antisemitism and Undemocratic Attitudes’ (Dembra) (Responsible : Ministry of Education and Research) For many years, Dembra’s focus was on lower and upper secondary schools, whereas from 2020, primary schools were also included in this initiative. There is also an ongoing (2018–2021) Dembra project for teacher trainers (Dembra LU). Dembra LU seeks to strengthen teacher competencies in topics linked to antisemitism, racism, prejudice and discrimination in teacher training. Teaching resources have been developed to give student teachers a good set of tools to understand and reflect on discrimination and group-focused enmity associated with educational institutions around the country. The government will continue to develop Dembra in the years ahead.
  2. Grants for school trips for pupils (Responsible : Ministry of Education and Research) The grant scheme’s objective is to encourage school owners, schools and groups of parents to organise trips to former concentration camps or memorial sites for pupils in lower and upper secondary education. The grant scheme also covers trips within Norway. The educational aspect should focus on relevant topics associated with antisemitism, hate and prejudice, alienation and group thinking, human rights, human worth and democracy. The target group is secondary school pupils.
  3. Grants for courses for teachers (Responsible : Ministry of Education and Research) In the spring of 2021, the Falstad Centre and the Norwegian Center for Holocaust and Minority Studies will be holding courses for teachers based on the recently translated teaching resources about the Holocaust published by the IHRA.
  4. Continue the support for the Jewish Community of Oslo’s educational programme, including the Jewish Pathfinders initiative (Reponsible : Ministry of Local Government and Modernisation) The government considers it important to support the work undertaken by the Jewish minority to inform the general public about Judaism and Jews in Norway. These initiatives help to combat antisemitism in Norwegian society. Support for the Jewish Community of Oslo’s educational programme will be continued in this current action plan period.
  5. Maintain the level of funding for the Jewish museums in Oslo and Trondheim and the Jewish Cultural Festival Trondheim (Responsible : Ministry of Culture) The Jewish museums in Oslo and Trondheim disseminate knowledge about the various ways that Jewish culture has flourished in Norway, in both local communities and on the national stage. In this way the museums showcase a diverse perspective on Jewish culture and history in this country. The Jewish museums’ core activities include running a variety of projects and events to combat antisemitism. Revenue funding allocated to the Jewish museum in Trondheim has quadrupled since 2015 and revenue funding allocated to the Jewish museum in Oslo has doubled since 2014. This reflects a positive development for the museums. The government will maintain its level of support in the time ahead. The Jewish Cultural Festival has received annual support from Arts Council Norway since 2011, and was awarded a multi-year grant for the period 2014–2016. Since 2017, support for the Jewish Cultural Festival has been channelled via the Jewish museum in Trondheim. In 2020, the funding amounted to NOK 430,000.
  6. Establish a national competence centre for combatting hate crime as a resource for all police districts (Responsible: Ministry of Justice and Public Security) In recent years, the police service has put in targeted efforts to raise their competence in relation to hate crime. For unknown reasons, crime statistics nevertheless show reasonably large variations between the number of hate crimes reported in different police districts. This means that the level of experience gained in dealing with such cases will differ between regional police forces. The national competence centre will contribute significantly to bolstering the police’s nationwide efforts to prevent and combat hate crime, including antisemitism.
  7. Conduct attitude surveys every five years (Responsible: The Ministry of Culture, in collaboration with the Ministry of Children and Families, the Ministry of Local Government and Modernisation, the Ministry of Education and Research and the Ministry of Justice and Public Security) Every five years, surveys will be conducted that identify the population’s attitudes to Jews and other minorities. The surveys will be designed to enable comparison with the surveys conducted in 2012 and 2017 by the Norwegian Center for Holocaust and Minority Studies. The latest survey is underway and the results will be published in 2022. On completion, we will have access to comparable statistics for a full decade about attitudes to Jews in Norwegian society. The ministries involved will co-fund this measure.
  8. Monitor antisemitism on the internet (pilot project) (Responsible: The Ministry of Local Government and Modernisation) Negative attitudes towards and prejudices against Jews are persistent and difficult to get rid of, also in a Norwegian context. Antisemitic speech is found in various fora on the internet and social media. The Ministry of Local Government and Modernisation has provided funding for a pilot project run by the Norwegian Centre against Racism to monitor antisemitism on the internet and social media. This involves the monitoring of circles that are expressly antisemitic as well as circles that are not intrinsically antisemitic. The Norwegian Centre against Racism has extensive knowledge of circles that express and promote antisemitism and other forms of racism and hate speech, and of the online activities of these groups. Based on this pilot project, the government will consider whether it will be beneficial to have longer term initiatives to monitor antisemitism on the internet and social media as recommended by the report published by the Institute for Social Research (ISF).
  9. Conclude the research programme on antisemitism and Jewish life in present-day Norway (Responsible: The Ministry of Local Government and Modernisation) The Ministry of Local Government and Modernisation has awarded funds to a research programme on antisemitism and Jewish life in present-day Norway. The objective is to strengthen the general body of research on these issues. The projects were advertised by the Research Council of Norway with a February 2017 application deadline. The research projects are now well underway and are expected to be completed in 2021–2022.
  10. Bring to a conclusion the PhD/postdoctoral positions for research on the prevention of group-focused prejudices in schools (Responsible: The Ministry of Education and Research and the Ministry of Local Government and Modernisation) The Ministry of Education and Research and the Ministry of Local Government and Modernisation fund PhD/postdoctoral positions for the purpose of research on group-focused prejudices, including antisemitism. The objective is to strengthen competencies among teachers and school children, and to contribute to the long-term work of building positive attitudes in schools. The projects were advertised by the Research Council of Norway in 2017 and are expected to see completion in 2021–2022.
  11. Continue Norway’s international commitment to combatting antisemitism and preserving Jewish heritage in Europe (Responsible: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs) Norway will continue to work in close partnership with international organisations to help combat antisemitism and preserve Jewish heritage.
  12. Evaluate the overall effort to combat antisemitism (Responsible: The Ministry of Local Government and Modernisation) In 2021, the Ministry of Local Government and Modernisation will announce funding for an external evaluation of the overall efforts that have gone into combatting antisemitism, including evaluating measures from both the previous and current action plans. Evaluations of both concluded and ongoing measures will be sought.