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Author Jostein Gaarder is shocked by the backlash after his volatile opinion article in Aftenposten criticizing Israel's recent actions in Lebanon. The piece has fired fierce debate on political, religious and cultural fronts
"For the first time in my life I have begun to look over my shoulder," Gaarder said after his article was published in Aftenposten on Saturday.
The article, titled "God's chosen people" has since been compared with Adolf Hitler's "Mein Kampf".
"The last few days have been tough. The language in the debate has been so hard that I have been frightened," Gaarder, best known for the novel Sophie's World, told newspaper Dagbladet.
"Being compared to "Mein Kampf" and called an anti-Semite was the hardest. That hurt me. My conscience drove me to write a text urging Israel to reconcile - it is far from anti-Semitic," Gaarder said.
But Gaarder's imagery and angles of argumentation have drawn fire from several sectors, even those who may share his intention of constructive criticism. Censure from fellow authors has also followed.
Roy Jacobsen interpreted Gaarder's piece as more of a religious outburst than a realistic political commentary. "This is a defensive war. All nations would do the same if they, like Israel, were attacked by missiles launched from a foreign state by a gangster militia," Jacobsen told newspaper VG.
Novelist Erik Fosnes Hansen criticized Gaarder's foray into religion.
"I don't believe this is wise. He should have stayed away from what Jewish belief. It is irrelevant to the matter. This is not about religion, it is about politics," Hansen told VG.
Other writers support Gaarder's intentions and feel the negative reactions are due to angry digressions from his point.
"I think the reactions to Gaarder's article are absolutely appalling. It is clear that Gaarder is a victim of people not reading the article properly," novelist Unni Lindell told VG.
http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article1413929.ece
Middle East researcher Hilde Henriksen Waage believes that Jostein Gaarder's intention of debating Israeli policy has drowned in familiar cries of anti-Semitism, especially due to his muddled argumentation
"If I had read Jostein Gaarder's article before it went to print I would have, pointedly, advised him: Get police protection, get a lawyer and leave the country," Henriksen Waage told Aftenposten.no.
"He has been hit with the same accusations that all others who try to discuss the policy of the state of Israel, namely accusations of anti-Semitism," said the associate professor at the University of Oslo.
"This label is used to hinder discussion. Instead of having a discussion of Israel's war in the Middle East, which was Gaarder's intention, we have a discussion about Jostein Gaarder," Henriksen Waage said. "When I first read it, I thought, 'this is a gift to the Friends of Israel'".
She believes that Gaarder's approach is equally responsible for the strong reactions provoked.
"It is clear that the literary, nearly biblical, techniques used have not gone over well," she said.
Henriksen Waage would rather have discussed Gaarder's "hodgepodge of arguments", but the researcher instead sees everything being deafened by the accusations of anti-Semitism.
Henriksen Waage doubts that Gaarder will manage to get the debate back on track, but if he is to try he needs to communicate and explain his intentions clearly.
Hans
Marius Tonstad
Aftenposten English Web Desk
Jonathan Tisdall
http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article1414428.ece
As culture journalist Mona Levin and author Jostein Gaarder continue to debate the latter's harsh criticism of recent Israeli policy, mutual understanding has begun to grow.
After yet another verbal duel, Mona Levin and Jostein Gaarder continue their discussion after a national television segment aped atop Oslo's City Hall.
"If you knew what I have gotten via e-mail, SMS and telephone," Levin tells Gaarder.
"Very many begin with: 'Gaarder is right - Israel should be erased.' And this is important for you to know. Because this is how you have been read. Do you think it is amusing to be thought to be behind this?" Levin says, and shows a sampling of the messages she has received.
* "All Jews are just shit."* "Israel is a gangster state."* "Gaarder is right."* "Hitler was right."
On Monday Levin received at least 150 e-mails, SMS and telephone messages, and she estimates that 20 percent were malicious.
"I cannot understand how someone can reach such conclusions from what I wrote. I have two thoughts: This makes me terribly sad. I care about people, and so also Mona Levin. If this is the case I am deeply unhappy. But we must also have freedom of speech," says Gaarder, and pulls out his own mobile phone.
"Don't apologize, Jostein. Instead ask people to read the article properly ... I have several good Jewish friends who despair of the situation and who support you," reads one SMS message from an author colleague.
Levin says she has trouble believing this, and Gaarder proceeds to read out other, similar, messages from colleagues who have read Gaarder as he intended to be read.
Détente?
The problem can be one of miscommunication, Gaarder wants to discuss Israel
while Levin is most concerned with the consequences of what Gaarder has written.
Gaarder will reexamine his piece word by word, he wants to reach an accord with
Levin.
"The best thing would be if I manage to convince him," Levin says.
"You have convinced me, a bit," says Gaarder.
"Did you hear that! And I agree that you are no anti-Semite," Levin says.
"I wish that we could meet and reach a reconciliation," Gaarder says.
"We can go out and have dinner one day," is Levin's reply, though the debate is not yet over.
Åshild
Bekke Eidem
Aftenposten English Web Desk
Jonathan Tisdall
http://www.aftenposten.no/english/local/article1414191.ece