And the Nominee for Norwegian Media Victim of the Year Is…
Dr. Manfred Gerstenfeld
So unbridled is much of the Norwegian media in leveling false charges that a special award has been created by Norwegian businessman Stray Spetalen — himself a victim of bias. The Stray Spetalen Award recognizes the individual on the receiving end of the most outrageous, distorted, shoddy and unprofessional treatment by the Norwegian media.
High in the running this year is Manfred Gerstenfeld, a PhD in environmental studies who also holds an advanced degree in Judaism from the Dutch Jewish Seminary. Editor of Behind The Humanitarian Mask, a collection of essays about the Nordic countries’ attitudes toward Israel, Gerstenfeld notes in that work’s introduction:
[I]n recent years part of the societal elites, particularly in Sweden and Norway, have been responsible for many pioneering efforts to demonize Israel. Prominent among the perpetrators are leading socialist and other leftist politicians, journalists, clergy, and employees of NGOs. This demonization is based on the classic motifs of anti-Semitism, which often also accompany its new mutation of anti-Israelism.
(CAMERA is also all too aware of the astounding shoddiness of Sweden’s — and Scandanavia’s — largest newspaper, Aftonbladet, publishers of 2009’s blood libel charging Israelis shoot Palestinians to harvest and traffic their organs.)
As chronicled on Norway, Israel and the Jews Gerstenfeld’s unmasking of Norwegian biases against Israel and Jews has prompted near-hysterical media response:
Aftenposten’s Harald Stanghelle has called him “a blinded fanatic”. NRK’s Sidsel Wold has called him a “Norway-hater”. NTB has called him an “aging, right-wing Israeli”. He is known throughout Scandinavia for statements he has never made and beliefs he has never harbored. For the sin of writing a book on anti-Semitism and anti-Israelism in the Nordic countries, he has been vilified, ridiculed and demonized. If anyone is eligible for Stray Spetalen’s ‘media victim’ award, it is Manfred Gerstenfeld
The blog goes to say:
If you support the nomination of Manfred Gerstenfeld for Stray Spetalen’s “media victim award”, write a polite and informative e-mail to: [email protected] — secretary at Schjødt legal firm.
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