Utøya - Muslim Part 1
In July of 2011, Anders Breivik detonated a bomb in an Oslo street adjacent to the of ce of the Norwegian Prime Minister. He then travelled about 40 kilometers to the small island of Utoya, where the ruling Norwegian Labour Party was holding its annual youth summer camp, and roamed for over an hour shooting people on sight. By the end of his rampage, he had killed 77 people.
Breivik is often seen as a fanatic who was driven by a hatred of Islam. In the sprawling 1,500-page document he refers to as his “compendium,” he devotes over 700 pages to attacking the Muslim religion. The title he gave that document, 2083, is a reference to the 1683 Battle of Vienna, in which the forces of European Christendom defeated the Ottoman Empire. Breivik believes that by 2083 the second defeat of Islam in Europe will be nearing completion.
But why would he murder 77 young people, FEW of whom WERE MUSLIMS!!?
To find out, I analyzed key documents
relating to the Breivik case, including
his writings and statements to court,
and the psychiatric reports on him commissioned by the court.
In Breivik’s case, two additional psychological factors play key roles: his fragile masculinity, and sense of grandiosity.
The case of Anders Breivik shows us that in addition to contextual factors, such as the circulation of hateful rhetoric, there is a deeper set of motives at work: a desire to counter a sense of humiliation and express rage. Through his violent acts, he tried to restore both his culture, as he saw it, and his manhood.
In 2083, Breivik argues that Norway and other European societies are under attack from within, from Islam and its spon- sors. “We know that once the Muslims reach approximately 50 percent of the population there will be a conflict which is likely to result in enormous human suffering,” he wrote.
In July of 2011, Anders Breivik detonated a bomb in an Oslo street adjacent to the of ce of the Norwegian Prime Minister. He then travelled about 40 kilometers to the small island of Utoya, where the ruling Norwegian Labour Party was holding its annual youth summer camp, and roamed for over an hour shooting people on sight. By the end of his rampage, he had killed 77 people.
Breivik is often seen as a fanatic who was driven by a hatred of Islam. In the sprawling 1,500-page document he refers to as his “compendium,” he devotes over 700 pages to attacking the Muslim religion. The title he gave that document, 2083, is a reference to the 1683 Battle of Vienna, in which the forces of European Christendom defeated the Ottoman Empire. Breivik believes that by 2083 the second defeat of Islam in Europe will be nearing completion.
But why would he murder 77 young people, FEW of whom WERE MUSLIMS!!?
To find out, I analyzed key documents
relating to the Breivik case, including
his writings and statements to court,
and the psychiatric reports on him commissioned by the court.
In Breivik’s case, two additional psychological factors play key roles: his fragile masculinity, and sense of grandiosity.
The case of Anders Breivik shows us that in addition to contextual factors, such as the circulation of hateful rhetoric, there is a deeper set of motives at work: a desire to counter a sense of humiliation and express rage. Through his violent acts, he tried to restore both his culture, as he saw it, and his manhood.
In 2083, Breivik argues that Norway and other European societies are under attack from within, from Islam and its spon- sors. “We know that once the Muslims reach approximately 50 percent of the population there will be a conflict which is likely to result in enormous human suffering,” he wrote.