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| Bus seats mistaken for burqas by members of anti-immigrant group | Bus seats mistaken for burqas by members of anti-immigrant group |
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| A Norwegian anti-immigrant group has been roundly ridiculed after members mistook a photograph of six empty Oslo bus seats posted on its Facebook page for a group of women wearing burqas. | A Norwegian anti-immigrant group has been roundly ridiculed after members mistook a photograph of six empty Oslo bus seats posted on its Facebook page for a group of women wearing burqas. |
| “Tragic” and “terrifying” were among the comments posted by members of the closed Fedrelandet viktigst, or “Fatherland first”, group beneath the photograph, according to screenshots on the Norwegian news website Nettavisen. | “Tragic” and “terrifying” were among the comments posted by members of the closed Fedrelandet viktigst, or “Fatherland first”, group beneath the photograph, according to screenshots on the Norwegian news website Nettavisen. |
| Other members of the 13,000-strong group wondered whether the non-existent passengers might be carrying bombs or weapons beneath their clothes. “This looks really scary,” wrote one. “Should be banned. You can’t tell who’s underneath. Could be terrorists.” | Other members of the 13,000-strong group wondered whether the non-existent passengers might be carrying bombs or weapons beneath their clothes. “This looks really scary,” wrote one. “Should be banned. You can’t tell who’s underneath. Could be terrorists.” |
| Further comments read: “Ghastly. This should never happen,” “Get them out of our country – frightening times we are living in,” and: “I thought it would be like this in the year 2050, but it is happening now,” according to thelocal.no. | Further comments read: “Ghastly. This should never happen,” “Get them out of our country – frightening times we are living in,” and: “I thought it would be like this in the year 2050, but it is happening now,” according to thelocal.no. |
| The photograph was posted “for a joke” by the journalist Johan Slåttavik, who told Nettavisen he was “interested to see how people’s perceptions of an image are influenced by how others around them react. I ended up having a good laugh.” | |
| It went viral in Norway after others shared screenshots of the group’s reactions. Sindre Beyer, whose post was shared more than 1,500 times, asked: “What happens when a photo of some empty bus seats is posted to a disgusting Facebook group, and nearly everyone thinks they see a bunch of burqas?” | It went viral in Norway after others shared screenshots of the group’s reactions. Sindre Beyer, whose post was shared more than 1,500 times, asked: “What happens when a photo of some empty bus seats is posted to a disgusting Facebook group, and nearly everyone thinks they see a bunch of burqas?” |
| He told Nettavisen: “I’m shocked at how much hate and fake news is spread [on the Fedrelandet viktigst page]. So much hatred against empty bus seats certainly shows that prejudice wins out over wisdom.” | He told Nettavisen: “I’m shocked at how much hate and fake news is spread [on the Fedrelandet viktigst page]. So much hatred against empty bus seats certainly shows that prejudice wins out over wisdom.” |
| The head of Norway’s Antiracist Centre, Rune Berglund Steen, told the site that people plainly “see what they want to see – and what these people want to see are dangerous Muslims”. | The head of Norway’s Antiracist Centre, Rune Berglund Steen, told the site that people plainly “see what they want to see – and what these people want to see are dangerous Muslims”. |
| Norway recently became the latest European country to propose restrictions on the wearing of burqas and niqabs, tabling a law that will bar them from kindergartens, schools and universities. France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Bulgaria and the German state of Bavaria all restrict full-face veils in public places. | Norway recently became the latest European country to propose restrictions on the wearing of burqas and niqabs, tabling a law that will bar them from kindergartens, schools and universities. France, the Netherlands, Belgium, Bulgaria and the German state of Bavaria all restrict full-face veils in public places. |
| The country’s minority government, a coalition of the centre-right Conservatives and the populist Progress party that faces elections next month, said in June it was confident it would find opposition support for the move. | |
| “We have every reason to believe this will be approved by parliament,” said the education minister, Torbjørn Røe Isaksen. The immigration and integration minister, Per Sandberg, said face-covering garments such as the niqab or burqa “do not belong in Norwegian schools. The ability to communicate is a basic value.” | “We have every reason to believe this will be approved by parliament,” said the education minister, Torbjørn Røe Isaksen. The immigration and integration minister, Per Sandberg, said face-covering garments such as the niqab or burqa “do not belong in Norwegian schools. The ability to communicate is a basic value.” |