Fjordman
Encyclopedia
Peder Are Nøstvold Jensen (born 11 June 1975) is a Norwegian
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

 far-right anti-Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and .   : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...

ic blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...

ger who writes under the pseudonym
Pseudonym
A pseudonym is a name that a person assumes for a particular purpose and that differs from his or her original orthonym...

 Fjordman. Jensen wrote anonymously as Fjordman starting in 2005, until he disclosed his identity in 2011. He has been active in the counterjihad
Counterjihad
Counterjihad is an Islamophobic, far-right intellectual political current. The roots of the movement goes back to the 1980s, but it did not gain significant momentum until after the September 11 attacks.-Counter-jihad ideology:...

 movement, which argues that multiculturalism
Multiculturalism
Multiculturalism is the appreciation, acceptance or promotion of multiple cultures, applied to the demographic make-up of a specific place, usually at the organizational level, e.g...

, particularly Muslim
Islam
Islam . The most common are and .   : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...

 immigration
Immigration
Immigration is the act of foreigners passing or coming into a country for the purpose of permanent residence...

, poses a threat to Western civilization
Western culture
Western culture, sometimes equated with Western civilization or European civilization, refers to cultures of European origin and is used very broadly to refer to a heritage of social norms, ethical values, traditional customs, religious beliefs, political systems, and specific artifacts and...

. According to The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...

, Jensen "has written numerous screeds accusing Muslims of secretly planning to take over Europe." Notably, he has advocated the 'Eurabia
Eurabia
Eurabia is a conspiracy theory about the alleged Arabization and Islamization of Europe, and the European leaders' alleged capitulation to Islamic influences.-Origin of the term:...

' conspiracy theory
Conspiracy theory
A conspiracy theory explains an event as being the result of an alleged plot by a covert group or organization or, more broadly, the idea that important political, social or economic events are the products of secret plots that are largely unknown to the general public.-Usage:The term "conspiracy...

 in a self-published book titled Defeating Eurabia, and argued that all Muslims should be deported
Deportation
Deportation means the expulsion of a person or group of people from a place or country. Today it often refers to the expulsion of foreign nationals whereas the expulsion of nationals is called banishment, exile, or penal transportation...

 from Europe. The Norwegian terrorist Anders Behring Breivik
Anders Behring Breivik
Anders Behring Breivik is a Norwegian terrorist, paranoid schizophrenic and the confessed perpetrator of the Norway attacks on 22 July 2011: the bombing of government buildings in Oslo that resulted in eight deaths, and the mass shooting at a camp of the Workers' Youth League of the Labour Party...

 quoted him extensively in his manifesto. According to the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, Fjordman is "considered a 'hero' among the bloggers and debaters constituting the new far right."

Early life, education and work

Peder Jensen grew up in Ålesund
Ålesund
is a town and municipality in Møre og Romsdal county, Norway. It is part of the traditional district of Sunnmøre, and the center of the Ålesund Region. It is a sea port, and is noted for its unique concentration of Art Nouveau architecture....

, in what he describes as a "Socialist Left
Socialist Left Party (Norway)
The Socialist Left Party or SV, is a Norwegian left-wing political party. At one point one of the smallest parties in Parliament, it became the fourth-largest political party in Norway for the first time in the 2001 parliamentary election, and has been so ever since...

-family". His parents are well-known personalities in Ålesund; his father an arranger of music concerts with a past in the former Marxist-Leninist Socialist Youth League (m-l), and his mother a historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...

 and writer. Jensen himself was for a short period in his youth a member of the Socialist Youth
Socialist Youth (Norway)
Socialist Youth is the youth league of the Socialist Left Party of Norway.The current head of the organisation is Olav Magnus Linge. SU considers itself a revolutionary party and wants to gain popular support for socialism in Norway. In this respect it differs from SV, the mother party.SU...

, the youth organisation of the Socialist Left Party. In 2011 he said that he was not affiliated with any political party, but that except having voted once in an election for the Labour Party, he has voted for the Progress Party
Progress Party (Norway)
The Progress Party is a political party in Norway which identifies as conservative liberal and libertarian. The media has described it as conservative and right-wing populist...

.

Jensen studied Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...

 at the University of Bergen
University of Bergen
The University of Bergen is located in Bergen, Norway. Although founded as late as 1946, academic activity had taken place at Bergen Museum as far back as 1825. The university today serves more than 14,500 students...

 and the American University in Cairo
American University in Cairo
The American University in Cairo is an independent, non-profit, apolitical, secular institution of higher learning located in Cairo, Egypt...

. He later obtained a master's degree
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...

 in culture and technology from the University of Oslo
University of Oslo
The University of Oslo , formerly The Royal Frederick University , is the oldest and largest university in Norway, situated in the Norwegian capital of Oslo. The university was founded in 1811 and was modelled after the recently established University of Berlin...

. His master thesis, published in 2004, was titled Blogging Iran – A Case Study of Iranian English Language Weblogs, and discussed censorship and blogging in Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...

. Jensen finished his conscription
Conscription
Conscription is the compulsory enlistment of people in some sort of national service, most often military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and continues in some countries to the present day under various names...

 service at the military camp in Setermoen
Setermoen
Setermoen is the administrative centre of the municipality of Bardu in Troms county, Norway. Its population is 2,457. The local administration declared city status for Setermoen in 1999, but this was rejected by the government of Norway since the municipality has less than 5,000...

. Considering himself an unsatisfactory soldier, he has never again touched a weapon. From the start of 2002 to the summer of 2003, Jensen worked for the Temporary International Presence in Hebron
Temporary International Presence in Hebron
Temporary International Presence in Hebron or TIPH is civilian observer mission in the in the West Bank city of Hebron. Both the Israeli Government and Palestinian Authority called for its creation...

 (TIPH). In 2011, until his identity as the blogger Fjordman was revealed, he worked at a daycenter.

According to his own account, the turning point in Jensen's life came when he was a student in Cairo during the September 11 attacks. According to Jensen, "Western media claimed no Arabs were happy about the attacks. This is not true. Some of my neighbors celebrated the event with a spontaneous cake party, and felt what had happened was great." After returning home, Jensen began writing commentaries to Norway's leading newspapers, but claims his controversial opinions were not published by the mainstream media. After having a number of articles rejected, he eventually decided to start his own blog instead, using the alias "Fjordman".

Before writing as Fjordman, Jensen wrote a few times in newspapers using his full name. Early public writings from Jensen appear in 2000 in the national newspaper Dagbladet
Dagbladet
Dagbladet is Norway's second largest tabloid newspaper, and the third largest newspaper overall with a circulation of 105,255 copies in 2009, 18,128 papers less than in 2008. The editor in chief is Lars Helle....

and the regional paper Sunnmørsposten
Sunnmørsposten
Sunnmørsposten is a newspaper published by Mecom Group in Ålesund, Norway. Published in compact format six days a week, it consists of two sections; one for local news, sports and classified ads, and one for culture, weather, opinions and editorials and obituaries...

, where he criticises feminism
Feminism
Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...

. He also wrote comments under full name in newspapers Aftenposten
Aftenposten
Aftenposten is Norway's largest newspaper. It retook this position in 2010, taking it from the tabloid Verdens Gang which had been the largest newspaper for several decades. It is based in Oslo. The morning edition, which is distributed across all of Norway, had a circulation of 250,179 in 2007...

and Verdens Gang
Verdens Gang
Verdens Gang , generally known under the abbreviation VG, is a Norwegian tabloid newspaper...

. Jensen started writing under the pseudonym "Norwegian kafir" on several blogs in the early 2000s, until he took the pseudonym "Fjordman" in 2005.

The Fjordman writings

Fjordman blogged on his own web log in 2005, giving it up at the end of the year. Since then, he has "guested" and commented in other blogs including Brussels Journal, Gates of Vienna, Jihad Watch
Jihad Watch
Jihad Watch is a blog affiliated with the David Horowitz Freedom Center, which is run independently by American author Robert Spencer. It is considered an important platform for the counterjihad movement....

, Document.no
Document.no
Document.no is a Norwegian website, which describes itself as a "blog on politics, public debate, media criticism and culture." The website holds positions that are critical towards Islam and immigration, and supportive of Israel. The National Library of Norway classifies document.no under...

, Faith Freedom International
Faith Freedom International
Faith Freedom International is a website that is critical of Islam. FFI identifies itself as "a grassroots worldwide movement of ex-Muslims and all those who are concerned about the rise of the Islamic threat"...

, Free Republic
Free Republic
Free Republic is a moderated Internet forum for activists, and chat site for self-described conservatives, primarily within the United States. It presents articles and comments posted pseudonymously by registered members, known as "Freepers", using screen names...

, Daily Pundit, Global Politician
Global Politician
Global Politician is an online magazine of politics that publishes analysis of current events, as well as interviews with politicians, government officials, diplomats, book authors and terrorists. It was founded in October 2004 and is based in New York....

and FrontPage Magazine. Fjordman published a compilation of his articles in print via lulu.com
Lulu.com
Lulu is a company offering publishing, printing, and distribution services with headquarters in Raleigh, North Carolina. Since their founding in 2002, Lulu has published over 1.1 million titles by creators in over 200 countries and territories and adds 20,000 new titles to their catalogue a month...

 in November 2008.

Ole Jørgen Anfindsen
Ole Jørgen Anfindsen
Ole Jørgen Anfindsen is a Norwegian computer scientist, author and social commentator. Anfindsen holds a Ph.D. degree in computer science from the University of Oslo. Using the research results from his doctoral thesis, he formed the company Xymphonic Systems to use the technology commercially...

, writer and editor at Honestthinking.org, has said of Fjordman that "for six to seven years [he] has been a phenomenon on the internet," and considers him "world famous in the sense that his articles have received millions of hits on the internet, and that thousands of people read him regularly." Fjordman denies that he is an "extremist", and sees himself simply as having "a strong dedication to truth." Norwegian historian
Historian
A historian is a person who studies and writes about the past and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all history in time. If the individual is...

 Vidar Enebakk has dismissed attempts to label Fjordman's writings as "stupidity" or "racism". After becoming aware of the extent of Fjordman's publications on the history of science, he considered that "the scope and extent is impressive, and much of the content is hauntingly good," but he criticised the way he thought Fjordman misused academic research for political purposes.

Views

Jensen has written negatively about multiculturalism
Multiculturalism
Multiculturalism is the appreciation, acceptance or promotion of multiple cultures, applied to the demographic make-up of a specific place, usually at the organizational level, e.g...

, the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...

, feminism
Feminism
Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women. Its concepts overlap with those of women's rights...

 and Islam
Islam
Islam . The most common are and .   : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...

. He is an outspoken proponent of Bat Ye'or
Bat Ye'or
Bat Ye'or is a pseudonym of Gisèle Littman, née Orebi, an Egyptian-born British writer and political commentator who writes about the history of non-Muslims in the Middle East, and in particular the history of Christian and Jewish dhimmis living under Islamic governments.She is the author of eight...

's concept of a "Eurabia
Eurabia
Eurabia is a conspiracy theory about the alleged Arabization and Islamization of Europe, and the European leaders' alleged capitulation to Islamic influences.-Origin of the term:...

" plot, which according to Marján and Sapir is "based on an extremist-right conspiracy theory
Conspiracy theory
A conspiracy theory explains an event as being the result of an alleged plot by a covert group or organization or, more broadly, the idea that important political, social or economic events are the products of secret plots that are largely unknown to the general public.-Usage:The term "conspiracy...

, according to which Europe and the Arab states would join forces to make life impossible for Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...

 and Islamize the old continent." Jensen wrote an essay titled "The Eurabia Code" in support of the concept, in which he says that "[T]he 'Jewish threat' in the 1930s was entirely fictional, whereas the 'Islamic threat' now is very real." his book compiling his articles is titled Defeating Eurabia. As solution Jensen has proposed the removal of all Muslims from Europe, if necessary by force.

The Norwegian News Agency
Norwegian News Agency
The Norwegian News Agency is a Norwegian press agency and wire service that serves many of the largest Norwegian media outlets. It also cooperates closely with the photo agency Scanpix, in which it has a 50% ownership share.NTB was founded in 1867...

 has stated that "Fjordman" "[is] considered a very central far-right and anti-Islamic voice in Europe." Andrew Brown characterises him as "[an] Islamophobe who has for years been predicting civil war between Muslims and their neighbours." The researcher Terje Emberland at the Norwegian Center for Studies of Holocaust and Religious Minorities
Norwegian Center for Studies of Holocaust and Religious Minorities
The Center for Studies of Holocaust and Religious Minorities in Norway opened its doors to the public on August 24, 2006 at the former residence of Vidkun Quisling known as Villa Grande, on the peninsula of Bygdøy in Oslo.The center's endowment was donated by the Norwegian government at the behest...

 states that "Fjordman"'s views are based on a conspiracy theory
Conspiracy theory
A conspiracy theory explains an event as being the result of an alleged plot by a covert group or organization or, more broadly, the idea that important political, social or economic events are the products of secret plots that are largely unknown to the general public.-Usage:The term "conspiracy...

, and that "Islamophobes like Fjordman believe they have seen through an evil power that will throw Europe into a civil war. Therefore, they argue that all means must be used to save the Western culture; implicit in this is the threat of violence."

Jensen believes that the Western governments promoting the influx of non-white
White people
White people is a term which usually refers to human beings characterized, at least in part, by the light pigmentation of their skin...

 immigrants are demonstrating "white masochism
White guilt
White guilt refers to the concept of individual or collective guilt often said to be felt by some white people for the racist treatment of people of color by whites both historically and presently...

", and that white people have the right to "preserve [their] heritage" and be "under no obligation to commit collective suicide". He denies that this is a white supremacist
White supremacy
White supremacy is the belief, and promotion of the belief, that white people are superior to people of other racial backgrounds. The term is sometimes used specifically to describe a political ideology that advocates the social and political dominance by whites.White supremacy, as with racial...

 view, stating that "Whites ... are currently the only racial group specifically denied the opportunity to defend their countries and heritage." He also rejects accusations of racism
Racism
Racism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...

, stating that "non-whites attacking whites" constituted "the vast majority of racist violence in Western nations". He argues that "in Europe today, Marxists and Leftists of all kinds virtually control Western media and academia", and that "White critics of mass immigration" are systematically demonized as racists and right-wing extremists. Jensen argues for the preservation of a native majority, including indigenous Europeans, and demands an extremely restrictive immigration policy, the dissolution of the European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...

 and the "rejection of multiculturalism
Multiculturalism
Multiculturalism is the appreciation, acceptance or promotion of multiple cultures, applied to the demographic make-up of a specific place, usually at the organizational level, e.g...

". He argues that otherwise, Europeans would have to conclude that the governments have given up on their people, and that the laws and taxes which they impose on them are therefore illegitimate.

2011 Norway attacks

Shortly after the bombing of Oslo in the 2011 Norway attacks
2011 Norway attacks
The 2011 Norway attacks were two sequential terrorist attacks against the government, the civilian population and a summer camp in Norway on 22 July 2011....

 (when it still was believed the terrorist was an Islamist), Fjordman asked his regular readers at the Gates of Vienna blog to "remember" that Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg
Jens Stoltenberg
is a Norwegian politician, leader of the Norwegian Labour Party and the current Prime Minister of Norway. Having assumed office on 17 October 2005, Stoltenberg previously served as Prime Minister from 2000 to 2001....

 was as much a "pathetic sucker for Islam as it is humanly possible to be". When the shooting at Utøya became known a few hours later, Fjordman described the Workers' Youth League
Workers' Youth League (Norway)
The Workers' Youth League is Norways biggest political youth organization, and is affiliated with the Norwegian Labour Party.AUF took its current form in April 1927, following the merger of Left Communist Youth League and Socialist Youth League of Norway corresponding with the merger of its...

 (AUF) under attack as a "gang of anti-Israeli, pro-Palestine youth-socialists". Anders Behring Breivik
Anders Behring Breivik
Anders Behring Breivik is a Norwegian terrorist, paranoid schizophrenic and the confessed perpetrator of the Norway attacks on 22 July 2011: the bombing of government buildings in Oslo that resulted in eight deaths, and the mass shooting at a camp of the Workers' Youth League of the Labour Party...

, the man accused in the 2011 Norway attacks, frequently praised writings of Fjordman, citing him extensively in his manifesto. In response to learning the identity of the terrorist, Fjordman strongly distanced himself from Breivik, whom he referred to as a "violent psychopath", and said he "intensely dislike[d]" the fact that he was cited by Breivik. He also advocated giving Breivik the death penalty.

In the aftermath of the attacks, the police confiscated Jensen's PC and questioned him, saying they wanted to "investigate how [he] might have influenced the charged man". In the weeks following the terrorist attacks, there was intense speculation regarding his identity. The week after the attacks Jensen reported to PST, the Norwegian internal security police. A few days later he was called in for questioning, and agreed to have his premises searched. The same day he revealed his identity in an interview with the newspaper Verdens Gang, and proclaimed that he would never again blog under the pseudonym Fjordman. He also questioned whether he would ever return to blogging, citing his exhaustion from the time after the attacks.

The next day he did blog under that name, describing how he had felt abused when the police searched through his house, a treatment he viewed as "politically motivated". Prior to the search Jensen hid his computer in a safety deposit box at the central station in Oslo. According to the police he had not intended to provide the computer, but changed his mind when he understood that the police would ask for a court order if he refused.

Continuing writing

On 10 October 2011, Jensen announced on the blog 'Vlad Tepes', that due to having been involuntarily mixed in with the Breivik-case, he had become unemployed and was in the process of finding a new place to live. He in turn asked for donations from his supporters in what he dubbed a "Fjordman Relocation Fund". He also complained that his reply to a critical article in newspaper Aftenposten
Aftenposten
Aftenposten is Norway's largest newspaper. It retook this position in 2010, taking it from the tabloid Verdens Gang which had been the largest newspaper for several decades. It is based in Oslo. The morning edition, which is distributed across all of Norway, had a circulation of 250,179 in 2007...

had been rejected by the newspaper (it was instead, however, published on the 'Vlad Tepes' blog), and about having been indirectly parodied in a Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation show as the paraplegic character "Heine Fjordland".

Jensen wrote in an opinion piece published in Verdens Gang on 24 October, under the headline "Fjordman lives on," that he would continue writing with "undiminished force." He also announced that he would continue publishing his writings on blogs in English and Norwegian if newspapers would not publish them, and that he planned to release a new book by the next year. In an opinion piece published in Aftenposten the same day, he complained about what he considered to be harassment by the police in the aftermath of the July terror attacks.

Print publications

  • Defeating Eurabia. Bj Books, 2008. ISBN 9781409247159
  • Appendix in: Ole Jørgen Anfindsen. Selvmordsparadigmet: hvordan politisk korrekthet ødelegger samfunnet. [The Suicide Paradigm: How Political Correctness Destroys Society.] Oslo: Koloritt, 2010. ISBN 9788292395790
  • Europa verteidigen. Zehn Texte. Albersroda 2011. ISBN 9783935063661

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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