When I wrote about NRK's story on Ester Kristoffer in April, I hadn't actually seen the news report myself. Now I have, (even found myself in two of the shots), and I've made a transcript. Here's the Norwegian version, and a translation. Keep the real story in mind as you read it.

According to the PFU documents I've read, and which I'll publish later, NRK and Kristoffer disagree about what the report says about her. Does NRK really tie her to a secret network of Christians controlled by the Israeli government? NRK denies this. On one level, they're correct. The report never states any of this. But it's designed to leave that impression. Eirik Veum uses clever editing and selective quoting to imply a lot more than he says.

Here are some of the things NRK says in the report:

- The Israeli government has "silently begun a close cooperation with several organizations and congregations" in Norway, to "improve Israel's reputation in Norway, and soften criticism against Israel's treatment of Palestinians in the occupied territories." Ester's network has been established "in cooperation with the Israeli government".

- A "golden age" of "mutual understanding and friendship" between Norway and Israel, when "many forgot that another people already lived in the Promised Land", is contrasted with the way people today "raise questions about Israel's treatment of Palestinians". The anti-terror project is said to "work for Israel", want a return to this golden age, and want to change the way it today is "Palestinians who receive support and sympathy". A priest in the State Church warns that some pro-Israelis have a "very clear political goal of supporting Israel".

- Ester's network "plan activities where they intend to show the results of what they refer to as Palestinian terror". They want Norwegians to learn more about Palestinian terror attacks. "And then Norwegians will finally understand."

- Ester's network has "influential" members who prefer to stay hidden. The "leaders with power and resources .. prefer to work for Israel outside the media search light. .. People from the military, the business community, former employees of NRK and TV2, and politicians at Stortinget are part of the network."

- Leif A. Wellerop at the International Christian Embassy in Jerusalem (IKAJ) "is referred to as one of the key people" in a "massive campaign of mobilization" among Christians, beyond the control of the more skeptical State Church. IKAJ runs an "information campaign aimed at congregations all over the country. .. Everything takes place in close cooperation with the Israeli embassy in Oslo."

- The leader of God's Lamb Church spoke to Veum about his "cooperation with the Israeli government", but decided to withdraw the interview. "The Israeli government is also silent about the cooperation it has with its Norwegian supporters."

- Ester Kristoffer says that her group has an "ongoing dialogue with the Israeli Embassy about what we're doing, and we're also talking to the Foreign Ministry in Israel". She's also quoted as saying that her "network" could never have been able to "carry out its activities" if it hadn't been for the "strong support we've received from Christians".

Some of these claims are true in isolation, and some are not. There were some "influential" people loosely involved with the anti-terror meetings. Jo Benkow took part in higher level planning, and was vital to getting other politicians to speak at the anti-terror meeting in Hamar, which he headed himself. He also sat on the board of the research fund we created. He was the only influential person deeply involved with the project. Jahn Otto Johansen from NRK was very supportive of the project, but after the NRK report aired he decided not to get further involved. A general major in the military also expressed support to Ester, but was never involved with the project. All of these people and more were named by Ester to NRK. She claims she never asked for their names to be withheld.

There was also, true enough, contact with the Israeli embassy. The bus drivers from Jerusalem needed an official invitation through the Israeli Foreign Ministry to be able to go. That was the "ongoing dialogue" Ester refers to.

And then there's what NRK implies:

- Statements by Ester about the anti-terror project are mixed together with statements from and about the Christian pro-Israeli community, with no hint that these are separate groups. The first is non-religious and primarily concerned about terror, while the second is religious and primarily concerned about Israel. Viewers are led to believe that Ester's meeting and Wellerops' "massive information campaign" are related.

- The word "network" is used consistently throughout the report to refer to the anti-terror project. Coming between statements about people who prefer to be anonymous, and warnings against Christian information campaigns taking place "partly in hiding", the word "network" implies something much larger and more sinister than what it was: Another word "some people who got together to hold an anti-terror meeting". According to Ester, Eirik Veum kept repeating his questions about the "network" until she began to use the word herself.

- The phrasing used to describe the contact these groups have with the Israeli embassy ("the Israeli government has silently begun a close cooperation") implies that Israel is the active party in this relationship. In the case of the anti-terror meetings, it was the other way around.

- Leif A. Wellerop at IKAJ is named as a key person "in this mobilization of Christians". By reading the transcript carefully you see that NRK never equals Wellerop's "mobilization" with Ester's "network", but that is the impression it leaves. Wellerop was in no way involved with the anti-terror project.

- A "golden age" of "mutual understanding and friendship" between Norway and Israel, when "many forgot that another people already lived in the Promised Land", is contrasted with the way people today "raise questions about Israel's treatment of Palestinians". The anti-terror project is said to "work for Israel", want a return to this golden age, and want to "change" the way it today is "Palestinians who receive support and sympathy". A priest in the State Church warns that some pro-Israelis have a "very clear political goal of supporting Israel".

- It is implied that the anti-terror project supports Israel's policies at the expense of sympathy with Palestinians. In reality, the project was about taking a stand against terrorism, including Palestinian terrorism, and had no opinion on other aspects of the conflict. And while some individuals in the project (such as Ester Kristoffer) were primarily concerned with Israel, that does not mean that they support Israel's policies against Palestinians. I don't believe Ester has ever said that the Sharon government is right to liquidate Hamas leaders and build a wall around the West Bank. To her, and most of the "pro-Israelis" I've met in this project, what Sharon does is a separate issue from the way the conflict is presented in Norway. The problem is not criticism of Israel, or criticism of Sharon - Israelis themselves are the first to criticize their own government. The problem is ignorance, hypocrisy and lack of compassion, all of which they believe NRK is guilty of in its Middle East coverage.

And perhaps the greatest flaw in NRK's report is that it shows no interest in examing what these people believe in and why. Veum states that the network wants to soften criticism of Israel's policies - and leaves it at that. It's not like he doesn't have any material to go on. Ester talked to him for hours about her views about the media and Israel. Veum chooses not to use this material, preferring a sensational and dishonest report to a truthful one. The people he talks to are just cardboard pieces for the story he wants to tell, not interesting people in their own right who deserve to be treated with respect. That's not just dishonest and shameless, that's shoddy reporting.

Bjørn,

By way of illustration: If I may be so bold as to speak on behalf of the pseudo-sentient ideological drivers that Veum is in thrall to (even as he fancies himself a sophisticated free thinker... as is his wont).

To wit:

Shoddy Reporting? That all depends on your point of view Bjørn! After all... if you cross the line of dishonesty and shamelessnes with aplomb (I mean... its only the "herd" who were going to see the report...and its not really "dishonest" if it helps them to think "properly" about these things. Shameless? I sniff haughtily at such foolish and"simplisme" references.

Ergo... it was very VERY good reporting, subjectively speaking. I mean the creativity is stunnning. I took a broad set of so called "objective" facts, molded them with extreme emotive effect (and with very high level of personal creativity I might add... more than I even needed really for the detestable sheep!) and crafted a highly specific image almost perfectly aligned with image I had in mind before I even went in for the first interview. And by the way, I know that I nailed it dead on, as the feedback from the (Ahem) "Public"... for that report showed they perceived just EXACTLY what I wanted them to. Which by coincidence is a reinforcement of the immutable imagery we have been pounding on them for over three years now. I'm pretty sure they've just about got it in there heads pretty deeply now (Finally!...the pathetically slow minded saps!)

I... the great Veum!... have been a critical part of that endeavor!

I'm one of the few!...the elite!... the image makers... the opinion engineers! I am one of the BRAINS... no mere muscle, skeletal or connective tissue for me in the Social Body! I was born for this!

Now then... in the name of social justice I will allow you to kiss my ring KNAVE!... Ooh... I'm getting ahead of myself there! Strike that last comment for the moment.

Anyway... shoddy reporting indeed! THAT piece of errr... journalism was as good as anything you get out of the great places these days. Hollywood... the BBC.... none of them have anything on me!

Now begone Bjørn... you complaint filled whiner about Truth, integrity and other such nonsense. Make way for a freethinker of Progressivism!

me: Or something like that. Perhaps I embellished their collective Id? Am I engaging in the type of caricature that they do, in the name of... whatever? Sadly.... frighteningly even... I think not.

KM

The way it's described it sounds more like a parody than anything else.

NRK needs to air a piece that clarifies things. The thing that bothered me the most was that the pro-Israeli camp is trying to reduce the sympathy for Palestinians. Even the most stalwart, radical, pro-settler nut I know isn't aiming to create more suffering for the Palestinians.

hi' we live in ISRAEL and would like to visit Norway on JUNE 13.06
COULD YOU FINE SOMEPEOPLEwho can host us?
we heard that ther are cristians who love israeli people and want to assit them.
we are seniors at the of 60-64
me hanna and my husband david thank you in advance.
anna50@netvision.net.il

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Heretics' almanac: Update on Der Norwegian Broadcasting Stürmer, September 1, 2004 02:57 PM

But my main point is this: What makes these people think that being pro-Israel is incompatible with having sympathy for the Palestinians?

Heretics' almanac: More on that NRK piece, September 1, 2004 07:37 PM

Eirik Veum didn't care that he tricked Ester Kristoffersen or that the Norwegian audience was misled into believing what amounts to an old antisemitic canard. He was having fun, spinning news out of thin air, maligning a whole group of people who - ag...