The mass murderer and right-wing extremist Anders Behring Breivik's trial is underway in Olso. How Norwegians have grappled with the July attacks:
In a nation of five million where most people either knew one of the victims or know someone who did, the attacks have cut deep. Survivors – including more than 240 wounded – still get flashbacks, panic attacks or the strange feeling they are spectators of their own lives. Young people have become more involved in politics. But it is striking too what "July 22," as the attacks are commonly called in Norway, has not done. It has not made Norwegians more fearful of one another, or triggered calls for tougher anti-terrorist measures. Instead, many Norwegians say it has reaffirmed their faith in a society they like to see as liberal, tolerant and egalitarian. …
One study found Norwegians trust each other more, not less, after Breivik. The attacks have certainly fired up existing activists such as [Vegard Groeslie] Wennesland, whose friend Haavard Vederhus, the head of the Labour Party Youth League's Oslo branch, was shot dead on Utoeya, and was replaced by Wennesland. "This guy wanted to kill me because I believe in democracy, openness, tolerance and dialogue," Wennesland, dressed in a hooded top and Converse shoes, said. "Well, fuck it. If that is what he wanted to kill me for, I am going to carry on fighting for it."
More on the trial here.
(Photo: This photo taken on April 18, 2012, at Utvika, shows flowers in front of the island of Utoeya where many youths were killed by self-confessed mass murderer and right-wing extremist Anders Behring Breivik. By Tore Meek/AFP/Getty Images.)
The Dish 