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Why?

26th July 2011 by Helena 6 Comments  

The shootings in Norway have upset me so much. Since they happened I have woken up at 3.30am every day and been unable to get back to sleep, the various stories of what happened to the victims going round and round in my head. I can’t imagine the hell those directly involved must be going through.


I spent many years as a child in Sweden, my mother is Swedish, I speak Swedish to my children and we go on holidays there. Norway is so similar to Sweden that it is like seeing my home country torn apart by this random act of cruelty.

The names of those killed are like names of my school friends, they look like the people I grew up around, so it feels so close to home. One of the boys murdered looks just like an older Leo.

When it first happened I assumed, as did most people, that it was the work of Islamic extremists. When I discovered the truth, I was shocked that a local man could impose this death sentence on so many of his compatriots, and I’m not just talking about those he actually killed.

I was also shocked at my own prejudices. Growing up in Scandinavia ought to have made me better at fighting against those.
All my thoughts and love go to the people of Norway. I cannot imagine how they will continue to deal with this loss of youth, innocence and the utter waste of such talented, gorgeous young people. But I’m sure it will be with the grace and strength they have shown so far.
As for the mass murderer? My Arab colleague Fadwa suggests they publicly execute him. That is not the Scandie way I told her.

And however many atrocities they go through, I doubt it ever will be.

Copyright: Helena Frith Powell 2011


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6 thoughts on Why?

  • Pascale says:
    26th July 2011 at 12:09 pm

    So very true… you speak the words in my head and heart.

    My mother’s father was Norwegian, and though I am all the way over here in NZ, I feel my heart breaking all over the place.
    I am sure, as you say, they will rise above this with innate grace and strength.

    But what an absolute monster.

  • Katariina says:
    26th July 2011 at 2:32 pm

    So right. What also upsets me most is that the day it happened Daily Mail online version had a headline something like ‘Bomb blast was a punishment for printing a picture of Prophet Muhammad’. How can they right such junk without even checking the details? It’s supposed to be a newspaper, not an internet chat room. Neither did they have courtesy to apologise, they just changed the headline and that was that. DM are clearly inciting racial hatred. Completely unnecessary.

    It’s shocking how offended they are that the guy is not a Muslim. And jeez, why can’t he even be a brunette…

    My thoughts are with the people of Norway.

  • Katariina says:
    26th July 2011 at 2:33 pm

    *Write , not ‘right’. My apologies.

  • Vinita says:
    27th July 2011 at 8:34 pm

    Helena,

    The answer to your ‘Why’?, is bad government policy and Norway is not the only country where the people are uneasy about the decisions made by the govt. It appears that for all the democracy we talk about proudly, most countries are oligarchies that cater to a world wide network of megalomaniacs.

    If Breivik felt that shooting innocent people was above dialogue and/or peaceful demonstration, the situation may be far more serious than we think. But no, I don’t condone the killings–that is a stupid way of making ones’ point.

    I also don’t agree with public execution of the perpetrator. However, when you think of the amount of tax-payers money that goes into serving biriyani and arranging security for Ajmal Kasab (the only surviving accused in the 26/11 Mumbai massacre), you begin to wonder whether it is a good idea for civilised society to allow the law to take such a looooong time!!

  • Katariina says:
    31st July 2011 at 3:05 pm

    No, there is no excuse to this. Just like there is no excuse for 9/11, 7/7 etc, the same way there is no excuse to what Breivik did. Can’t blame the government and its policies, benefits and fat people.

    Really sick when people say ‘it was bad what he did BUT…’, like seriously?

  • Vinita says:
    31st July 2011 at 10:19 pm

    Katariina,

    Two things:
    One, a reason is NOT an excuse. I have given a reason, I have not excused Breivik.
    Two, is Breivik going to be handed a death sentence without a trial? No. Any civilised society gives its citizens a chance to defend and explain their actions. Would you say that is ‘sick’ if society asks the obvious “Why?” while knowing the equally obvious answer that whatever the reason, it doesn’t merit committing such a heinous crime?
    And seriously, governments -unlike Caesar’s wife- are not above reproach. A cursory look around the world will show that most of the problems people face (yes, even in the so-called developed countries) are because of bad governance.

    Sorry, Helena, for carrying on this debate on your blog!!

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Helena Frith Powell was born in Sweden to a Swedish mother and Italian father, but grew up mainly in England. She is the author of eleven books, translated into several languages including Chinese and Russian. She wrote the French Mistress column The Sunday Times about life in France for several years. She is a regular contributor to the Daily Mail, Mail on Sunday, The Times, Daily Telegraph, Tatler Magazine and Harper’s Bazaar.

Helena has been the editor of four magazines, including M Magazine, a supplement for the Abu Dhabi-based National Newspaper and FIVE, a high-end fashion glossy, also published in Abu Dhabi. Helena was also editor-in-chief of 360 Life, a quarterly glossy magazine published with the Sports 360 Newspaper in Dubai, part of the Chalhoub Group.

Helena contributes regularly to UK-based newspapers and magazines and holds a Masters in Creative Writing from the University of Cambridge. She is working on a thriller set in Sweden as well as a novel about the relationship between Virginia Woolf and Katherine Mansfield called Sense of an Echo.

In 2022 her short story The Japanese Gardener came second in the Fish Publishing Short Story Prize. One of her stories was also shortlisted for the Bridport Short Story Prize. When she’s not writing, she works as a headhunter for the media and entertainment industry for the Sucherman Group. 

Helena, who was educated at Durham University, lives in the Languedoc region of France with her husband Rupert and their three children.

Bibliography

More France Please, we’re British; Gibson Square 2004

Two Lipsticks and a Lover 2005; Gibson Square (hardback)

All You Need to be Impossibly French; (US version of above) Penguin 2006

Two Lipsticks and a Lover; Arrow Books (paperback) 2007

Ciao Bella Gibson Square; (hardback) 2006

Ciao Bella Gibson Square; (paperback) 2007

So Chic! (French version of Two Lipsticks) Leduc Editions 2008 (also translated into Chinese, Russian and Thai)

More, More France; Gibson Square 2009

To Hell in High Heels; Arrow Books 2009 (also translated into Polish)

The Viva Mayr Diet; Harper Collins 2009

Love in a Warm Climate; Gibson Square 2011

The Ex-Factor; Gibson Square 2013

Smart Women Don’t Get Wrinkles; Gibson Square 2016

The Arnolfini Marriage; Amazon Kindle December 2016

Smart Women Don’t Get Wrinkles (paperback); Gibson Square spring 2018

The Longest Night; Gibson Square spring 2019

 

 

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