The history of Jews in Norway dates back to the 1400s. Although there were very likely Jewish merchants, sailors and others who entered Norway during the Middle Ages, no efforts were made to establish a Jewish community. Through the early modern period, Norway, still devastated by the Black Death, was ruled by Denmark from 1536 to 1814 and then by Sweden until 1905. In 1687, Christian V rescinded all Jewish privileges, specifically banning Jews from Norway, except with a special dispensation. Jews found in the kingdom were jailed and expelled, and this ban persisted until 1851.
Abid Qayyum Raja is a Norwegian lawyer and Liberal Party politician who served as Minister of Culture from 2020 to 2021. He was elected to the Storting as representative for Akershus in 2013 where he served as second deputy chair of the Standing Committee on Transport and Communications and also is a member of the Standing Committee on Scrutiny and Constitutional Affairs. In October 2017, Raja was elected as the vice-president of the Storting, the second time in Norway's history that a Muslim has been elected to that office.
Christian Tybring-Gjedde is a Norwegian politician who represented the Progress Party until 2024. He has been a member of the Norwegian parliament since 2005, and was the leader of the Progress Party's Oslo chapter from 2010 to 2014.
The German occupation of Norway began on 9 April 1940. In 1942, there were at least 2,173 Jews in Norway. At least 775 of them were arrested, detained and/or deported. More than half of the Norwegians who died in camps in Germany were Jews. 742 Jews were murdered in the camps and 23 Jews died as a result of extrajudicial execution, murder and suicide during the war, bringing the total of Jewish Norwegian dead to at least 765, comprising 230 complete households.
Antisemitism in Norway refers to antisemitic incidents and attitudes encountered by Jews, either individually or collectively, in Norway. The mainstream Norwegian political environment has strongly adopted a platform that rejects antisemitism. However, individuals may privately hold antisemitic views. Currently, there are about 1,400 Jews in Norway, in a population of 5.3 million.
On 29 December 2008, a large-scale series of riots broke out across Oslo, Norway, two days after Israel initiated "Operation Cast Lead" against Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip. Stemming from ongoing pro-Palestinian protests in the city, the initial riots took place outside of the Embassy of Israel and continued for almost two weeks. The most violent and destructive riots took place on 8 and 10 January, when hundreds or thousands of demonstrators spread throughout Oslo and attacked public and private property as well as civilians: the rioters mainly targeted Jews and people suspected of being Jewish, but also attacked people affiliated with the LGBT community and known and suspected pro-Israel activists. Additionally, violent clashes between the demonstrators and Norwegian police officers led to hundreds of injuries. Between 29 December and 10 January, the Oslo Police had arrested around 200 people, mostly Muslims, of whom a significant number were registered asylum seekers. The rioters had been supported by left-wing activists of Blitz.
Antisemitic incidents escalated worldwide in frequency and intensity during the Gaza War, and were widely considered to be a wave of reprisal attacks in response to the conflict.
Stop Islamisation of Norway is a Norwegian anti-Muslim group that was originally established in 2000. Its stated aim is to work against Islam, which it defines as a totalitarian political ideology that violates the Norwegian Constitution as well as democratic and human values. The organisation was formerly led by Arne Tumyr, and is now led by Lars Thorsen.
Mohyeldeen Mohammad is an Iraqi-Norwegian Islamist, and political activist associated with the fundamentalist Profetens Ummah group. He became a controversial figure in Norway after stating that the country is at war with Muslims and warning the Norwegian people with an 11 September happening on Norwegian soil. Since then, his media profile has risen following a series of statements regarding Norway, homosexuality and Islamism. He was formerly a Sharia student at the Islamic University of Madinah in Saudi Arabia, until he was deported from the country in 2011.
The 2011 Norway attacks, also called 22 July or 22/7 in Norway, were two domestic terrorist attacks by far-right extremist Anders Behring Breivik against the government, the civilian population, and a Workers' Youth League (AUF) summer camp, in which a total of 77 people were killed.
The Oslo Jewish Museum aims at informing about Jews in Norway. It was established as a foundation in 2003, supported by the Det mosaiske trossamfunn and Oslo City Museum.
Profetens Ummah was a Salafi-jihadist Islamist organisation based in Norway. Since its emergence in late 2011 the group has become notorious for its vocal demonstrations, as well as statements praising Islamic terrorism.
Herman Kahan was a Romanian-born Norwegian businessman, rabbi, author, and Holocaust survivor.
Arslan Ubaydullah Maroof Hussain is a Norwegian former spokesperson of the Salafi-jihadist group Profetens Ummah. He has been arrested since December 2015, convicted for recruitment of jihadist foreign fighters, and for membership of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL).
Ivar Kristianslund was a Norwegian preacher, former professor of statistics, agronomist, farmer and politician. He was active as a Christian fundamentalist preacher in the self-proclaimed "Church of Norway in Exile", and in the leadership of several minor Christian right political parties from the late 1990s.
Arfan Qadeer Bhatti is a Pakistani-Norwegian Islamist and a leading figure in the Islamic State-affiliated group Profetens Ummah.
On 24 July 2014, a suspected imminent terror attack by Islamic extremists targeting Norway was disclosed by Norwegian authorities. The suspected plot prompted a public terror alert announcement and unprecedented short-term security measures being introduced in Norway in late July.
Central Jamaat-e Ahl-e Sunnat is a congregation and mosque of the Pakistani community in Oslo, Norway with 6,000 members, making it the largest mosque in the country. Within Sunni Islam, the mosque is affiliated with Sufism and the Barelvi movement.
The Det Mosaiske Trossamfund (DMT), as known as the Jewish Community of Oslo, is an umbrella organization representing Norwegian Jews. The organization is Orthodox, but welcomes non-Orthodox and secular Jews.
The 2022 Oslo shooting, commonly known in Norway as the Pride Shooting in Oslo occurred on 25 June 2022, when two people were killed and twenty-one people were wounded in a mass shooting in Oslo, Norway. Police declared the incident as an "act of Islamist terrorism". The target may have been the Oslo LGBTQ pride event, which was hosted by the local branch of the Norwegian Organisation for Sexual and Gender Diversity.
