Jewish museums in both Trondheim and Oslo remained closed over the weekend, at the urging of police. The Trondheim museum was advised to close after national security experts at police intelligence unit PST (Politiets sikkerhetstjeneste) announced vague but “credible” threats on Thursday of a terrorist attack against Norway.
Last month’s attack on the Jewish museum in Amsterdam was cited when PST officials unveiled the terrorism threat and were asked about possible targets. Police were still saying on Saturday that they had no information about specific targets or where in Norway an attack might occur.
“As a potential target we’ve taken this decision (to close),” Rolf Kirschner of the Jødisk Museum in Oslo told newspaper Dagsavisen on Saturday. “It’s sad. We have fine exhibits at present and many visitors, but we can’t set their lives or those of our employees in danger.”
He said the museum’s board would follow the threat situation closely over the next few days to evaluate when the Oslo museum can reopen. Frank Jensen, chairman of the Jewish museum in Trondheim, said he and his board were following the advice of the police and PST.
“We’re not aware of any concrete threats against Jewish targets, but view the closure as part of the general state of preparedness right now,” Jensen told news bureau NTB.
The ongoing battles between Israeli and Palestinian forces in Gaza have also raised tensions in Norway lately. Around 2,000 people demonstrated against Israel in Oslo last week, with the leader of Norway’s largest trade union confederation LO calling for a boycott of products from Israeli-occupied land and clearer marking of Israeli goods.
newsinenglish.no staff
