Stop Islamisation of Norway is a Norwegian organization which was established in 2008, although its history goes back to a group started in 2000. Its stated aim is to work against Islam, which it defines as a totalitarianpolitical ideology that violates the Norwegian Constitution as well as democratic and human values. The organisation is led by Arne Tumyr, and has several thousand members and supporters. By mid-2011, it was reported that the organisation had close to 13,000 members or "likes" on its Facebook group, although it gathered only a modest attendance at its meetings and demonstrations. The organisation itself had in excess of 3,000 members, mainly based in Oslo but followed by Stavanger. These figures makes it by far the biggest national "Stop Islamisation" group in Europe, also beating Stop Islamisation of Europe. In 2012 SIAN broke with the mother organization Stop Islamization of Europe.
History
The predecessor to SIAN was started in early 2000 as Aksjonskomiteen mot bønnerop, originally to protest against a request by the Islamic Cultural Centre to broadcast the Adhan at a local Oslo Mosque using loudspeakers. On 11 September 2000, the group changed its name to Forum Against Islamisation. In November 2000, about a dozen members of FOMI held a demonstration against Adhan from Mosques in Norway and Islamisation. Legislation to ban Adhan by loudspeakers was proposed in parliament by Carl I. Hagen and the Progress Party, but was voted down by all other parties. In 2004, the two Jewish founders of the Norwegian Israel Centre were expelled from the Mosaic Religious Community, after they had joined FOMI and the Democrats party for the annual commemoration of the Kristallnacht. As a new series of "Stop Islamisation" groups started become established around Europe, the name was on 16 February 2008 changed to its current name, Stop Islamisation of Norway. SIAN was joined by anti-immigration activist and former Norwegian resistance fighterErik Gjems-Onstad, and the leader of the Norwegian Patriots, Øyvind Heian in May 2009 for an anti-Islamism demonstration in Oslo. They were heavily outnumbered by counter-demonstrators. Tumyr also compared Muslim immigration to Norway with the Nazi invasion of Norway in 1940. In June 2009, SIAN was again joined by Heian for a demonstration in Oslo. The Blitz movement and the Red Party in turn held an illegal counter-demonstration, against what they called "Nazis and racists". Both demonstrations developed into minor street clashes. Tumyr and SIAN were joined by the leader of the Democrats party, Vidar Kleppe, for speeches when SIAN held an arrangement in Bergen in August 2010. SOS Rasisme held a counter-demonstration at the event. On 11 September, SIAN held a commemoration of the September 11 terror attacks, and were joined by Anders Gravers Pedersen of Stop Islamisation of Europe. Some groups of SOS Rasisme and Blitz movement activists tried to disrupt the event. The leader of the local Nordstrand chapter of the Socialist Left Party in Oslo, Morten Schau, joined SIAN to much controversy in January 2011. He resigned from the Socialist Left Party later the same day, after the leader of the Oslo chapter deemed membership of SIAN as "incompatible" with being a member of the party. In February 2011 Walid al-Kubaisi joined a meeting hosted by SIAN, where he held a speech. The Blitz movement demonstrated outside the arrangement, and al-Kubaisi needed police escort to get to the meeting. When questioned about the organisation's relation to the newly emerged Norwegian Defence League, Tumyr stated that their ideology, intent on "stopping Islam" was the same, although their means of expression differed. In 2012 there was a split in the organisation after the leader Arne Tumyr refused to cooperate with Norwegian Defense League. SIAN left the mother organisation Stop Islamization of Europe, while former board member Kaspar Birkeland formed a new organisation SION that is associated with SIOE.
Organisation
Local radio
In March 2012, the local chapter of SIAN in Rogaland started a local radio show in Sandnes on the Radio Kos channel. The channel's internet radio in turn had to increase its capacity from 25,000 listeners to 200,000 due to high traffic around the same time.
Views by commentators
In a comment in Aftenposten in 2004, Jahn Otto Johansen called the former FOMI "extremely Muslim-hostile." The then general secretary of the Norwegian Humanist Association, Lars Gule, has also stated that the organisation "uses a hateful and vulgar language with a clearly discriminating content." At the same time as Gule was chairman of NHA, the NHA was convicted of libels against the leader of SIAN, Arne Tumyr, after it publicly had characterised a letter to the editor from Tumyr as "racist". Ingunn Økland of Aftenposten has criticized the use both by SIAN and its opponents of labelling each other "Nazi" in the Islam debate. On the other hand, Iraqi refugee and writer Walid al-Kubaisi has made appearances in the organisation, and in the feature story "Norway for Norwegians" in Klassekampen in 2005 stated that "the forum showed a variation of thoughts and opinions within the frame of fear of Islamism. The fear of Islamism is healthy and legitimate for the population of Europe, and in the Muslim world."
