Communists and Anti-Racists Groups Clash in Oslo
According to Norwegian daily Dagbladet’s report, four defectors from SOS Racism and Tjen Folket (Serve the People) gathered in a meeting room at the library where several other members of the Communist organization came into the room at 19 o’clock. Shortly after their arrival, a bloody brawl started among several young activists for an unknown reason. Then, several people were taken to the emergency room, while three were arrested and charged with aggravated assault. Some former members of SOS Racism had involved in fraud last year and the organization was sentenced to pay 6,808,348 NOK.
About Sos-Rasisme and Tjen Folket
SOS Rasisme is a Norwegian activist organisation, whose stated goal is to reduce racism in society. It was founded in 1985, inspired by the French SOS Racisme. The first years the organisation was a part of Antirastisk Senter, another anti-racist organisation, but in the early 1990s it became independent. SOS Rasisme was co-founded by Kristin Halvorsen, who later became Minister of Finances from 2005 to 2009. It reports to be Europe’s largest anti-racist membership organisation, with more than 40,000 members. It is a democratic organisation, with new leadership elected every two years.
Current leader is Trond Thorbjørnsen, re-elected at the organisation’s 11th national assembly in 2008. SOS Rasisme claims to have more than 270 local chapters all over Norway. The organisation has come into the spotlight after it was revealed that it is being run by Serve the People, a Marxist-Leninist-Maoist organisation, and fraudulently claimed more members than the real numbers showed to get financial support from the government Serve the People – Communist League (Tjen Folket – Kommunistisk Forbund) is a Marxist-Leninist-Maoist Norwegian political organization formed in 1998 by members expelled from the Workers’ Communist Party.
Its main aim is to create a new communist party in Norway based on Marxism-Leninism-Maoism. Their youth wing is the Revolutionary Communist Youth, which was created after a split from Red Youth, the youth wing of Red, who they deem as revisionist. Serve the People is known as the only maoist organisation in Norway.
