Utøya to host first youth camp since 2011 attack
The Local Norway - [email protected]
Published: 25 Feb, 2015 CET.
Updated: Wed 25 Feb 2015 21:27 CET
Norway’s Labour Party Youth League (AUF) on Wednesday outlined its plans for the first annual summer camp on the island of Utøya since 2011, when mass-murderer Anders Behring Breivik unleashed a brutal gun massacre at the event, killing 69 people.
The planned camp will have the theme of International Solidarity and will take place from August 7th to August 9th, with speeches from Jonas Gahr Støre, the leader of Norway’s Labour Party, amongst others.
“To rebuild and get back to Utøya shows that the terrorist did not win,” AUF President Mani Hussaini told Sveriges Radio. “We will continue to celebrate and fight for the same ideals that were attacked on July 22nd 2011.”
Until Breivik’s attack, the annual camp on Utøya had been a rite of passage for ambitious young, left-of-centre Norwegians, a place where they could discuss ideas, build contacts, and have fun with like-minded young people from across the country.
“Some of my best memories come from Utøya,” Hussaini said in a message to other AUF members on the organization’s website, listing some great things which had happened to him on the island. “This summer new memories will be created at the summer camp on Utøya.”
He encouraged his colleagues not to let the terrible events which had happened on the island stop them enjoying themselves.
“Most who are going to summer camp on Utøya in 2015 were not there in 2011,” he said. “I am one of them. But remember that it is allowed to enjoy yourself. Myself, I plan to enjoy myself massively.”
The summer camp will be preceded by a two-day memorial on the island to mark the anniversary of Breivik’s attacks, when people will be allowed to pay their respects to the dead.
Then in the Autumn the AUF plans to host a conference for youth parties from all Norway’s mainstream political parties.
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The planned camp will have the theme of International Solidarity and will take place from August 7th to August 9th, with speeches from Jonas Gahr Støre, the leader of Norway’s Labour Party, amongst others.
“To rebuild and get back to Utøya shows that the terrorist did not win,” AUF President Mani Hussaini told Sveriges Radio. “We will continue to celebrate and fight for the same ideals that were attacked on July 22nd 2011.”
Until Breivik’s attack, the annual camp on Utøya had been a rite of passage for ambitious young, left-of-centre Norwegians, a place where they could discuss ideas, build contacts, and have fun with like-minded young people from across the country.
“Some of my best memories come from Utøya,” Hussaini said in a message to other AUF members on the organization’s website, listing some great things which had happened to him on the island. “This summer new memories will be created at the summer camp on Utøya.”
He encouraged his colleagues not to let the terrible events which had happened on the island stop them enjoying themselves.
“Most who are going to summer camp on Utøya in 2015 were not there in 2011,” he said. “I am one of them. But remember that it is allowed to enjoy yourself. Myself, I plan to enjoy myself massively.”
The summer camp will be preceded by a two-day memorial on the island to mark the anniversary of Breivik’s attacks, when people will be allowed to pay their respects to the dead.
Then in the Autumn the AUF plans to host a conference for youth parties from all Norway’s mainstream political parties.
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