As an American-Swedish dual citizen, I was on vacation in Sweden, having just returned from a trip over to Finland, when the news of the bombing and massacre in neighboring Norway broke. It affected me as deeply as if it'd happened in Sweden itself, and I think that's a sentiment shared by most Swedes. I cried. My voice still chokes up talking about it. In the immediate aftermath, Sweden's BBC-equivalent SVT quickly started broadcasting a live feed of Norway's NRK, without translation or subtitles. It is perhaps the only country close enough to Sweden, culturally and linguistically, for that to be possible. They are the 'brotherly people', in the words of the motto of Oscar II, our last shared monarch.
Yesterday, in an under-reported event, five nations stood together in silence to honor the dead. At noon yesterday, as Norway gathered to mourn, they were not alone. Sweden held a minute of silence, as did Denmark, Finland and Iceland. (At 1 PM in Finland and 10 AM in Iceland to correspond to Norwegian noon) Across the nations, workers paused, construction workers put down their tools, IKEA staff gathered in groups. Twitter went silent, the stock markets in the capitals halted trading for a minute. Subway trains stopped. For a minute, The North stood silent as one in contemplation. (To use the literal translation of the term the Nordic countries use to refer to themselves) The whole world shares Norway's pain.
I haven't read Kos much since the attacks; in part because I have no problems reading Norwegian and getting news from primary sources, but also because I simply haven't been able to bear more detail than necessary. So what I'm about to say may have been said already, but I can't stay silent. I'd like to share some thoughts on the matter, and perhaps some insights on how it relates to the USA, given that I have more experience than most with both cultures.
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