– I was very surprised. It wasn’t just the swastika either, it was drawn into a flag, says mother of three Jenny Marie Kvisler Lillevold (38) to Dagbladet.
She was in the Gystadmarka skatepark at Jessheim in Viken with her children when she suddenly noticed a very bad mark while she was sitting watching the children play.
– It was quite large and impossible not to see. I was shocked that exactly that symbol started to appear, says Lillevold.
REACTS: For several years, Jenny Marie Kvisler Lillevold worked as an officer and field chaplain in the Armed Forces. Photo: Private Show more
Then she found that the same symbol was tagged in several other places.
– I asked my eleven-year-old son if he had seen it and knew what it meant. Then he told me that there was a big swastika at the school too.
The mother of three points out that she is not surprised, but worried.
– I don’t understand that we don’t react more to, and are more concerned about, the ideology these symbols imply. I don’t want my children to hang out in the skate park and be exposed to this – it’s completely unacceptable to me.
Sprayed swastika on July 22 memorial
Re-tagged
The 38-year-old says that his eleven-year-old son finds the swastikas very uncomfortable.
– All three of my children have expressed concern and said they don’t think anything of it.
Three children’s mother contacted Ullensaker municipality on the same day she and the children had been to the skate park. She still has not received an answer to the inquiry, she claims.
Then she spoke out in Eidsvoll Ullensaker Bladwhere the head of urban environment in Ullensaker municipality also responded.
– Bymiljø tries to remove tagging continuously when we receive input on this. In this particular case, we were early on and tried to remove the tagging. Unfortunately, parts of it are still visible, despite several attempts to wash/sand it away. We are now waiting for new and better equipment to get rid of the last remnants of tagging, Magne Kjensli added newspaper.
A few days after the interview with EUB, Lillevold was contacted by Romerikes Blad. Then she was also made aware that it had been retagged.
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Struggling to get the swastika off
– This only emphasizes even more how little it helps to focus exclusively on removing these symbols, rather than looking at the reason why they are there in the first place, says Lillevold.
If this is misconstrued humor from the one or those who have done this, it is still just as serious that it happens, she believes.
– I think it is ironic that I said that it is not appropriate to remove it because it will appear again, and it has actually appeared again, says the mother of three and says that she has still not received an answer from the municipality.
Lillevold believes that the attitudes you don’t like must be addressed more thoroughly, and says that the problem will not be solved even if the municipality cleans up.
– I think it’s sad that people tag offensive things. We have a policy to remove this as soon as possible, but it turned out to be difficult exactly in the skate park, says the head of urban environment in Ullensaker municipality, Magne Kjensli, to Dagbladet.
He says that they have removed most of it, but that the swastika is still visible despite the fact that they have tried many different things to remove it.
– We are struggling to remove it without destroying the skate park. We have tried all the usual methods such as hot water, high pressure washers and angle grinders. But there is a limit to how much you can take before it is destroyed, explains Kjensli.
Petter Stordalen’s new luxury hotel on Solli plass has been renovated in close collaboration with the city antiquary. They had to keep the wrought iron gate with swastika from the thirties. Reporter: Linn-Christin Marthiniussen / Video: Lars Eivind Bones Show more
– Challenging
Trebarnsmora believes the municipality should make a statement beyond how they are going to wash this away, about how they intend to tackle the underlying problem of why this is actually happening.
– And time and time again, in several places, says Lillevold.
Kjensli says they aim to remove tagging as soon as they learn about it, especially when offensive things have been tagged.
– We think it is unfortunate and are trying to remove it, but it may take time before we find out about it. We don’t want to close the skate park to keep children away either, he says.
– We considered painting over, but were advised against it by concrete experts because the concrete can crumble. It is certainly challenging, explains the manager of the urban environment in the municipality.
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The 38-year-old’s concern is that history will repeat itself if no one takes care to prevent it.
– It becomes difficult to sit at home and talk to the children about the importance of diversity, inclusion and respect for our fellow human beings, when they are simultaneously exposed to such an anti-human ideology as the swastika symbolizes in their immediate environment, explains Lillevold.
Kjensli explains that the facility is very expensive, and that they therefore do not want to destroy it.
– We want to try gentle methods first, before we switch to the more brutal methods, he says.
2023-09-28 05:06:55
#Mills #Unacceptable
