Fatima was at Karl Johan together with a group of first graders at Bjerke upper secondary school in Oslo on 25 August.
They visited the polling stations to write an essay on the parties’ views on sustainability. When they had finished the round, they became aware that a group of young people had gathered around the polling station for Frp.
– I became curious, and when I came to the stall I heard that Frp thought there should be a ban on shawls. I went ahead to hear what he had to say.
FRP’s leading politician in Oslo, parliamentary representative for 20 years, and top candidate before this year’s election, Christian Tybring-Gjedde, said that Muslims should take off their shawls to prove that they are free, Fatima says.
Offer of money
The discussion was heated, when Fatima stated that she chooses to wear the hijab of her own free will.
– I say that it, the hijab you have on your head now, it’s something you got from home. This is because you need to be respectful and cover for your hair. That is the whole point of it, said Tybring-Gjedde.
Then he came up with an offer for Fatima.
– I will give you 500 kroner, if you take it off, he says first.
Then:
– I give you 1000 kroner!
Fatima and her classmates are clearly upset about the “offer” from Tybring-Gjedde. The parliamentary representative repeats the offer several times.
– You can put it on again afterwards. I’m just challenging you. I want to see your beautiful hair, says Tybring-Gjedde to the students.
Fatima says that she trembled and that her heart was pounding, but that she decided to stand up to the politicians, and defend her right to decide over herself.
– I felt a little pressured. It’s not okay, I’m 15 years old while he’s like that – I do not know completely – but at least an adult, much older than me. I did not feel that he looked at me with respect, she says.
Defends the money offer
TV 2 has repeatedly tried to get in touch with Christian Tybring-Gjedde on Monday, without success.
But on Monday night, he goes out on his own Facebook page and defends the money offer.
«25. August I ended up in a heated discussion with a group of first-time voters about the hijab. They claimed that it was voluntary, at the same time they claimed that it was mandatory according to the Qur’an. It is not mandatory according to the Qur’an, and all too often it is a question of social pressure and the control of the extended family, I claimed. I put it all on the line by offering the woman in the hijab a thousand bucks, if she took it off. It was voluntary. She did not want to make any quick money “, writes Tybring-Gjedde.
Listhaug calls Fatima
Party leader Sylvi Listhaug distanced herself from Tybring-Gjedde’s performance in an interview on TV 2 on Monday night.
– Of course it’s not okay, and not the way we should not perform at the stand, Listhaug says.
– It was a long and heated discussion that I think we should not have on our stands. It is important that you have factual and good debates when you meet voters at the stand.
– Do you want to apologize?
– There was a heated discussion and I think we should not have such performances at our stand. I spoke to Christian today and he is sorry that some of this came out the way it did.
At the same time, the FrP leader maintains that the party “stands upright” in its opposition to child hijab.
– What do you want to say to Fatima?
– I hope she takes another trip to our stand and then we will have a calm and nice discussion there. Then she can get answers to her questions and I can answer that myself as well.
The school sent a letter to Frp
We meet Fatima together with her parents and siblings, who support her after the unpleasant experience. They agree that it is best that she does not pose with her full name and picture.
– If I show my identity, and because I am a Muslim, not true, then I am a little afraid of what will happen to me, because not everyone likes Muslims. And not everyone is equally nice, she says.
– Fatima made a recording when she was offered 1000 kroner to remove the hijab in FrP’s election booth at Karl Johan Photo: Per Haugen / TV 2
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When the principal at Bjerke upper secondary school, Margrethe Hammer, became aware of Fatima’s experience in Frp’s election booth, the pupil and family were followed up with conversations. On Monday, the school sent a letter to the FRP’s parliamentary group in which they strongly dissociate themselves from the incident.
“We are both shocked, upset and sorry, both on behalf of the student, but that these are attitudes that exist among our Storting politicians in a democratic country like Norway,” the letter states.
The principal points out several issues the school considers problematic:
“Firstly, one of our students has experienced that a Storting politician argues in an offensive manner and has had a very unpleasant experience under the auspices of the school. Secondly, we work daily to strengthen the understanding of democracy and tolerance among our own students. We believe that this behavior has the opposite effect and leads to contempt for politicians.
Demanded apology
The school director in Oslo also takes Tybring-Gjedde’s behavior towards the 15-year-old seriously.
– We think it is terribly sad that students who are to learn about democracy and co-determination and become good citizens, are met by politicians in that way, says division director for upper secondary education at the Oslo School, Trond Lien
– Does the school principal think that there is a basis for asking for an apology?
– Yes, I mean it. I believe that our students should not meet in this way. They need to learn about democracy. They will learn to become good citizens and participants in a living democracy. Then it should not meet with what we perceive as ridicule, says Lien.
– It was hard to believe that someone you should trust, a party that should promote people’s opinions treats you that way. You lose faith in them, and it can be very detrimental to the democracy that we in Norway try to maintain, says Fatima.
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