The events in Norway are not about who’s to blame but they should make us reconsider the way we conduct a debate, says PvdA leader Job Cohen.

‘A bad word whispered will echo a hundred miles’, a Chinese saying goes. ‘Wilders is not responsible for what Breivik did but words count for something and politicians should be aware of it.’
This was my reaction when I was asked whether Geert Wilders was in any way responsible for the attack in Oslo in which 7 people were killed and the massacre on Utoya where 69 young social democrats lost their lives, slaughtered by a man whose writings show he was inspired by right wing anti-Islam ideology. We must ask how this could have happened so we can do our utmost to make sure it never happens again.
Warped
Breivik wasn’t just out to strike a blow against the social democratic party. He was advocating a warped world view which doesn’t allow room for fundamental values. Extremism, in whatever shape or form, is a threat to freedom, equality, democracy and human rights. We social democrats, liberals, christian democrats, left wingers and conservatives, we Christians, Muslims, atheists who believe in our democracy and freedom, are all children of Utoya. We owe it to each other to defend our democracy and our values against the likes of Breivik.
When bullets are used, common sense disappears. No one in the Netherlands needs to feel responsible for the bullets but when we are in danger of losing our common sense we must ask ourselves why. Debate is the lifeblood of our democracy. The friction caused by discussion generates the energy which makes us capable of taking decisions that have the support of a good number of people. Those who refuse to engage in debate are looking the other way. We know how unwise this is. A tweet here and a press statement there do not make for an open debate.
Ideology
There are many questions which make such a debate necessary. The unease in society has a much broader background than migration and integration alone. Globalisation, secularisation and privatisation have had a big impact on people’s lives. What does it do to people who increasingly are born in this country when it is drummed into them that their efforts to help build a society counts for nothing because their faith is a totalitarian ideology which is completely alien to Western society? And what about those who are starting to believe that this is true and that this ideology is bent on destroying our society? The end result cannot be anything other than a confrontation between sworn enemies.
The ongoing crisis shows that entrenchment doesn’t get us anywhere. It’s the Republicans versus the Democrats in the US, slow decision making in Europe where leaders refuse to consider the common good. We need to jump over our own shadow.
My call to moderate our tone is not meant to avoid debate but to engage in it openly and with mutual respect. The louder we shout the less we are prepared to listen to our opponents’ arguments.
Blind eye
Don’t take me wrong. I have no wish to return to the days, some ten years ago when parties, mine included, turned a blind eye to the unease in society and the problems that went with the integration of immigrants. Some years ago I said it was a good thing the woollen blanket had been pulled off the multicultural society and that we should pay attention to the consequences of migration for the native population. And we did.
But now, ten years later, the debate is paralysed when movement is needed most. We must at least have the intention of listening to each other, not because we have to come to an agreement but because we want everyone, without exception, to contribute to a just society taking into account all points of view.
Politicians, neighbours, Christians, Muslims, agnostics are all part of a future they build together. Let Norway at least teach us that lesson.
This is an unofficial translation of an article that originally appeared in the Volkskrant.