Norway’s national broadcaster, NRK, has sparked fierce criticism after broadcasting antisemitic jokes on a satire program aimed at audiences as young as nine years old.
The controversy erupted during the latest episode of Nytt på Nytt, a popular satirical news show that aired tonight. Host Tuva Johannessen joked, “U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson believes reasonable people thank America for bombing ships full of fentanyl — but if you replace fentanyl with Jews, it suddenly doesn’t sound so okay.”
The audience and panel members laughed, prompting Johannessen to continue with another remark referencing an earlier segment about smuggling magazines from Sweden to Norway. “Imagine if Jews were being smuggled from Sweden to Norway — that wouldn’t work,” he said.
The exchange drew swift condemnation from Jewish organizations and Israeli representatives, who said such rhetoric crosses every line of decency.
On Elpeleg, an Israeli educator based in Norway who documents antisemitism in the country’s public media, denounced the broadcast, saying authorities have continually ignored repeated complaints. “The hosts’ cynical humor is simply warped. The goal here is to humiliate Jews. What’s worse is that this is a show officially rated for children age 9 and up — practically an invitation for parents to watch with their kids. And then people wonder why antisemitism is surging here,” he said.
This latest scandal followed another troubling broadcast just a week earlier, when an NRK radio presenter made an antisemitic remark on air.
In response, the Israeli Embassy in Oslo issued a sharp rebuke: “Antisemitism is never funny. It is unacceptable for such ‘humor’ to be given a platform by Norway’s public broadcaster and remain online. Action must be taken.” Despite the uproar, NRK declined to remove the offensive clip, offering only a written apology after widespread backlash.
Elpeleg condemned the network’s handling of the situation, connecting it to Norway’s wartime legacy. “It’s 2025, not 1945 — yet we’re hearing Nazi jokes on state TV again. It’s unbelievable that this broadcaster, which collaborated with the Nazis and boosted their morale between 1940 and 1945, is still operating like this 80 years later. Schools have started teaching about the ‘genocide’ to 13-year-olds, but at the same time, this is being normalized on educational television. I’ve worked in education here for 25 years, and I’m stunned. History is repeating itself.”
{Matzav.com}
I don’t think this is anti-Semitism. Lighten up people.
If we don’t laff at ourselves who will.
It’s also odd because in Norway, with such a tiny Jewish community and no Christianity that mentions Jews (most Norwegians are atheist/agnostic), how many 9-year-olds and older would’ve even heard of Jews? Or even if they’ve heard of Jews, known anything about what they are?
I grew up as one of a handful of Jews in school and even in 7th grade, kids who didn’t attend church didn’t know what Jews were. Meaning, they heard of Jews as a religious group, but nothing more than that. One even said to me, after discovering I was Jewish: “You’re Jewish? Uhhh…heh-heh…what is that exactly? Wait a minute, do guys worship satan?” And some didn’t know what Jews were at all.