Mona Levin

Mona Levin (born 1939) is a Norwegian theatre critic, who has in recent years also made her mark as the Norwegian version of David Horowitz in the Israel/Palestine debate. Her main contribution is her virulent accusation over several years against former conservative Prime Minister (and lifelong Israel friend) Kåre Willoch that is he is a "racist and antisemite" due to his moderate criticism of some Israeli policies.

Allegations against Kåre Willoch

In the Middle East debate, she is most widely known for over a period of several years having accused Norway's former conservative (as in centre-right) Prime Minister (and lifelong Israel friend) Kåre Willoch of being a "racist and antisemite," because of his moderate criticism of some aspects of Israel's treatment of the Palestinians.

Levin's campaign against Willoch started in 2009, when she claimed that Willoch had made a horrible antisemitic comment when he said that the appointment of Rahm Emanuel as White House Chief of Staff was probably not an indication that the U.S. would change its policies towards Israel significantly. The background for this comment, which was a reply to a journalist's question, was the debate over a statement by Rahm Emanuel's father; on his son's appointment, Dr. Benjamin Emanuel, a former Irgun terrorist, said that "obviously he will influence the president to be pro-Israel. Why wouldn’t he be? What is he, an Arab? He’s not going to clean the floors of the White House." Rahm Emanuel himself was publicly known as a staunch Israel supporter, having volunteered for its army in 1991, despite being a US citizen. In 2003, Rahm Emanuel even criticized George W. Bush of not being supportive enough of Israel, claiming that Israel's policy of assassinating Palestinian political leaders "was clearly justified as an application of Israel's right to self-defense." Willoch's statement, where he basically agreed with the analysis offered by Emanuel's father and took the long track record of Rahm Emanuel himself into account, was then deliberately misrepresented by Levin as an "anti-semitic statement." Levin however did not make claims of anti-semitic statements against the original source of this analysis, Rahm Emanuel's father.

In Norwegian media, Levin regularly repeats her claim that Willoch is a horrible antisemite, mainly based on her fabricated claim about Willoch's Rahm Emanuel comment. Despite having been refuted numerous times, Levin's claim is also regularly repeated by Norwegian wingnuts, such as Fremskrittspartiet politicians.

See also

• Med Israel For Fred