Norway terror attack exposes deeper anger over immigration The admitted attacker behind last week's bombing

and shooting spree derided immi gration and multiculturalism. Experts say his beliefs are surprisingly common in Norway. Temp Headline Image A graffiti is seen at the closed Skytterkollen shooting range on Thursday, where Norwegian gunman Anders Behring Breivik used to train. Breivik, a far-right zea lot whose bomb attack and shooting spree killed 76 people last Friday, has been charged under the terrorism act, which carries a maximum penalty of 21 years in jail, but the authorities are considering whether to charge him with crimes agai nst humanity. (Wolfgang Rattay/Reuters) By Frank Radosevich, Correspondent posted July 28, 2011 at 2:16 pm EDT Oslo, Norway Last week's Oslo terrorist attacks are raising delicate questions of immigration and integration here after the admitted attacker cited anti-Muslim views as mot ivating the assaults. A country of less than 5 million people, Norway has seen its once homogeneous po pulation change in recent years with new arrivals from Africa and the Middle Eas t. This transformation, in part, drove Anders Behring Breivik, charged with Frid ay's car bombing and shooting spree that killed at least 76 people in the span o f a few hours. Now, even as this country still grieves for its victims, many say how Norway res ponds to the attacks could define immigration policy in the future. RECOMMENDED: Norway attacks put spotlight on Europe's right-wing parties. Who ar e they? While Mr. Breivik's views, revealed in his 1,500-page tirade against Muslims and multiculturalism, are extreme and his attack reviled by Norwegians of all polit ical leanings, Breivik fed on an undercurrent of prejudice and hatred that exist s in some areas of Norwegian society, where being Norwegian is still very much d etermined by ones fair skin and light hair. We have to find out what kind of country Norway is. Thats where the struggle is go ing to be in the coming years, says Thomas Eriksen, a professor of anthropology a t the University of Oslo. And we are going to have to deal with that. He says many immigrants still face an uphill battle in terms of integration and acceptance from their fellow Norwegians. They can acquire our civilization but ne ver our culture, he says, offering up a common opinion. In other words, they wont b e us theyll always be the other. Indeed, experts on immigration and integration point to a growing skepticism acr oss Norway that now surrounds most Muslim immigrants. Though Breiviks thinking is condemned, many of his views arent new. Some of his ideas are more commonplace than wed like them to be, says Rune Berglund Steen, communication manager for the Norwegian Center Against Racism. "This ske pticism of Muslims has become a fairly central topic in Norwegian politics. Norways second-largest political party in parliament, the Progress Party, has bee n accused of backing xenophobic positions and Breivik was on the partys member re gistry until 2006. The party quickly denounced the attacks and Breiviks beliefs.

Mr. Steen says most Norwegians have a positive view toward immigrants. For examp le, he said a recent poll found that about 8 out of 10 Norwegians found it favor able if a child attends a school with mixed ethnicities. But for Breivik and his ilk, Muslim newcomers here represent a "takeover." The problem can only be solved if we completely remove those who follow Islam. In order to do this all Muslims must submit and convert to Christianity, he wrote in his manifesto. If they refuse to do this voluntarily prior to Jan. 1, 2020, they will be removed from European soil and deported back to the Islamic world. Most Norwegians, however, reject Breiviks anti-Islamic views, preferring to see t hemselves as a tolerant, peaceful people and Breivik as a backwards extremist. Its the fact that he attacked our multiculturalism, says Alexander Roine, waiting o utside the courthouse where Breivik appeared Monday. Mr. Roine, an Oslo native whose father came from Tunisia, says Norway is rightly famous for its peaceful, tolerant attitude but conceded older generations are s till adjusting to the countrys brisk demographic shift. We would think a guy with these views would be like 50 or 60 years old, he says of Breivik. This guy was born in a Norway that was already multicultural. He attack ed everything this country stands for to the last detail. Norway has experienced a steady rise in immigration, like many European countrie s, with the number of its immigrants doubling since 1995. Most came for the robust economy, political stability and generous welfare state , settling in dense pockets in Norways largest cities. Its estimated that 11 perce nt of Norwegians are immigrants or the children of immigrants and about 2 percen t of the population