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For political youth organizations to have their summer camp at Utøya is a strong symbol of young people´s resilience to terror and violence.
COMMEMORATION
We will never forget.
[Utøya ]
A place for commemoration, learning and engagement
On 22 July 2011, a right-wing Norwegian extremist killed 69 people at Utøya in Norway, most of them young people attending the Norwegian Labour Party Youth’s summer camp. The terrorist asserted that people with different cultural backgrounds cannot coexist in a society and promoted the conspiracy theory that Europe is slowly taken over by the Arabic world.
Today, Utøya carries a strong testimony of why values such as tolerance, equality and diversity cannot be taken for granted, but need to be promoted and practiced in everyday life. For this to happen there need to be more places for people to meet, not less.
Since 22 July 2011 Utøya has been rebuilt as a commemoration- and learning center, balancing the need to commemorate and the need for new life, learning and engagement for a more inclusive, democratic society.
"Utøya is the world-leading example in how they have dealt with being a place struck by terror and violence".
Cliff Chanin
Executive Vice President, National September 11 Memorial & Museum
"I am touched and grateful to witness how the young people at Utøya have resumed the joy of working for a better society and a better world."
Federica Mogherini
Foreign Secretary of the EU
"Utøya is a place of hope and resilience that shows that after an extremely violent event, things can become peaceful again and it is possible to rebuild".
Hajer Sharief
Libyan peace activist, Co-founder of Together We Build It, and & Winner of The Students Nobel Prize
Utøya is one of the most important places in Norwegian society, and one of the places that have shaped Norwegian politics the most over the past decades. In summer, it is the most important podium for political speeches."
Jens Stoltenberg
Utøya-veteran & NATO Secretary General
"Utøya is a place that shape you as a human being"
Jan Egeland
General Secretary, Norwegian Refugee Council
"To me, Utøya, is a symbol of hope"
