Address at Bano Rashid’s funeral

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Translated from the Norwegian

Dear family, friends, mourners, and members of the Labour Youth League, 

You arrived in Norway in 1996 – a small family seeking security and protection, refugees from the Kurdistan region of Iraq. Now you have suffered the most meaningless, distressing and brutal loss imaginable – here with us in peaceful Norway.  

Bano is no longer here. It is beyond belief. 

In the midst of your grief I hope you can feel that your small family is part of many larger families: 

Part of one family here on Nesodden, where Bano will be remembered by her friends, her school, and those who shared her interest in sports and politics. And part of another family in the Labour Party, where Bano showed great promise as a future political leader. 

And part of the wider Norwegian family. 

We are wrapping the strong arms of our community around you. And we gain consolation and strength from you in your courage and grief, in Beyan’s words to a whole nation: “The answer is not hatred, but more love.” 

Utøya is still out there in the Tyrifjorden lake, shrouded in silence after the atrocities of last Friday. Now Bano’s generation is speaking out loud and clear – and your message is resonating throughout the political sphere and the whole nation, across every imaginable dividing line: We will take Utøya back! 

We know that this will be a long process. We will take back Utøya’s paths, open spaces and beaches gradually and sensitively. 

What we are all saying is that we will uphold the idea behind Utøya as a place for young people to share their commitment, enjoy themselves, but at the same time take part in serious discussions as they stake out the course ahead into adulthood, determined to make use of the opportunities and shoulder the responsibilities before us all. 

Bano reflected all of this, and she played a prominent part in this year’s camp – the camp I met when I went to Utøya on Thursday 21 July, a day of sunshine, the day before the attack, when Utøya was everything Utøya should be. 

She took on the whole range of social challenges and opportunities that democracy and political life must address. Bano properly understood the concept of democracy, and knew that she shared responsibility for Norway’s future. 

This autumn, as head of the Labour Youth League in Nesodden, Bano would have been on the Labour Party list and would have met voters in the local election. Many would have voted specifically for her. She was deeply engaged in everyday issues here. “I’ll sort out the bus service once I’m elected,” she said. 

Note the order here: she saw something that needed dealing with, and she set a democratic course to do so. 

She was also interested in the big issues. Gender equality was one of the most important. Here she was following in Gro Harlem Brundtland’s footsteps – Gro, who was her political model. 

I had a long talk with Gro this morning. Her thoughts are with you today. She is left with a deep impression after meeting Bano last Friday. She told me about a conversation with Bano and six other girls on Utøya. “What should we do to make ourselves heard and win support?” they asked. “Just be yourselves. Be what you believe in,” Gro answered. 

And this is how we remember Bano. She was herself. She really was what she believed in. 

And it is easy for us to see that this girl, who came to Norway as a refugee, had the potential to step into Gro’s shoes. Just as Gro literally stepped into hers. For this is the kind of thing that happens in our small country, in our family. It was perfectly normal for Bano to lend Gro her rubber boots on that rainy Friday, only a few hours before the tragedy unfolded. 

Bano is no longer with us. It is beyond belief. 

Nevertheless, this is what we are coming to terms with as we all gain a clearer picture of the people we have lost. We find that we are getting to know and to love the people who are now being laid to rest. Their personalities have touched us and inspired us – after they were so brutally torn from us. 

Bano, Diderik, who was also from Nesodden, and Emil, Bendik, Håvard, Silje and all those others whose names are being imprinted on our minds, are becoming real to us. They have been lost but will not be forgotten. 

They will join the ranks of their political movement as pioneers for a better future. 

I don’t know if it is any comfort, but Bano’s political engagement and her belief in people will inspire and encourage us far into the future. In this way, she will continue to shape Nesodden, Norway and the world. 

May Bano Rashid rest in peace.