God's Chosen People?

In August 2006, Jostein Gaarder, a famed Norwegian author, published an op-ed piece in one of the largest newspapers in Norway, Aftenposten, expressing his outrage against Israel's military operations since 1967. The text, which Gaarder on an August 7, 2006 NRK Channel 2 radio debate said was read by "countless people" and "Middle East experts" prior to publishing, is by many perceived as attacking not only Israel and Israeli policy, but also Jews and Judaism in general.

The piece, titled "God's Chosen People" and written in part as a response to the Israel-Lebanon conflict, claims that Israel's policies are founded on a religion that is "archaic" and "warriorlike". The op-ed is written as a prophecy, believed by some to be based on the style of the Book of Amos. Gaarder maintains it is written not the way he wants it to be, but the way he believes it might become true unless the state of Israel changes its political course.
Among other things, he writes:

We laugh at this people's whims, and cry over its misdeeds. To act as God's chosen people is not only foolish and arrogant,
it is a crime against humanity. We call it racism. […] There are limits to our patience and there are limits to our tolerance.
We do not believe in divine promises as a rationale for occupation and apartheid. We have left the Middle Ages behind. We
laugh with embarrassment at those who still believe that the god of the flora, fauna and galaxies has chosen one particular
people as his favorite, and given them amusing stone tablets, burning bushes and a license to kill.

We call child murderers 'child murderers,' and will never accept that they have a divine or historic mandate excusing their
outrages," Gaarder writes. "Shame on ethnic cleansing, shame on every terrorist strike against civilians, be it carried out by
Hamas, Hezbollah or the State of Israel!

When asked if he went to far with his statement of not recognizing Israel, he said:

The op-ed is a judgement prophecy. Of course I don't mean that Israel has no right to defend itself. What I say, is no
different than the world community through the UN-resolutions. Again and again we see Israel overreacting says Gaarder,
and stresses that he is not against Israel as such, but that he distinguishes between Israel of 1948 and the one of 1967.