OSLO - Like many Norwegians, I bought a bunch of white roses at a corner shop on Monday night and joined in the "Rose Rally" to commemorate the victims of last week's twin attacks.

The huge gathering, the largest march in Norway since World War II, was a result of an online campaign that began over the weekend.

An estimated 150,000 people took to the streets to heal the wounds of the traumatized nation.

The population of Norway is less than 5 million, and about 600,000 of them live in Oslo.

Monday's rally passed through many important places in the Norwegian capital, the Oslo Cathedral, the bomb site, Oslo University and the Parliament.

Apart from roses, many marchers also held banners displaying a term that has been coined in recent days, "Oslove".

"The streets are filled with love," Prince Haakon said, addressing the solemn crowd outside the city hall. His wife Princess Mette-Marit and Princess Martha Louise also attended the rally.

When a team of about 10 rescue workers passed through a major street, a muffled ripple of applause spread through the mass. Some of the rescue workers were weeping. Each of them was still wearing bright red and yellow working clothes.

Like all the other marchers, they carried roses in their hands.

"They are the true heroes, as they are still working in the most horrific debris searching for the missing. They are truly respected," said Sandra Berg, 40.

But despite these touching moments and encouraging words, many questions remain.

The concern over the rise of far-right extremism has now been raised to the nation.

"It's unbelievable a Norwegian could do this to his own peers," Nels Fredheim, 56, said.

"It's tragic that one man's madness caused the death of so many young people," marcher," he said, referring to accused killer Anders Behring Breivik's explanation that the slaughter was to "save Europe from Marxists and a takeover by Muslims".

"Extreme thoughts had never been a brand of our peace-loving country," Fredheim added.

Despite a proud reputation of peace and tolerance among Norwegians, the country has suffered rising tensions over race and immigration in recent years.

The anti-immigration Progress Party is now the second largest in the parliament, winning one in five votes during the last election.

The percentage of immigrants in the population has grown to 11 percent from just 2 percent in 1970. The Progress Party, founded in 1973, said immigrants placed too great a burden on Norway's generous welfare.

This view is shared by some who attended the rally.

"The government is too kind to the immigrants to some extent," said Sidsel Berg, a 68-year-old humanitarian worker.

Though such view may not be the mainstream thought, it is at least a concern for the nation to address.

China Daily

(China Daily 07/27/2011 page12)