The vote to defeat the draft bill that would have legalized gay marriage by the legal committee of parliament sets not only a dangerous precedent but reveals Finland’s ever-hardened stance not only against gays, but against all minorities.
If there were a Hall of Shame for MPs, its members would consist of those who voted against the gay-marriage bill: Anne Holmlund, Markku Mäntymaa, Kari Tolvanen of the National Coalition Party; James Hirvisaari, Arja Juvonen, Kaj Turunen of the Perussuomalaiset party (PS); Arto Pirttilahti, Ari Torniainen of the Center Party; and Peter Östman of the Christian Democratic Party.
Other likely infamous “candidates” would be PS MP Jussi Halla-aho, Juho Eerola and a long list of others.
A vote in favor of gay rights would have been a vote for greater rights and acceptance of all minorities in Finland.
Why is Finland still the only Nordic country that hasn’t legalized gay
marriage? Is it because the third-largest party of parliament is the
anti-immigration PS?
Or has the PS strengthened, reinforced and emboldened the intolerant stand of MPs from other parties?
Wednesday, February 27, was a shameful day in Finland revealing that we have a long way to go to make our country a more tolerant place for everyone.
A draft law to legalize gay marriage in Finland has been defeated by a vote of 9-8 by the legal committee of parliament, reports Uusi Suomi, citing Tweets by Green Party MP Jani Toivola and Aino-Kaisa Pekonen of the Left Alliance.
Green MP Jani Toivola tweeted that he was “disappointed” by the gay marriage vote today.
The members of the legal committee who voted against the draft bill were: Anne Holmlund, Markku Mäntymaa and Kari Tolvanen of the National Coaltion Party; James Hirvisaari, Arja Juvonen and Kaj Turunen of the
Perussuomalaiset party; Arto Pirttilahti and Ari Torniainen of the
Center Party; and Peter Östman of the Christian Democrats.
Those voted in favor of the bill were Suna Kylmäläinen, Antti Lindtman, Kristiina Jalonen-Salolainen, Johanna Ojala-Niemelä of the Social Democratic Party; Stefan Wallin of the Swedish People’s Party, Jaana Pelkonen of the National Coalition Party, Pekonen of the Left Alliance, and Toivola of the Greens.
The vote should be seen as a hard blow for tolerance in Finland. It’s clear that this government has mixed opinions about minority rights, It’s wisful thinking to expext that the adverse climate against immigrants will improve anytime soon in Finland.
“We lost in the vote,” he said. “It’s sad, it makes me cry, the world isn’t ready yet.”
Wrote Migrant Tales on February 19: MP Anne Holmlund of the National Coalition Party and former interior minister appears to be against gay rights as well. She has reportedly sabotaged a petition as chairman of the legal committee to debate and legalize gay marriage.
There’s a new site that publishes quotes by your favorite Perussuomalaiset (PS) politician in English. Those PS politicians are none other than Jussi Halla-aho, James Hirvisaari and Juho Eerola.
The editors state the following: “Quotes by some leading politicians of the True Finns party. Note that we do no approve of the views they represent. Actually we just want to show what kind of crazies they are. Complaints about the opinions of the True Finns should be directed to the True Finns themselves.”
Here’s one quote by Hirvisaari: “A hate crime was committed in Helsinki some time ago. I believe it was a rare and unique event. It is not always racism if a skinhead beats up a black man, it can be just boys being boys. But if it was a typical case of molesting women, maybe it the black man deserved it.”
And another one by Juho Eerola: “I am attracted to fascism and especially (to) the economic policies.”
Let’s not forget Halla-aho: “What is relevant is that all terrorists are Muslim.”
I’ve lived and worked in countries like Colombia and Argentina during the dirty war (1976-83), where people were and still are killed for what they write. Never would I have imagined that I’d receive my first death threats twenty years ago in this country, Finland. The threats and harassment haven’t stopped.
When I read about this serious problem affecting university researchers who study a social ill like racism and even journalists, I not only wonder how we have got here but how long it will take before something snaps.
Unions representing university researchers brought up the issue in mid-February, stating that threats to their members at the University of Eastern Finland have been on the rise. A new story on MTV3 today reveals the same problem on a much wider scale.
Another sad example was Jyväskylä, were a group of neo-Nazi thugs disrupted a book event on the far right in Finland.
It’s clear that those who harass and threaten people for what they do or write, have little respect for our democratic institutions. They are like lawless vigilantes full of bravado but turn to cowards when their identity is exposed.
Racism and hatred are sexy for some people. Some politicians fall in love with them because it brings them to the public light and feeds their low self-esteem, narcissism and bizarre ego trips. What they don’t know – or don’t want to know – is that racism and hatred know no master. It can bite back, and hard.
Anders Breivik is a good example. He’s the dog on the short leash that turned into a mass murderer. The smoking gun were the hate sites he visited and that fed his twisted world where, like in a fairy tale, you can rewrite history to suit your ignorance.
What is Perussuomalaiset (PS) leader Timo Soini going to do about the extremists in the PS like MP Jussi Halla-aho, James Hirvisaari, Olli Immonen, Juho Eerola and others?
Nothing because he can’t and because he has already let the ogre out of the cage. Living on an overdose of wishful thinking, the PS leader believes he has control over the violence that his party has sown but well understands that he is now a hostage.
That monster that lurks in our society spreading hatred is the same one that is threatening university researchers, journalists and writers that challenge it.
Like a cancer, we must isolate and neutralize it.
Or maybe we should continue covering our eyes and leave everything to chance.
Minulle se tarkoittaa paljon, koska siinä ei arvostella ihmisiä heidän taustan mukaan. Kaikki eivät tiedä tarpeeksi ihmisistä koska he ovat erilaisia. Tämä selittää miksi ennakkoluulot ovat olemassa.
Eri ihmisillä voi olla erilaiset tapoja. Vaikka he ovat erilaisia se ei tarkoita ettei he voisivat tulla toimeen keskenään. Kun puhun erilaisuudesta, tarkoitan maahanmuuttajia sekä vammaisia
Haluan kertoa omasta sairaudestani. Minulla on CP-vamma ja haluan, että minua kohdellaan tasavertaisesti riippumatta niitä esteitä mitä minulla voi olla.
Et tarvitse hävetä, ärsyyntyä tai inhoa minua koska olen mitä olen.
Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP James Hirvisaari, who was convicted for ethnic agitation in December, announced Saturday on Twitter that he was “pressured” to resign from the extremist Suomen Sisu association. He announced on Friday that he was resigning from Suomen Sisu because he was too old to belong to “a youth organization.”
Hirvisaari tweets, “The truth: I was pressured to resign from Suomen Sisu.”
In his usual far right tone, Hirvisaari wrote on his blog: ”[I didn’t resign] because there was something wrong with the association, but because it is a youth organization.”
And continues: “I thank Suomen Sisu’s smart young men and women for their inspiring, intelligent, peaceful and authentic love for the fatherland and for their company and great example.”
So what does this latest piece of news about Hirvisaari’s motive to resign from Suomen Sisu tell us? It reveals that there is a big struggle in the PS between the far right faction led by MP Jussi Halla-aho and the party’s chairman Timo Soini.
Hirvisaari now regrets resigning from Suomen Sisu.
Is this tweet by Hirvisaari an outright declaration of war against Soini?
As Finland awakens to the reality that it is a culturally diverse society, one of the biggest threats and challenges we face doesn’t come from abroad but from our backyard. When the Civil Rights Movement ended in the United States in 1968, the first matter that we learned we should stop doing is generalizing about blacks and other groups.
It’s sad to admit that some prejudices in Finland are so old that people believe them to be scientific fact. Prejudice is a powerful political force that was capitalized by the anti-immigration Perussuomalaiset party in the April 2011 election.
Finns are even prejudiced against themselves. Some believe that Hämäläinens in southern Finland are “slow” and that people from Savo in eastern Finland are “crooked.”
Racism has powerful roots in Finland. One could even see it on a Suomen Kuvalehti article published in 1940 that attempted to show how superior the Finnish white soldier was to blacks.
Blacks are no longer found on racist ads but other ethnic groups like Latinos. This picture was taken at the Pieksämäki train station in July 2007. The owners of the café no longer use this sign outside their premises.
Giving up one’s prejudices isn’t easy but not impossible.
We fortunately have great laws that are based on social equality (tasa-arvo) and respect. Our successful society would be nothing today without these laws. Instead of building bridges of acceptance, respect and tolerance, we’d be destroying those bridges with intolerance.
How, then, is it possible that such an exemplary society like ours could breed people with so much hatred and prejudice against other groups?
While there are many people who understand the importance of cultural diversity in this country, there are still too many who are reactive to it.
Despite the spirit of our present laws, they mean little and are robbed of their power if they are caged by prejudice, racism and above all by our silence.
Blaming our history on some of our intolerance is a too simple but it is one answer that sheds light on the present problem.
Few young people in Finland know that we used to be a very closed country only thirty years ago and our laws reflected this situation as well.
Foreigners were not only barred from investing in the country but the Aliens’ Office made everything possible to ensure you didn’t move here.
If is shameful that a country that saw over 1.2 million emigrate between 1860 and 1999, treated immigrants in Finland like stateless persons who didn’t even have the right to habeas corpus. Immigrants were seen at the time as a threat to national security.
Prior to our first Aliens’ Act of 1983, which came into force sixty-five years after independence, foreigners could be arrested at will by the police, held indefinitely in jail and deported without the right to appeal.
During the Great Depression, Finland enacted the Restricting Act of 1939 that kept foreigners and outside investment to a minimum. The act prohibited foreigners from owning real estate and acquiring a majority stake in Finnish companies – limiting this to 20% normally and 40% under special permission.
The act stipulated that foreigners could not own shares in sectors such as forestry, securities trading, transportation, mining, real estate and shipping.
To maintain this climate of suspicion against foreigners, the school played an important role in teaching young Finns myths in order to be prejudiced against other groups.
At schools, Finnish children were taught at an early age that “n” stands for the n-word.
Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP James Hirvisaari, who was convicted for ethnic agitation in December, announced on his blog that he has resigned from the extremist Suomen Sisu association. The whole announcement is fishy: Why is Hirvisaari resigning now? Does it make any difference? Who cares.
Hirvisaari’s blog is as eerie as his far right ideology and views of Muslims.
PS MP Juho Eerola, who is in the same far right ideological league as Hirvisaari, resigned in June from Suomen Sisu because he was aiming to become MP Jussi Halla-aho’s successor as chairman of the administration committee.
Halla-aho was forced to resign as chairman of the administration committee when the Supere Court convicted him in June for ethnic agitation and breaching the sanctity of religion.
In his usual far right tone, Hirvisaari writes: ”[I didn’t resign] because there was something wrong with the association, but because it is a youth organization.”
And continues: “I thank Suomen Sisu’s smart young men and women for their inspiring, intelligent, peaceful and authentic love for the fatherland and for their company and great example.”
A Finnish expert on the far right, who spoke to Migrant Tales on condition of anonymity, said that nobody can resign from the association because it’s like leaving the Mafia. Suomen Sisu is neither a registered association nor does it have an official list of members.
“Considering that someone can say out loud publicly that he is resigning from Suomen Sisu doesn’t mean anything at all if [the person’s] ideology remains unchanged,” said the expert on the far right. “Suomen Sisu is no longer an active organization because it has the Perussuomalaiset under its full control and they can do pretty much what they please [in that party].”
One area where Suomen Sisu wields a lot of power over the PS is in the party’s immigration policy.
Charges of ethnic agitation will be brought by deputy state prosecutor Jorma Kalske against Kontiolahti councilman Mika Hiltunen, reports YLE. Hiltunen claimed on his Facebook page in January that refugees and asylum seekers “are social-welfare bums and rapists.”
JusticeDemon asks an interesting question about the case: “… this particular statute [Section 10 of chapter 11 of the Finnish Penal Code] has evidently become Lex Persu. Is it my imagination, or can we say that ALL convictions for this particular offense in the last 5 years have been more or less closely associated with this specific political faction?”‘
Another important question we can ask concerning Hiltunen is why doesn’t the PS sack the councilman? Remember the answer PS chairman Timo Soini gave on HARDtalk when he was asked about sacking MP Teuvo Hakkarainan for calling black people the n-word?
Soini’s answed: “Why should I?”
It’s pretty certain that Soini won’t sack Hiltunen.
Kuuntelin eilen työmatkalla tiistailta lataamaani Jari Sarasvuon radio-ohjelmaa, joka lähetetään Yle Puheen kautta. Sarasvuo on fantastinen radiossa jos hänen kuuntelemiselleen on varata aikaa häiriötön tunti. Taustakuunteluna se toiminee huonommin, sen verran paljon asiaa käsitellään yhden iltapäivätunnin aikana. Vaikka se ei varsinaisesti tämän viikon aihe ollutkaan, viittasi Sarasvuo muutamaan otteeseen viime viikonlopun Helsingin Sanomien juttuun, jossa esiteltiin tutkimusta, jonka keskeisenä kohteena oli orjakaupan vaikutus siitä kärsineisiin maihin. Ensimmäisellä kertaa Sarasvuo puhui ”valkoisen miehen syyllisyydestä”, jota hän oli tuntenut artikkelia lukiessaan ja toisella kertaa hän sanoi, että ”…nää afrikkalaisethan myi toinen toisiaan orjiksi…”, joka oli se hetki jolloin päätin, että laitan lauantai-iltana Hesarille kirjoittamani viestin aiheesta julkiseksi. En siksi, ettei Sarasvuon analyysi Hesarin jutusta ollut täsmälleen oikea vaan siksi, että se oli.
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Palaute artikkelista “Tutkija: Orjuus teki Afrikasta köyhän, ei siirtomaatalous”
Luin verkkopalvelustanne kirjoituksen ”Tutkija: Orjuus teki Afrikasta köyhän, ei siirtomaatalous” (16.2.2013) ja haluaisin kiinnittää huomiota sen puutteisiin. Tiedeartikkelissa, jota tässä on referoitu, ei puhuta siirtomaataloudesta millään merkittävällä tavalla ja mielestäni sen vetäminen mukaan teidän kirjoitukseenne on harhaanjohtavaa. Itse ihmettelen suuresti alkuperäisten kirjoittajien luottamusta heidän löytämänsä datan yksioikoisuudesta ja siitä, että historian muilla muuttujilla ei olisi ollut sen suurempaa merkitystä asioiden kanssa. Erityisesti näin, kun kyseessä olevien alueiden historia on ollut monien vastoinkäymisten ja usein myös hirmutekojen värittämä, mutta vaikka itse olenkin skeptinen heidän lopputulemiensa suhteen, ei minulla ole mitään sitä vastaan, että heidän tutkimustaan jaetaan laajemmalle suomalaiselle lukijakunnalle. En kuitenkaan koe, että jo artikkelin otsikossa mainittu siirtomaakauden vastuun minimointi edustaa sitä, mitä tutkijat ovat tutkineet ja mielestäni kirjoituksen sävy – joka on tietysti tulkinnanvarainen – johtaa siihen lopputulokseen, että siirtomaa-aika on nyt päästetty pannasta ja orjakauppiaitakin olivat pääasiassa afrikkalaiset itse. Sekään ei ole mielestäni alkuperäisen tiedeartikkelin hengessä ja on harmillista, että kaltaisenne merkittävä julkaisu lähtee asiaa näin harhaanjohtavasti kuvaamaan.
Terveisin, Mikko Kapanen
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En ole kuullut asiasta mitään viestin lähettämisen jälkeen; en oikein mitään odotakaan, mutta asia on kuitenkin mielestäni oleellinen erityisesti nykyisen kansalaiskeskustelun tason huomioon ottaen. Ymmärrän, että tutkimusta voi tulkita sen jälkeen kun se on julkaistu, mutta on aika harmillista, että näin spekulatiivisen tutkimuksen perusteella kirjoitetaan lehtijuttu, johon otetaan ulottuvuuksia, joita tutkimuksessa ei ole käsitelty ja sitten myydään sisältö näillä lisukkeillä. Myymisellä tarkoitan sitä verkossa tapahtuvaa klikkausta, jonka lehti itselleen haluaa ja otsikot ovat tässä tietysti keskeisessä osassa. Mielestäni siinä vapaalla tulkinnalla annetaan ammuksia niille, jotka jo valmiiksi mielellään vetoavat kovaan ääneen ties mihin etnisten eturyhmien pohdiskeluihin. Toisaalta, ihmisiähän me toimittajatkin vain olemme ja samalla tavalla, kun vaikka paperimiehet lähestymme maailmaa omien jo ennalta olemassa olevien ajatusmallien kautta.
Nykyään vaikuttaa muutenkin muodikkaalta tehdä muka-radikaaleja kannanottoja. Yhdysvalloissa tätä aikaa kutsutaan, pääsääntöisesti kai Obaman presidenttiyden johdosta, termillä ”post-racial”, mikä on tietenkin ihan täyttä höpöhöpöä, mutta vaikuttaa myös siltä, että osa suomalaisista kokee heidän itsensä elävän jonkinlaista rasismin jälkeistä tai yläpuolista aikaa. Enkä muuten puhu tässä Sarasvuosta – en ensinkään – mutta näyttää siltä, että monet kokevat itse tietävänsä, että eivät ole oman arvionsa mukaan rasisteja ja siksi heillä on oikeus sanoa asioita melko huolimattomasti ja provosoivasti. Saatan olla väärässä, mutta intuitiivisesti itse yhdistän tämän Hesarin jutun tähän ilmiöön.
Siirtomaa-aika oli millä tahansa mittarilla katsottuna melkoista rosvousta. Sen tuntuu moni hahmottavan, mutta kyllä Franz Fanon -vainaalla olisi Suomessakin sarkaa näiden kokemusten psykologisten vaikutusten selittämisessä. Alueet, joista tutkimuksessa puhutaan, ovat käyneet läpi paljon myös orjakauppa-ajan jälkeen, ja vaikka tutkimus osoittaa korrelaatioita, jää se hataraksi lopullisen syy- ja seuraussuhteen todistamisessa. Varmaa on kuitenkin se, ettei tutkimus siirtomaa-ajasta kerro. Voit tarkastaa asian jos et usko minua.
Lopuksi vielä Al Jazeeran dokumenttiohjelma siirtomaa-ajan ja kylmän sodan vaikutuksista Afrikan mantereellla. Se on mielenkiintoinen kokonaisuus vaikka unohtaakin Arabi-maailman osuuden Afrikan historiassa. Jostainhan se Islamkin on maanosaan tullut, mutta se on aiheena toinen.
