Comment: This story appeared on Suomen Kuvalehti’s website shortly after the US-led coalition invaded Iraq in March 2003. All you needed back then was common sense to understand that the invasion of Iraq was a huge and costly lie. The column reposted in June 2007, shortly after the birth of Migrant Tales in May of…
Month: March 2013
Some immigrants adapt so well to Finland that they even parrot the language of the racist
Intolerance doesn’t only originate from the majority group, but is alive and kicking among some immigrants as well. White immigrants may have prejudices against their fellow black ones, gays against heterosexuals, religion x against religion y. In sum, there’s a lot of intolerance promoted out there that reveals itself in the most surprising places. One…
The National Discrimination Tribunal of Finland fines Nordea for discrimination
The National Discrimination Tribunal of Finland (Syrjintälautakunta) has given Nordea Bank Finland a conditional fine of 5,000 euros for not accepting a French identity card as proof of identity, the Tribunal said in a statement. Moreover, the Tribunal considered the bank’s refusal to serve the client and his removal from the premises as an infringement…
What Finland can learn from countries like the U.K. about racism
We can learn a lot from countries like the United Kingdom, where multiculturalism is an official social policy. Few won’t deny that the U.K. as well as other European countries don’t know what racism is if we look at their direct involvement in the slave trade and in the systematic genocide of indigenous peoples outside Europe. …
What will happen to Finland if the PS matches its parliamentary election result in 2015?
Should we be worried by the latest polls, which show the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party vying for second place? What does the rise of the PS say about the present state of Finland? What will happen if the party matches its 2011 election result in 2015? Right after the disappointing municipal election, PS head Timo Soini promised that…
If you loathe cultural diversity you most likely are suspicious of wolves and biodiversity
A news story on Green Party’s Vihreä Lanka asks if the wolf population of Finland has fallen to under 120 from an estimated 120-135 by Game and Fisheries Research. How many and what threat do they pose to people is part of an ongoing debate in Finland that is very similar to how some Finns…
How far to the right will the PS and Suomen Sisu take Finland?
Even if Suomen Sisu president Olli Immonen and Jussi Halla-aho, both MPs of the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party, tried to assure television viewers Thursday on A-Talk that the association is neither racist nor far right, nothing could be further from the truth. In order to keep immigrants and visible minorities disenfranchised, Suomen Sisu must come up…
Cultural diversity: The key question that should have been asked on YLE’s A-Studio talk show
YLE A-Studio had an interesting debate with Perussuomalaisiet (PS) MPs Olli Immonen, Jussi Halla-aho, Left Alliance Helsinki city councilman Dan Koivulaakso and Swedish-language daily HBL journalist Marianne Lydén. Despite assurances by Immonen, Suomen Sisu’s new president, that the extremist anti-immigration association is against racism, they should their same colors by reinforcing over and over again their…
Our response to intolerance in the EU and Finland must be first and foremost a response
Every great journey challenge begins with a single step. A Chinese proverb slightly changed A study by the European Network Against Racism (ENAR), reveals how racism and intolerant attitudes are becoming more prevalent in the European Union. What to do? Read ENAR study here. A recent example of how racism and intolerance spread roots in…
Timo Soini and Olli Immonen, the foxes in the chicken coop
Perussuomalaiset (PS) chairman Timo Soini was asked Tuesday by YLE what he thought about PS MP Olli Immonen being elected as the new chairman of Suomen Sisu, an extremist anti-immigration association. Soini offered his usual cock-and-bull answer by comparing Suomen Sisu to a harmless hunting, farming or youth association. It appears that YLE has learned a…