Migrant Tales insight: Remember 2015? It was the year when over 30,000 asylum seekers, mainly from Iraq and Afghanistan, came to Finland. Do you remember the reaction of some Finns who attacked fourteen asylum reception centers? Why weren’t these acts of violence classified as domestic terrorism? This disgraceful story is dedicated to Perussuomalaiset (PS)* MP Ano…
Month: January 2020
PS MP Ano Turtiainen is the bald face of aging communities losing vitality
“The inhabitants of Juva are quiet about [MP] Ano Turtianen.* It is a sign that there is a lot of shame.” A Juva resident THIS POST WAS UPDATED Juva in the region of Etelä-Savo is a sad example of how a town withers demographically and what types of politicians appear and are supposed to save it from…
Facebook Daniel Malpica: Unjustified trouble with the Finnish Immigration Service
Migrant Tales insight: Daniel Malpica is an artist who, like many, has been wronged by the Finnish Immigration “Service.” Malpica is an old friend of this blog. Below are some of his earlier writings: Daniel Malpica: Tottelemattomuus. On the Finnish Immigration Policy (14.9.2019) Milliklubi night club makes the headlines and for all the wrong reasons….
Turku Synagogue: The vandalism is a sign of a general trend in Finland
The vandalism that took place on Sunday against the Turku Synagogue did not come as a surprise, said Harry Serlo, a spokesperson of the Jewish Community of Turku. “What happened is a general trend [in Finland] and should be seen in such a light,” he said. “I don’t like to talk just about anti-Semitism but…
Petteri Orpo’s double hate-crime standards expose political hypocrisy
National Coalition Party chairperson Petteri Orpo tweets that “I condemn the vandalism against the Turku Synagog and I’m satisfied that the Turku city council signed a motion [condemning] what happened.” Orpo’s support is important, but the question that arises from what happened is if there are different scales of importance when it comes to vandalism…
Finland’s anti-Semitism and “r” problem: Washing one’s hands with Denial soap
Finland’s reaction: See no evil, hear no evil. Finland has had, for a long time, an “r” problem in the way of Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, and other social ills like hatred against the Romany minority. Part of it has to do with the historical acceptance and even closet glorification of our alliance with Nazi Germany. The…
Spiral of hatred is a tightening noose around the neck of the Perussuomalaiset party
Racism is like a rabid dog on a short leash. The racist shows of his dog and other racists are amazed. But a warning: The dog can bite back and hard because the sick dog knows no master. The Perussuomalaiset (PS)* is a party that is spinning out of control, and it is self-inflicted: Ethnonationalism,…
Mehdi Ghasemi: Towards inclusive and culturally diverse literature in Finland
Migrant Tales insight: A few days ago, I got an email from Mehdi Ghasemi, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Tampere and Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura (SKS). He says that he’s working on a project that aims to increase the “visibility, readability, and research on immigrant authors in Finland.” His latest book, Opening Boundaries: “Toward…
Mistä on rasistipojat ja Incel-miehet tehty?
Mikä saa monet suomalaiset miehet kuvittelemaan, että riittää, kun he vain ovat miehiä? Kuinka pitkälle kantaa vaikkapa sellainen perussuomalaisuus, että hoohakkaraisena ollaan avustajatätien ohjauksessa Euroopan parlamentissa tai persu penkissä istutaan kunnanvaltuustojen kokouksissa antamatta mitään panosta yhteisten asioiden hoitamiseen? Mistä lähtien suomalaiset ovat alkaneet olla halukkaita jättämään hallinnon ääliöiden käsiin? Kovasti ällistyttävät myös nämä ukkelit, joita…
The Finnish police, politicians and the media live in deep denial about the threat of far-right ideologies
Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce to you the Soldiers of Odin, a far-right group with close ties with neo-Nazis. When they appeared, the media seemed to be amazed and swept off its feet, while the police played down the problem, just like the previous government did. Just like in the Oulu sexual assault cases,…