THIS STORY WAS UPDATED
An analysis piece in the Guardian looked at the international and local links that lead to the deadly incidents that led to the deaths Tof nine people in Hanau, Germany at the hands of a far-right killer.
Patrik Hermansson of Hope Not Hate, a UK-based far-right monitoring group, correctly warns us again of the danger of toxic anti-immigration rhetoric by far-right and populist groups.
“Part of the problem is that until now the German security community doesn’t seem to have been very good at dealing with the situation,” said Hermansson. “In some cases, extremists have had links with the police and the military.”
According to the Guardian, British investors claim that there are links “between British, German, and Nordic far-right groups.”
In Finland, there are already direct links of the far-right in parliament through the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party and Nazi-spirited association, Suomen Sisu nevermind neo-Nazi groups like the banned Nordic Resistance Movement (PVL) and Pohjoinen Perinne (Nordic Tradition Group).
Apart from the close ties between the PS and neo-Nazi groups, the Soldiers of Odin are another far-right group masquerading in our country with impunity.
Being white and with the help of institutional racism, groups like the police and military are in danger in Finland of underestimating the far-right threat with the help of denial and cultural wise tales.
Writes the Anti-Hate Crime Organization Finland: “Demonizing groups like Muslims and labeling them as ‘an invasive species’ by a PS MP or spreading fear about how white Finns will become a minority in their country is the same type of poison [of racism and hate] that [Chancellor Angela] Merkel warned.”
Hatred and even violent rhetoric against Muslims, people of color, Jews, and other visible minorities has not unfortunately subsided but picked up in Finland.
Finland must get a grip on the threat the far-right and populist parties pose to our way of life. If we do nothing or too little as now, we will only have ourselves to blame if Hanau-style terrorism strikes our society.
