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 motivated by hate.
When the Resalat Shia mosque in Eastern Helsinki was in March when it was vandalized with hate graffiti a day before the Christchurch mosque shootings, no politician expressed outrage.
Petteri Orpo tweets:“I condemn the vandalism against the Turku Synagog and I’m satisfied that the Turku city council signed a motion [condemning] what happened.”
This is a sad example of political hypocrisy even if both cases are equally alarming.
On the left is the Turku Synagogue and on the right, the Resalat Shia Mosque in Eastern Helsinki. Sources: Yle and Facebook.
Another matter that does not seem right in Orpo’s condemnation is his anti-immigration track record when he was interior minister and later finance minister.
Below are some of the questionable matters that Orpo and the previous government (2015-2019) of Prime Minister Juha Sipilä “had to be reviewed” in the face of an “unseen wave” of asylum seekers that came in 2015:
Free legal representation restricted to applicants who required exceptional grounds for assistance;
Deadline for appeals was lowered from 30 to 21 days after a second rejection and to 14 days after the third rejection;
The government tightened appeal times in the hope of ejecting asylum seekers faster from Finland;
There were further administrative restrictions and practical difficulties making the application process more complicated;
Tightened family reunification laws;
No time limit on detaining families with children in immigration removal centers like Joutseno and Metsälä;
Lack of government leadership in tackling Islamophobia and racism contributed to Finland’s hostile environment affecting migrants and inhumane immigration policy.
Finnish politicians like Orpo condemn racist acts with one hand but with another encourage them.
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 photograph below of Marshall Carl Mannerheim and Heinrich Himmler toasting to a glass of schnapps, at the height of Operation Reinhard to commit mass murder to wipe the Jews off the face of Europe.
You may ask people about this shameful picture and if it is ok to be on the wall of Mikkeli Klubi in Mikkeli. “It’s history,” the majority would respond and thereby washing their hands of such genocide.
On Holocaust Remembrance Day, the Turku Synagogue saw its walls vandalized with red paint, according to Yle News.
Is it a cultural thing or is that some of us have witnessed racism and the oppression from it directly? It seems that every time a Finnish politician speaks about “rising racism” he attempts to be diplomatic and kind.
President Sauli Niinistö was asked to comment on what happened in Turku. Writes Yle News: “[N]iinistö characterized the incident at Turku Synagogue as very disturbing. He said the vandalism was an indication of broader racism, saying that the growth of racism and anti-Semitism was worrying and that their developments were linked.”
Niinistö said that the growth of racism and anti-Semitism “was worrying” and what happened in Turku “very disturbing.”
The term “worrying” should, in my opinion, be replaced with alarming taking into account the present situation spearheaded by an Islamophobic party on the warpath against migrants and minorities.
A respectful question to President Niinistö: What have you done to challenge this “worrying” and “very disturbing” news?
President Niinistö, like any other politician in Finland, is part of the racism problem in Finland. It is, unfortunately, done through denial and watered-down reactions.
The good news is that President Niinistö appears to be waking up as he warned in his New Year’s speech about the dangers of hate speech.
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, fear-mongering about white Finns becoming a minority, glorifying fascism, attacking researchers and other institutions, tweets about defecation and eating feces.
The PS leadership wants us to believe that there is no connection between them and rising Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, hate speech and attacks on our institutions. The party rose with hatred in its throat, sanctimony in its message, and hatred for migrants and minorities like Muslims on its tongue.
Welcome to the PS’ style of doing politics. Frame and attack people who oppose you and blame everything on migrants.
Finland, the country with the best education in the world, produces Frankenstein politicians who can only utter words filled with hate and fantasies of Nazi Germany.
In the same way, the slaughter and mass murder of the Jews and other minorities began in Germany in the 1930s, the PS has politicians who label asylum seekers and Muslims as “invasive species.”
And let’s not forget the Holocaust deniers like Jussi Halla-aho, who plays down such mass murder in a 2004 quote:
“Retroactively opposing the Holocaust is nicer and easier than getting involved in solving present-day problems. It is nice to accuse the Germans because cosi fan tutti. Armenians are irrelevant, because Armenians don’t own Hollywood and the American media.”
The PS has steered further to the far right under the leadership of Halla-aho, who was convicted in 2012 for ethnic agitation and breaching the sanctity of religion.
If the PS ever got its way and did away with hate-speech laws in Finland as it wishes, it would lead to a free-for-all turkey shoot where the victims are migrants and minorities.
Using racism to gain more votes and power is a double-edged sword. It is like a rapid dog that can bite back as Anders Breivik did in Norway, murdering 77 victims.
There is another danger: Greed and hatred will fuel internal fighting and bickering.
Even if the PS has a nose around its neck, it is important that we deal with this menace or succumb to its fascist ways.
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 Finnish Heterolinational Literatures,” is an anthology by twenty-four immigrant authors living in Finland from sixteen different nationalities in ten different languages.
Opening Boundaries: Toward Finnish Heterolinational Literatures is a part of our project, entitled “Toward a More Inclusive and Comprehensive Finnish Literature,” conducted at the Finnish Literature Society (SKS) and the University of Tampere during 2018-2019. The anthology includes some literary outputs by twenty-four immigrant authors, living in Finland from sixteen different nationalities, and their works in ten different languages make this collection multilingual. However, for the sake of readability, the translation of some of their works in Finnish or English has been offered.
This cross-cultural collection of texts demonstrates the emergence and growth of new heterogeneous, multicultural and multilingual literatures within the Finnish literary canon. This anthology is also an indication of our cultural and literary activities, which, if appreciated, can further grow and enrich the Finnish literary canon. In that case, the literary works produced by immigrant authors in Finland not only diversify the narratives, languages, themes and genres of Finnish literature, but also add to the literary credits of their host society. This would pave the way for the celebration of ethnorelativism and recognition of all authors, regardless of their races and languages, involved actively to promote Finnish literature. Since immigrant authors reside in Finland, they usually take their subjects from the Finnish society, history, culture, language and literature, mix them with their transnational and transcultural experiences and eventually offer a body of literature, which proffers different insights and transforms Finnish literature in both form and content.
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, the police asked white Finns to avoid contact with foreigners (see below). Even so, the most surprising matter is how the police played down the real threat: far-right vigilante gangs like the Soldiers of Odin.
Detective Chief Inspector Markku Tuominen is quoted as warning Finns to avoid taking routes that are risky. He states: “If a foreigner attempts to make close contact with you, you should leave rapidly and, if needed, call the emergency response center. It would be advisable to save the 112 number as a shortcut number on your phone. You should not begin talking with a foreigner because he may get the wrong signal.” Source: Helsingin Sanomat.
Apart from Tuominen’s example, the police in Häme, which welcomed Asikkala-Turva vigilante gang despite some of its members have criminal records.
The police service of Häme is an unfortunate, disappointing example of how biased the Finnish police service is when it welcomed Asikkala-Turva’s vigilante gang activity even though one of its members has a criminal record. Criticized by then-Interior Minister Petteri Orpo for being too lenient, according to Helsingin Sanomat.
Soldiers of Odin founder Mika Ranta, who promises to pay 1,000 euros to anyone who knock a woman’s teeth down her throat. Source: Twitter.
National Police Commissioner Seppo Kolehmainen didn’t shine either in the face of these far-right groups. He stated in 2016 that vigilante gangs are fine as long as they didn’t break the law. “It’s a positive matter that [Finnish] citizens [note: not migrants] are interested in their neighborhood’s security and take part and debate in such matters,” he was quoted as saying in Helsingin Sanomat.
Apart from having a reputation for one of the best education systems in the world, Finland has the dubious honor of exporting far-right ideology.
The Anti-Defamation League warned about the presence of the vigilante gang in the United States.
It says in a statement: “Moreover, Soldiers of Odin USA is attracting adherents from both of the two largest segments of the American extreme right—white supremacists and the antigovernment extremist “Patriot” movement—and may be the most significant coalition of such extremists in the U.S. since the early 1990s.”
The Soldiers of Odin are a group that glorifies violence and Nazi ideology. In Migrant Tales, we have written a number of stories exposing their violent ideology like taking over a border checkpoint in Tornio.
“Part of the problem seems to lie with Finnish politicians who truly believe that having a dialogue – any dialogue, regardless of who is on the opposite side of the table – is better than having no dialogue at all. So you can easily end up with the equivalent of a businessman trying to reach an agreement with Al Capone.”
Talking to the likes of Jussi Halla-aho and his political cronies, who have built their careers on racism won’t work because those who try will be exploited and crushed.
And why should I talk to a racist? A racist is a racist who is set on his idea. The racist has to make the first move and renounce his hateful ideology.
PS MP Juha Mäenpää is the latest example of an Islamophobic politician who is afraid to stand by what he said in June, when he compared during a session of parliament asylum seekers, who are mostly Muslim, as an “invasive species.”
Mäenpää hates Muslims. He is the same person who in 2015 said that god had answered his prayers when an asylum reception center, which going to be used to house refugees, was razed to the ground. Mäenpää is a member of the Nazi-spirited Suomen Sisu association as well.
Juha Mäenpää is an Islamophobe who is member of a Nazi-spirited association, Suomen Sisu. Source: Yle News.
After over a half a year, Prosecutor General Raija Toiviainen announced Thursdaythat she plans to charge Mäenpää for ethnic agitation. This may be better said than done since for an MP to be charged, it requires the approval of five-sixths of parliament, or of 167 out of 200 MPs.
The PS, which has said that they will vote against such a proposal, has 39 MPs, which would be enough to force the proposal to be voted down.
The defiant attitude of Mäenpää was clearly seen when the police questioned him. He refused to answer some of the police questions and stated that it wasn’t his fault for how people interpret what he said.
What a bully! What a coward! Chicken!
Should we be surprised by Mäenpää’s reaction to the ethnic agitation charges? Not at all. Those who bully and use their power to push around others are usually cowards when challenged.
Calling Muslim asylum seekers an “invasive species” is 1930 déjà vu, when the Nazi regime victimized and systematically murdered Jews and other minorities.
Andrew Stroehlein is a spokesperson for Human Rights Watch.Entrance to the Auschwitz death camp where it mockingly reads: “Work will set you free.” On January 27,1945 the camp was liberated. Photo: Enrique Tessieri.
Finland scores poorly in a comparative study on migrant women employment in the Nordic region, according to Yle News.While 72% of migrant men are employed, the corresponding figure for migrant women is 55%, according to the study by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Employment of Finland.
If we look at specific groups like Somali women, 17% are employed in Finland compared with 33% in Sweden.
Why are there such big differences in migrant women’s employment, especially those who are from North Africa and the Middle East?
Apart from the challenge of speaking the language and other factors, one of the factors may be the double whammy of racial and gender discrimination.
Women have made substantial gains in Finland by becoming the first country in Europe to grant women the right to vote and the first in the world to permit women to hold public office.
Even if Finnish women were able to vote and run for parliament, Finland had its first woman minister in 1924. After that, there was a long dry spell of women ministers. Moreover, women were not trusted to give citizenship to their children. Until 1984, only the Finnish father could pass on citizenship to the child.
Other matters that eat away at the myth of the “perfect gender equality society” is that women make about 20% less salary than men. For migrants, the corresponding figure is 0.50 euros.
Minna Silanpää was appointed Finland’s first woman minister in 1926. Source: Government of Finland. In this century we have seen a dramatic rise in the number of women ministers. In Marin’s government, women form a majority, with 60% of them being ministers. Source: Government of Finland.
Just like those who deny that racism is a serious social ill in our society, there are also those who deny that everything is fine on the gender-equality front.
In many schools where there are people from different cultural and ethnic backgrounds, they may be asked to participate in “cultural events” where the pupils are obliged to represent their perceived country and or culture.
Is this ok? Is the problem too much emphasis on “us” and “them?”
One matter that gets lost or forgotten in these types of cultural events is if the non-white pupil considers Finland his or her home country.
Certainly, the pupil does not aim to be white but be himself a fully-fledged member of this society under his or her own cultural and ethnic terms.
By emphasizing “us” versus “them” we are excluding and reinforcing that these people are of “foreign background” and belong to some abstract culture they have only experienced through their parents.
In some cases, these cultural events may turn out to be forums to reinforce our stereotypes of our culture and of others.
These cultural events arranged at schools are a reflection of the prejudices and the place non-white people have in our society.
Let’s stop with this racist nonsense and ask non-white pupils to tell about their home country, which is Finland.
When I came to live permanently in Finland over 40 years ago, people like me were seen as an ethnic anomaly. Sometimes having a different skin color or looking “foreign” meant receiving microaggressions like people shoving your child with a lighted cigarette that burns them, or hearing a perfect stranger saying something racist to you in public.
I know children who aren’t white Finns of hiding from the sun because it darkens their skin. What kind of a society do we live in where children see the sun as something negative because it tans their beautiful brown skins?
The more culturally diverse Finland becomes more racism. The only reason why some Finns believed that there was no racism in the country was that there weren’t enough foreigners or “foreign-looking people” to load off or test how racist they are.
Matters will get worse before they improve.
The hostile environment, political cowardice and the rise of a hostile Islamophobic party are just a few signs on the wayward journey.
Migrant Tales insight:A couple of days ago with got a message from Yaseen Ghaleb, who wants to share his poetry with us. He published a novel, which will be in the Cairo book fair in January and called +15, which highlights how migrants and Finns can find common ground. The book will be present at the Cairo Book Fair. “In the collection of my poems,” he stated, “I mention the homelessness, [two] homelands, being an outsider, my fears and worries in Finland since I came here in 2015. The poems help me to confront and challenge the many issues I have suffered and still do.”
Ghaleb is a member of Finnish Pen, an organization that promotes freedom of expression in Finland and globally.
Yassen Ghaleb
Execution celebration
An hour ago garden´s locusts
chirped blood to the grass.
It was a playground for little kids.
Later three men,
were there to arrange
their slounched shoulders in line,
Such as breast of slumped dog,
their names alphabetically
in disorder.
It was a coincidence,
that death had no options.
How weak he was ?
despite of his strength.
The hand of life was better
if it protected from bullets.
But in the garden was an event
with grasshoppers.
They played the party of blood,
their skinny legs as violin and bow.
It was no coincidence
that with men
came lumps of flesh
that had died even before
swallowing all the bullets…
at once, without respect of
the doctor/God.
“Emigrant” by Fadhel Dabbagh.
Teloitusjuhla
Runo Yassen
Ghaleb
Suom. Lauri
Vanhala
Tunti sitten puutarhan heinäsirkat
sirittivät verta nurmikolle.
Se oli pienten lasten leikkipaikka.
Myöhemmin kolme miestä
oli siellä järjestelemässä
retkottavia olkapäitään linjaan
romahtaneen koiran rinnalle, nimensä
aakkostamattomina epäjärjestyksessä.
Oli sattuma, ettei kuolemalla
ollut vaihtoehtoja.
Kuinka heikko hän olikaan
huolimatta vahvuudestaan.
Elämän käsi oli parempi
jos se suojasi luoteilta.
Mutta puutarhassa oli tapahtuma
heinäsirkkojen kanssa.
Ne soittivat veren juhlan,
laihat jalkansa viuluna ja jousena.
Ei ollut sattuma,
että miesten mukana
tuli lihan riekaleita,
jotka olivat kuolleet jo aiemmin,
nielaisten kaikki luodit…
kerralla, kunnioittamatta
Jumalten lääkäriä.
I told them once:
I sweared by my honor,
I
didn´t betrayed my homeland.
I
sweared by the dough of dust
and sweat on my military uniform,
with I waived bloody and folded.
Over my smoke and armor-oil
tainted khaki-shirt,
which formed a drawn map
and lost it´s prestige in defeats,
I
assured.
I
sweared by the Lord of wars,
the president, the Prophet,
the Messenger, the guardian,
through deity and Mars.
And through the one,
who used to perform
with his mustaches with Berry…
loaded with heavy medals
like thugs I sweared that;
but bullets were gone.
Sanoin heille kerran:
Vannoin kunniani kautta,
etten pettänyt kotimaatani.
Vannoin savipölytahtaan kautta,
ja hikisen sotilasuniformuni kautta,
jonka luovutin verisenä ja viikattuna.
Yli savun ja panssariöljyn
tahraaman khaki-paitani,
joka muodosti piirretyn kartan
ja menetti arvonsa tappioissa,
minä vakuutin.
Vannoin sotien Herran nimeen,
presidentin, profeetan,
lähettilään, suojelijan,
kautta jumaluuden ja Marsin.
Ja sen yhden kautta,
jolla oli tapana esiintyä
viiksiensä kera Berryn kanssa…
varustautuneena raskailla mitaleilla kuten
roistot, minä vannoin sen;
