Perussuomalaiset (PS)* First Vice-President, MP and ethnonationalist alarmist Riikka Purra is at it again. In her latest tirade, she blames the government of Prime Minister Sanna Marin for looking the other way concerning the exploitation of migrants in the labor market.
This is a total snow job. PS MP Riikka Purra expresses concern about migrant labor market exploitation. She would not care an iota for migrant workers. All she and her party want is to keep migrants from entering the Finnish labor market.
If we want to understand why Purra and other PS politicians want to raise a fuss about this type of exploitation, one matter is for sure: It has nothing to do with helping migrants in the labor market.
The PS believes that migrants come to Finland and work for lower-than-average salaries, thus driving down wages paid to white Finns.
Instead of blaming migrants, why don’t parties like the PS state that the authorities and unions should do everything possible to protect the rights of migrants in the labor markets?
They don’t because it is the same argument they use for Muslim women: We want to prohibit such women from using Muslim attire because we want to “liberate” them.
Nothing could be further from the truth. The last matter that Purra and her ilk want is to “liberate” Muslim women so their whitewashing process can begin. The same goes for migrant labor rights.
One matter is clear: Opinion polls, which place the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* as the most popular party, have not only encouraged the party’s far-right stance but given it the hubris to spread and implant with its hatred social ills like racism.
Finland is, alas waking up to the threat of the PS.
In his New Year’s speech, President Sauli Niinstö pointed the finger at Halla-aho’s party, which prompted a knee-jerk reaction from the PS’ head. He stated that the president should mind his own business.
“Online shaming and hate speech are new concepts in public debate,” said President Niinistö. “However, our legislator has been far-sighted. For example, incitement to ethnic hatred and offenses against personal reputation, dignity or privacy of the individual are already criminalized by law.”
Halla-aho, who was convicted for ethnic agitation and breaching the sanctity of religion in 2012, wants to scrap Finland’s hate-speech laws.
Finnish white privilege #68
One of the least-acknowledged ideological love affairs written in the Finnish media is the relationship between the PS and Danish People’s Party.
That is why it should not come to any surprise that Halla-aho said in Politiken, one of Denmark’s most important dailies, that he’s not interested in becoming a minister or even prime minister. The only reason why he is in politics is to change the “scheme and system” of the way Finland’s immigration policy operates.
The aim is clear: Halla-aho and the PS want to turn Finland into one of the EU’s most restrictive countries concerning Muslim and non-EU immigrants, especially from the Middle East and Africa.
Copenhagen-based daily Politken is one of the biggest newspapers in Denmark.
Reading code is one way of understanding what the PS has up its sleeve.
When the PS mentions it is against humanitarian migration, it is most likely suggesting that Finland should turn back asylum seekers from the Middle East and Africa;
Even if the number of asylum seekers, or humanitarian immigration, totals a few thousand, the PS does not see size as a factor. In Nazi Germany, there were half a million Jews before 1933, accounting for a mere 0.75% of the population. As the Holocaust proved, it wasn’t the size of the Jewish community but that hatred spread by the Nazis;
The PS rarely identifies its victim, or Muslims. It uses code words like “asylum seeker,” “person of migrant background or origin,” “social welfare loafers,” to mean Muslim or person of color;
The PS states that it is “nationalistic” (kansallismielinen), which can mean fascist, ethnonationalist or ultranationalist;
In the same way that the PS uses code to avoid getting in trouble with the law and get away with ethnic agitation charges, the media plays along by giving inflated respectability and validity to their racism.
Even if the PS has a long-range plan to adopt the Islamophobic policies and mindset of Denmark, it explains why Halla-aho is hellbent on changing permanently “the thinking and system” of Finland’s present immigration policy.
In the face of the rise of far-right ideologies and populism, it is scary how some forget how hatred turns some people into heartless beings. Did you know that before the rise of Hitler in 1933, Jews with German citizenship totaled half a million, or about 0.75% of the total population?
Captain Gustave Mark Gilbert, the Army psychologist at the Nuremberg trials (1945-46), said what the Nazi war criminals on trial had an incapacity to feel with their fellow men. That fellow men and women are today Muslims and other minorities like the Roma.
“Evil, I think, is the absence of empathy,” he said.
Auschwitz-Birkenau in 1990. The fences and structures still stand like in the 1940s. Photo: Enrique Tessieri. Dread and hopelessness in Auschwitz-Birkenau have given way to silence. Photo: Enrique Tessieri. Shoes that will never fit the feet of their original owners. Photo: Enrique Tessieri.The main entrance gate of Auschwitz that reads: “Work will set you free.” Photo: Enrique Tessieri.
Hienosti kirjoitettu ja sanottu, Merve Caglayan! On se törkeää, että poliitikot kuten Riikka Purra Perussuomalaisista voivat olla epäkunnioittavia toisia kohtaan.
Purra on huolestunut siitä, että nyt vain 60% (lähde please?) ruotsalaista on syntynyt kahdelle ruotsalaiselle vanhemmalle, kun 2002 vastaava luku oli 73% .
Kuinka moni on syntynyt suomalaiselle äidille ja isälle nyt tai tulevaisuudessa? Onko tämä tärkeä tietää?
Minun isäni oli argentiinalainen ja äitini suomalainen. Purran mukaan minun pitäisi hävetä taustaani, koska synnyin isän ja äidin rakkaudesta.
Ei, Purra. Olet väärässä. Sinun etnonationalismisi ja rasismisi eivät määritä heitä tai minua.
Äiti ja isä olivat rohkeita ja olen varma, että rakkaus oli se tärkein voima, joka heitä yhdisti.
And also, may people fleeing war, injustice and poverty find that place over the hill where they can build a better life. Give us strength as well to build a strong and vibrant culturally diverse Finland that lives in peace and reaps all the good things.
Give us strength to beat racism and all forms of discrimination so we can live in a country that respects who we are.
It is my sincere wish. The struggle continues despite a bit of momentary fanfare now.
If I had to choose the worst journalism in Finland this year, that would be the media coverage to the sexual assault cases of minors that took place from November 2018 to before the parliamentary elections of April 14.
If you speak with some Muslims in Oulu, they will tell you that the hysteria died down after the April parliamentary elections.
In all fairness, I would like to point out that Finland has, fortunately, newsmagazines like Suomen Kuvalehti and other regional papers that try to report fairly and objectively about the plight of Muslims and minorities in Finland.
Many stories published in the Finnish media reinforce stereotypes about Muslims. This story, published in September 2018, is one of the worst examples. The woman wearing a niqab in the picture does not represent a political party even if the story was about niqab and burka bans in Finland. The picture was taken down shortly after it was published. Source: Yle.
If one can describe the frenzy that was fuelled by the media, police, and politicians concerning the Oulu sexual assault cases, it would be similar to the incitement of a lynch mob before they are about to hang a person in public.
Even if a real lynching is different from one that takes place on social media, both have the same aim. If a real lynching publicly murders a person, a social media lynching kills over and over again a scapegoat, which is often an ethnic group.
Turkish writer Mehmet Muran Ildan described the act of lynching in the following words: “A society with lynch culture needs a big zoo, not for the animals definitely, but for the very people themselves!”
When the media is in “lynch mode,” fair reporting is the first victim that is sacrificed. State Broadcasting Company Yle is a sad example of the latter. It threw in the dustbin and permitted its prejudices and biased reporting to get the best of it.
Just like the coverage of the Oulu sexual assault cases, the coverage of the repatriation of about 11 Finnish women and 30 children from the al-Hol camp in Syria was characterized by disinformation and lack of information. This illustration used in a Helsingin Sanomat story has women apparently wearing burkas even if they use niqabs. See Migrant Tales.
An example of Yle’s biased and unbalanced reporting were the stories it published between November 27 and February 13 on the Oulu sexual assault cases. A total of 77 stories were published during the period under review. In one day, Yle published 13 stories about the topic!
Even if it appeared from the media, police statements and politicians that Finland was suffering an epidemic of sexual abuses by migrants, only eight were convicted and given prison sentences.
While not criticising the media, Päivi Happonen, a Yle reporter, wrote in her blog the over-enthusiastic communications policy of the Oulu police. “So what bad did [Oulu police’s communication] inflict?” she asked. “A lot. Many have the impression that Oulu became the crime capital of Finland, where asylum seekers rape all the children they can.”
The unbalanced and overzealous reporting spread fear as well in the Muslim community. According to Imam Abdul Mannan of Oulu, Muslims did not feel safe and avoided going to the city center.
Another matter that sparked excesses by the media’s reporting was that parliamentary and European parliamentary elections were going to be held in April and May, respectively. Politicians from the governing party demanded tougher laws on crime and even tests on Finnish values to asylum seekers. The City of Oulu went as far as to ban asylum seekersfrom visiting daycare centres and elementary schools.
Even if the governing National Coalition Party and Center Party attempted to gain from the situation with their ever-get-tough stance on “people of foreign origin,” which is code for non-EU citizen or Muslim, the party that reaped the most from the situation was the Islamophobic and populist Perussuomalaiset (PS).*
This is reinforced by opinion polls published monthly by Helsingin Sanomat, and Yle. Yes, you read correctly: monthly polls.
One such poll showed the popularity of the PS rising by an impressive 13.7 percentage points in a year, from 8.7% to 22.4% in November.
Léo Cutódio published at the end of March the following posting on Facebook. In March, a Yle poll showed the PS with 15.1% and trailing behind the Social Democratic Party and the National Coalition Party.
Emilia Palonen, a University of Helsinki lecturer, was quoted as confirming that “anti-immigration sentiment” is the cause for the rise in popularity of the PS. Even if Palonen does not state it directly, one of the causes of the growth in such anti-immigration sentiment is due to Oulu.
One wonders how a country like Finland, which scores high on the World Press Freedom Index, so many important newspapers get it wrong when it comes to writing about Muslims and minorities.
There are various reasons why news coverage of Muslims and other minority groups is unbalanced:
Muslim and minority sources and experts are rarely used as authorities in a balanced news story.
The media too often paint Muslims, and minorities with a single brush and underline a narrative of “Us” versus “Them.”
There are no Muslim editors and there is an underwhelming number of visible minorities working in newsrooms as staffers.
Some media continue to give inflated respectability, importance, and space to Islamophobes and xenophobes.
Helsingin Sanomat’s staff is celebrating the daily’s 130th anniversary in November. Do you see any minorities? Only one person in the picture has a so-called foreign-sounding name. With about 16% of Helsinki’s population is non-white Finnish, Muslims and minorities are underrepresented in the newsroom. Source: Helsingin Sanomat.
If there is something that publications like Helsingin Sanomat and Yle could do is to write critically about the racism and Islamophobia in parties like the PS and not to treat their politicians in a neural-friendly manner.
The media is a crucial watchdog that looks over people’s rights irrespective of their backgrounds. If Finland doesn’t watch out, and especially its media, the slippery slope to Viktor Orbán’s Hungary is not too faraway.
Dedicated to the racist politicians, political parties and groups in Finland.
And let’s be clear. I am talking about the Perussuomalaiset (PS)*, National Coalition Party (Kokoomus), Christian Democrats, neo-Nazi groups and websites like Hommaforum. Some politicians that come to mind are Jussi Halla-aho, Riikka Purra, Ville Tavio, Matias Turkkila, Ano Turtiainen, Mauri Peltokangas, Juha Mäenpää, Junes Lokka, Tiina Wiik, Wille Rydman, Petteri Orpo, Sari EssayahPaula Risikko and a long list of others.
The late Toni Morrison (1931-2019) exposed the tiny soul of the racist.
“[but] when you take it [from the racist] away, I take your race away, the only thing you got is your little self, and what is that? What are you without racism? Are you any good? Are you still strong? Still smart? Do you still like yourself?”
The Finnish media should stop using a bazooka to kill an ant.
Is the Finnish media fair when it reports about migrants and minorities like Muslims? Is its reporting biased and unbalanced?The Oulu sexual assault cases and the debate surrounding the al-Hol are the latest examples.
Certainly, State Broadcasting Company Yle’s coverage of the Oulu sexual assault cases is a low point and an example of overkill. From November 27 to February 13 is a case in point. Back then, the state-owned broadcaster published a whopping 77 stories on the topic. On January 14, Yle published 13 stories about the issue.
Not only did the media cover the story disproportionately, but politicians and even the police poured fuel on the flames of suspicion and racism. Matters got so bad that Muslims feared to go to the city center and were barred by the city of Oulu from visiting child-care centers and elementary schools.
Even if the media, politicians and the police suggested that the sexual assaults of Oulu pointed to an epidemic, only eight were convicted.
Another example of overkill by the Finnish media is the repatriation of some 30 children, and possibly their mothers to Finland.
Helsingin Sanomat published 36 stories that dealt with the al-Hol camp in Syria. Source: Helsingin Sanomat.
Just like in the stories written about Oulu cases earlier this year, Yle published 71 stories during twenty days (December 2-21), with Helsingin Sanomat publishing 36. The average number of stories that Yle and Helsingin Sanomat published daily was 3.5 and 1.8 stories, respectively.
The most active day for Yle was December 19, when it published 11 stories, and for Helsingin Sanomat it was December 17 and 16, when it published six stories a day apiece.
Considering that Finland does have good journalists like Jessica Aro and the country scores second on the World Press Freedom Index after Norway, I wonder where the Finnish media would stand on its coverage of minorities like Muslims?
The top-six countries on the World Press Freedom Index, Norway, Finland, Sweden, Holland, Denmark, and Switzerland, are inflicted by social ills like Islamophobia. Add to the latter the underwhelming size of minorities working as staffers, and we can decipher why media coverage is biased and unbalanced.
Considering that 16% of Helsinki’s population is not white Finnish, Helsingin Sanomat appears to not have a single journalist who is a minority and a full-time staffer. Source: Helsingin Sanoamt.
How do we get more balanced and less biased reporting of minorities? One important step would be to hire more journalists who don’t have only a white perspective of society.
“Mielestäni kahta asiaa. Ensinnäkin sitä, että kokoomuksen puheenjohtaja Petteri Orpo on sanonut, että näitä (al-Holin suomalaisia) lapsia ei pidä auttaa, jos se tarkoittaa näiden äitien auttamista. Hallituksen linja lähtee siitä, että nämä lapset, joista monet ovat alle viisivuotiaita, taaperoita, päiväkoti-ikäisiä lapsia, heitä pitää auttaa, lapsen etu pitää olla ensisijainen. Tämä ei ole kokoomuksen linja, ja minun mielestäni kokoomuksen linja on tässä suhteessa väärä.
Toinen asia. jota olen peräänkuuluttanut ja josta meidän hallituksemme tulee kyllä pitämään kiinni on se että kunnioitetaan meidän oikeusvaltiotamme, sitä että meillä on vallan kolmijako-oppi. Hallitus, eduskunta, poliitikot tekevät poliittisia linjauksia, poliittisia päätöksiä, mutta me emme tee päätöksiä yksilöiden hengestä ja elämästä, me emme tee päätöksiä yksilötasolla. Se on sitten viranomaisten tehtävä, joilla se toimivaltuus on. Mielestäni tästä pitää pitää kiinni. Olin aika ihmeissäni siitä, että kokoomuksen suunnalta tämä erittäin voimakkaasti kyseenalaistettiin ja sanottiin, että hallitus piilottelee virkamiesten selän takana. Näinhän ei ole. Meillä on oikeusvaltiorakenteet ja niistä kaikissa tilanteissa pitää kiinni.”
Helsingin Sanomat carried out a survey asking if Pirkka-Pekka Petelius did the right thing to apologize to the Saami for mocking them in a racist manner in the Hymyhuulet show (1987-88). The survey showed that 57% thought that Petelius was wrong to apologize, while only 29% said that he did the right thing; 14% had no opinion.
The most vigorous opposition to the apology came from the 50-69-year age group. Two-thirds of them considered the apology wrong. Those who were under 30 years had higher education and voted for the Left Alliance, and Green League party were the most favorable.
Petelius, who is a Green League MP, said that he was surprised by the reaction his apology produced.
“I’ve experienced quite heinous accusations, threats, and hate speech for apologizing to an indigenous group [like the Saami],” he was quoted as saying in Helsingin Sanomat. “Incomprehensible. It is my business to convene the Saami and apologize to them for the impact that my sketches have had. ”
Finnish white privilege #67
The Helsingin Sanomat survey is not only an indication of the deep roots of Finnish white privilege but of white fragility as well.
Robin Diangelo describes as white fragility in her best-selling book, “White Fragility.” She states that most white people “are absolutely not receptive to finding out their impact on other people.” She also mentions that the reaction caused by white fragility is nothing fragile but hostile.
If Petelius’ apology can create such a knee-jerk reaction of hate and hostility, ask yourself how many Finns would be ok with living with people of color and treating them as equals.
The reaction to Petelius’ apology also shows the ethnic and racist bubble the country continues to live in and who calls the ethnic-racial shots. Hint: It isn’t the minorities.
