Author: Migrant Tales

The Halla-aho scandal raises disturbing questions

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Disquieting questions emerge in light of the Jussi Halla-aho scandal: Is pressure on the Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP to resign as chairman of the administration committee due to his dismissive reaction to the Supreme Court sentence or because of what he wrote about Muslims and Somalis, which got him in trouble in the first place?

When the PS won the April 2011 elections, it was well-known by many that the PS was an anti-EU, anti-immigration and especially anti-Islam party.  The question, however, at the time was how many politicians were ready to admit the latter about the PS.

Another important fact that Finland’s political establishment knew last year was that there were a few problem cases in the PS like Halla-aho, who was charged in 2009 by a lower court for defaming a religion.

In light of these facts, why was Halla-aho approved unanimously to chair the administration committee, which, among other matters, is in charge of immigration policy?

Would political parties be demanding the MP’s head today if he’d remained quiet and taken the Supreme Court decision with a drop of humility?

Legal scholars have reacted to Halla-aho’s provocative statements after the Supreme Court decision, who considered the ruling as “a personal interpretation by a few people.”

Halla-aho’s and the PS’ view of our judicial system is odd coming from a party that claims immigrants don’t follow and respect our laws.

Writes Husein Muhammed on Migrant Tales: “Now I grasp what the Perussuomalaiset actually mean when they demand that immigrants should respect the country’s laws. They don’t themselves respect Finnish laws/judicial system.”

If Halla-aho’s arrogant stand has surprised many, PS chairman Timo Soini’s decision to not do anything hasn’t helped matters either.

Soini said in 2009 that any person would get sacked from the party if that person were charged for a racist crime.

Soini has been forced to eat his words on a number of occasions. With a poker face, he claimed right after last year’s election that there wasn’t one racist among the PS and that if Halla-aho got  criminally charged he’d get the boot from the party.

Halla-aho plans to take up the matter before the European Court of Human Rights.

If there is anything positive about the scandal, it may be that political parties in Finland are starting to take a social issue  like racism more seriously.

Finland’s parliament may be making history tomorrow if the PS does not force Halla-aho to resign.  Parliament may decide Wednesday to dissolve the administration committee and appoint new members, which in turn would choose a new chairman.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Uusi Suomi: Länsimaiset arvot uhattuina

Posted on by Migrant Tales

by Husein Muhammed* 

Kansanedustaja ja Eduskunnan hallintovaliokunnan puheenjohtajan Jussi Halla-ahon (ps) mielestä korkeimman oikeuden antama tuomio uskonrauhan rikkomisesta ja kiihottamisesta kansanryhmää vastaan on väärä ja epäoikeudenmukainen. Hän pitää medialle lähettämässään tiedotteessa Suomen korkeimman oikeuden ratkaisua “muutaman ihmisen henkilökohtaiseena tulkinta”, ei “minään taivaallisena totuutena”.

Tähän asti Halla-aho on esiintynyt “maahanmuuttajien rikollisuudesta” huolestuneena kansalaisena ja poliitikkona. Nyt hän itse halveksii Suomen voimassa olevan lain mukaan annettua tuomiota “joidenkin henkilökohtaisina mielipiteinä”. Kansanedustaja vertautuu tässä suorastaan taparikollisiin: he eivät koskaan ymmärrä tehneensä mitään väärin.

Halla-aho on kansanedustaja. Jos hänen mielestään esimerkiksi uskonrauhan rikkominen tulisi dekriminalisoida eli tehdä lailliseksi, hänellä – jos kellään – on mahdollisuus ryhtyä ajamaan lainuudistusta. Mutta Halla-aho ei ole suinkaan vaatinut lainmuutosta, ainoastaan heittäytynyt uhriksi sekä nyt sitten myös halveksuu Suomen korkeinta oikeutta. Jos KKO on tosiaan vain muutama henkilö henkilökohtaisine mielipiteineen, miksi siis kenenkään pitäisi noudattaa lakia ja oikeuden päätöksiä? Minä kun luulin persujen vaativan oikeutta ja järjestystä – ilmeisesti ajavat niitä vain muille.

Nyt alan sisäistämään, mitä perussuomalaiset ajavat takaa, kun vaativat maahanmuuuttajia noudattamaan nimenomaan maan tapaa, eivätkä (toisin kuin esimerkiksi allekirjoittanut) maan lakia. He eivät siis itse kunnioita Suomen lakia/oikeusjärjestystä.

Tähän asti äärioikeistoa on pidetty uhkana lähinnä erinäisille vähemmistöille.Heitä on pahimmassa tapauksessa esitetty ikään kuin anarkistien, äärivasemmiston tai muuten vaan hörhöjen vastakohtana. Tältä osin olemme menneet pahasti metsään. Kuten tuomitun halveksivasta suhtautumisesta korkeimman oikeuden tuomioon on pääteltävissä, äärioikeistosta ei suinkaan ole vaaraa lähinnä erinäisille vähemmistöille. Suurin uhka kohdistuu nimenomaan demokratiaan, oikeusvaltioon ja länsimaisiin arvoihin, joita äärioikeisto on puolustavinaan.

Ihan samalla tavalla ääri-islamistien suurin uhka ei suinkaan kohdistu länsimaihin, vaan muslimeihin ja islamin rauhaa ja oikeudenmukaisuutta korostaviin periaatteisiin, joita äärimuslimit ovat puolustavinaan.

Äärioikeisto ja äärimuslimit ovat siis vastustavinaan toisiaan. Tosi asiassa niillä on yhteinen epäpyhä allianssi: molemmat inhoavat ja halveksivat syvästi demokratiaa, vapautta ja tasa-arvoa. Kukin niistä on nimenomaan suureksi vaaraksi omalle kulttuurille: ääri-islamistit islamille, äärioikeisto länsimaille.

*Kirjoittaja on kirjailija ja lakimies.

Alkuperäisen blogikirjoituksen voi lukea tästä.

Tämä blogikirjoitus julkaistiin Migrant Talesissä luvalla.

PS MP Halla-aho says he will not resign as chairman of the administration committee

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP Jussi Halla-aho announced Monday that he had no reason to bow out as chairman of the administration committee of parliament after he was fined by the Supreme Court on Friday for defaming a religion and inciting ethnic hatred. The PS MP said he would not resign because he considered the Supreme Court decision ”wrong and unfair,” according to a statement. 

I beg your pardon?! Incorrect and unfair?

Apart from revealing Halla-aho’s arrogance and disregard for our legal institutions, the PS MP should ask those people whom he has insulted, Muslims and Somalis, if the Supreme Court fine was “incorrect and unfair.”

Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja criticized the PS chairman for not sacking Halla-aho from the party after the Supreme Court decision.

”Now Timo Soini, who three years ago threatened that anyone charged for racism had no place in the party, has eaten all of his words. This could be best understood if Soini openly supported Halla-aho’s opinions. In light of the [municipal elections], it shows instead a party leader giving in to opportunism and being morally bankrupt,” he said.

Abagond: Colorblind racism

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Comment: Every time we stray from the real issue behind racism (=ethnic background) we are flirting or committing  colorblind racism. 

A familiar colorblind racist counter-argument commonly heard from anti-immigration groups is why whites are treated unfairly? Why was Jussi Halla-aho fined for defaming a religion and inciting ethnic hatred but nothing happens to you if you insult whites and the Lutheran religion? Why aren’t such people fined for hate speech? 

Another example of colorblind racism in Finland  was seen in May 2011, when the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party made a  public statement that the best way to challenge racism would be to end positive discrimination. Thus in the PS’ and colorblind racists’ mind, the only way to attain “social equality” in our society would be by denying that ethnicity plays any role in racism.

A happy-go-lucky colorblind racist would claim: “Let’s be equal and pretend that ethnic background does not matter [when in fact it does].”  

Below is a good blog entry on Abagond that gives us a good idea of how colorblind racism works. 

______

By Julian Abagond

Colour-blind racism (1970- ), also known as aversive racism,  is racism that acts as if skin colour does not matter – even when it does. It is the most common form of racism among white Americans who grew up after the fall of Jim Crow in the 1960s. It takes the place of Jim Crow racism, the meaner, more naked white racism common in the 1950s and before.

Political correctness and the idea of hate speech grew out of colour-blind racism. So did the welfare queen and model minority stereotypes. It helped to spread the word “African American”.

Colour-blind racists say things like this:

  • It’s not race, it’s economics …
  • It’s not race, it’s culture …
  • It’s not race, it depends on a person’s background …
  • I’m not prejudiced, but …
  • I’m not black, but …
  • One of my best friends is black.
  • My cousin married a black man.
  • I voted for Barack Obama.
  • I don’t see you as black.

And believe things like this:

  • I am not racist.
  • Blacks are not willing to work hard.
  • Blacks want everything handed to them.
  • Blacks hold themselves back, not racism.
  • Blacks are unfairly favoured, whites are not.
  • Blacks do not want to live with us (or eat at our table).
  • Blacks live in the past. They need to get over it and move on.
  • Blacks need to pull themselves up from the bottom like everyone else.
  • Blacks cry racism for everything even though they are the racist ones.

Notice how white people never seem to do anything bad.

While they would agree with most of those statements, they would have a hard time saying them straight out like that. Race makes them uncomfortable. Their statements would be more long-winded and watered down, throwing in phrases like those from the first list, even the one about the cousin.

They seem to think that if they do not say the words then racism will somehow go away by magic. As if racism is just a matter of words.

They rarely think of themselves as “white” and avoid saying the word “black” in public, even when they are thinking it. Their supposed colour-blindness is a front.

For example, I have heard white people talk about someone who I knew had to be black just by the way they bent over backwards to avoid saying the word “black”. Yet when they left the room and thought I could not hear, they said “black” just as plain as day, as if they were talking about their dress.

They avoid the word “race” too. Instead they use words like “culture”, “background”, “ethnicity”. That is why they like the word “African American” so much: it seems colour-blind.

They are not as mean or violent as Jim Crow racists, nor do they wear their racism well. Unlike Jim Crow racists, they are willing to vote for a black man for president. But they still look down on blacks and still believe the stereotypes, adding some of their own.

They are not as colour-blind as they think. The only colour they are truly blind to is white.

Read original story here.
This piece was reprinted by Migrant Tales with permission.

Finnish politicians should smell the coffee of far-right extremism

Posted on by Migrant Tales

After over a year of following countless scandals, fines for hate speech, racism and exposures of their far-right ideology, a question begs an answer of the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party: Who is Timo Soini? 

If we asked Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja, a social democrat, his answer would be moral weakness and opportunism.

Tuomioja writes a day after PS MP Jussi Halla-aho got fined by the Supreme Court for hate speech:  ”Now Timo Soini, who three years ago threatened that anyone charged for racism had no place in the party, has [now] eaten all of his words. This could be best understood if Soini openly supported Halla-aho’s opinions. In light of the [municipal elections], it shows instead a party leader giving in to opportunism and being morally bankrupt.”

I would go further than Tuomioja and claim that in principle Soini does agree with Halla-aho on a number of points concerning the perceived threat of our ever-growing culturally diverse society. A column by Soini reinforces the latter.  The big difference, however, between the PS chairman and the anti-immigration extremists of the party is diplomacy. Soini knows how to sugar-coat his words and play the good-cop role. How long will it take for mainstream politicians in this country to step up to the plate and admit what we’ve been saying all along on Migrant Tales: The PS is a racist, anti-immigration, anti-Islam and anti-EU party. In addition some members of the PS like Halla-aho want to turn the political clock of Finland back to the 1930s.

The sooner we understand the dark elements lurking inside the PS, where the far-right anti-immigration extremists are gaining strength over an embattled Soini, the greater our chances of saving our country from far-right nationlism.

One of the reasons why some still believe they can live with far-right extremists in parliament, who mock at our laws and institutions like Halla-aho did concerning the Supreme Court fine for hate speech, is because the PS isn’t still seen as a threat.

Why should they feel threatened by the PS? If you are a white Finn and have a stable job, the PS isn’t a threat because it is a party that excludes and victimizes immigrants and other minorities in Finland.

That’s now, but tomorrow may be a more perilous story if we don’t smell the coffee of  far-right extremism.

Abagond: What this blog has taught me about white people

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Comment: Abagond is a very successful blog that debates issues like racism in the United States. We at Migrant Tales like to ask serious question about such a social ill as well. What about if we asked that same question as Abagond did in the headline? 

For me personally, Migrant Tales has taught me that racism is a problem that should be challenged in Finland. Our blog has helped expose as well the outright lies of anti-immigration groups like the Perussuomalaiset. Most importantly, it has inspired a lot of people to challenge one of the worst menaces threatening our society today: prejudice, nationalism, xenophobia, far-right ideology and racism. 

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Keeping this blog has blown my mind. White people say stuff here that they would never  say offline in my hearing. I knew white Americanswere racist – living in so-called liberal New York left no doubt in my mind about that – but I had no idea how deep their racism ran.

Read original blog entry here.

 

Migrant Tales December 30, 2011: Timo Soini and the beast behind the sugar-coated words

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Comment: It shouldn’t have come as any surprise that after the Supreme Court ruling to fine Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP Jussi Halla-aho for defaming a religion and incitement against an ethnic group, PS chairman Timo Soini would end up eating his words. Soini said in 2009 that if Halla-aho was criminally convicted of racism, he’d be sacked from the party.

The blog entry below, written in December, attempts to show what Soini really thinks about an important matter like immigration and cultural diversity. Why is he attracted to people like Toni Halme, Halla-aho, James Hirvisaari and a long list of others who are challenged when it comes to social graces? 

If you look closely at his views, one matter becomes clear: They don’t differ much from Halla-aho’s. The difference is how he always sugar-coats his words and his role as the PS’ good cop. 

A good example of this good-cop-bad-cop image is the following quote concerning the Supreme Court sentence and why the PS will not take any action against Halla-aho: “…Now that I have followed this process for four years I feel that on the basis of the experience I am not up to throwing the biggest stone. This punishment is enough for me,” Soini is quoted as saying on Helsingin Sanomat.

In other words, “punishment is enough for me” and that he has nothing against the Supreme Court sentence are the monkey wrenches that confuse you about what he really thinks on the issue.  

If I drew a cartoon about bad-cop-good-cop Soini, I’d picture him in a Nazi concentration camp with SS officers, his followers. Soini and the SS staff would be speaking to Jews and telling them with a poker face: I am against concentration camps and how you’re being treated. 

This would allow Soini to eat one’s cake and have it too. 

_________

What does Perussuomalaiset (PS) party presidential hopeful, Timo Soini, really think about immigration and cultural diversity? A column he wrote in the Suomen Soini Presidentiksi  [Soini for president of Finland] publication exposes what the leader of the PS really thinks about such important issues. 

It’s clear while reading Soini’s views on the topic that he is in favor of one-way integration, or assimilation. He  praises in the column, headlined Maahanmuutto, demokraatia ja perussuomalaiset [Immigration, democracy and the Perussuomalaiset],  those immigrants that are ready to accept Finnish culture and traditions.

I am certain if we asked the PS leader to define Finnish culture, his response would be deficient and leave us with more questions than answers.

The same “conservative and Christian” views that Soini speaks so highly of in his column has, in my opinion, been at the center of the problem. It has retarded and hindered the acceptance of hundreds of thousands of expat Finns,  immigrants and their children from our society and threatens to exclude many others in the future.

If the PS and Soini haven’t already noticed, these so-called bicultural multi- or polycultural Finns have taken that giant step to integrate but many still suffer from acceptance by society.  High unemployment levels, institutional racism, prejudice, antiquated views of what culture is and even the rise of an anti-immigration party like the PS, show that more acceptance is needed by our society.

Soini’s and the PS’ total disregard for mutual acceptance and that integration is atwo-way street show well the biggest flaws in their stance and why it is correct to call them an anti-immigration party.

Even though Soini does not mention the word multiculturalism once in his column, his definition of it is not too far from Jussi Halla-aho’s and that of other far-right anti-immigration groups in Europe like the Danish People’s Party.

The PS chairman writes that he is not against immigrants but opposes our immigration policy. This affirmation, that the problem lies in our immigration policy, is one of the favorite deceptive arguments used by far right and anti-immigration groups. When Soini uses such an argument he really means that Europe and Finland allow too many Muslims and Africans to live here.

Another important matter is revealed by Soini’s column:  Despite his conservative-populist political views, he can deliver his opinions in a diplomatic  sugar-coated fashion compared with too many in his party members who can’t and whom he rightfully criticizes.

Soini is the good cop of the PS but at the end of the day he is a cop like the rest of the members of his party.

One key paragraph in particular exposes to the tee the PS leader’s view on immigration and cultural diversity:  ”I also hope that more and more native Finns could tolerate those who embrace Finnish culture, our customs and traditions; those [immigrants]who want to stick to conservative and Christian values??, and even those who have decided to vote for the Perussuomalaiset [party]. We live together side by side in this beautiful and wonderful country, and in a affluent society that is fair.”*

In other words, Soini and the PS are ready to accept you as members of society as long as you resign your culture, identity and rightful and democratic right as  equal members of this society. Acceptance only happens on their terms and with conditions.

What does the PS leader think about those Finns who don’t share his conservative and Christian views?

*Toivon myös, että yhä useammat kantasuomalaiset voisivat suvaita niitä,  jotka vaalivat suomalaista kulttuuria, meidän tapojamme ja perinteitämme; niitä, jotka haluavat pitäytyä konservatiivisissa ja kristillisissä arvoissa, ja jopa niitä, joka ovat päättäneet äänestää perussuomalaisia. Me asumme yhdessä rinnatusten tässäkauniissa ja upeassa maassa ja reilussa hyvinvointiyhteiskunnassa.

Halla-aho should resign as chairman of the administration committee of parliament

Posted on by Migrant Tales

In light of the Finnish Supreme Court (KKO) sentence on Friday fining Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP Jussi Halla-aho for defaming a religion and incitement against an ethnic group, the next step that the PS MP should take is to resign as chairman of the administration committee of parliament.  

PS  head Timo Soini was quoted as saying on YLE in English that it was up to the members of the administration committee to decide whether Halla-aho could remain as chairman.

The only party that has so far asked Halla-aho to resign is the Left Alliance.

Being fined for defaming a religion and incitement of an ethnic group should be enough grounds to show Halla-aho the door.

The greatest damage the PS has done to Finland after winning its historic election victory in 2011 is to the credibility of an institution like parliament.  Leaving Halla-aho to continue as chairman of the administration committee would be a further blow to credibility.

Social Democratic presidential candidate Paavo Lipponen said last year that clear boundaries should be drawn between democracy and those that believe in far-right ideology.  Our political leaders in parliament now have that opportunity to show leadership.

The sentence by the Supreme Court is an important precedent since it sets clear lines on what is unacceptable hate speech by unscrupulous politicians.

Criminal Law Professor Terttu Utrianen said the KKO sentence was a good one, since it reinforces our European way of life, which hinges on social equality and multiculturalism.

Soini was quoted as saying on YLE in English that the PS does not  intend to take any action following the ruling, since it was sufficient punishment for Halla-aho.

The PS MP said he may appeal the decision to the European Court of Human Rights.

Writes JusticeDemon of Migrant Tales: “A cynic might suggest that this newly discovered interest in defending human dignity as an end in itself comes at a rather convenient time [for Halla-aho]…”

 

Halla-aho gets convicted for defamation and inciting ethnic hatred

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Perussuomalaiset (PS) party MP Jussi Halla-aho was convicted today by the Finnish Supreme Court  (KKO) for defaming a religion and inciting ethnic hatred. Halla-aho, who was fined in 2009 for defaming religion, was now criminally charged as well for inciting ethnic hatred. 

The sentence dates back to Halla-aho’s blog writings of 2008, when he claimed that Islam is a pedophile religion and Somalis are genetically inclined to rob and live off welfare.

The latest ruling is another blow to the embattled and scandal-ridden PS’ credibility, which has seen its popularity plummet in recent opinion polls.

Migrant Tales applauds the sentence by the KKO to a politician who has made his questionable career on spreading hatred and racism of other groups in Finland. It is certainly an important ruling and warning to others. The sentence  reinforces our rejection as a society of racism and populism based on hate speech.

Kimmo Wilska writes on Facebook: “Personally I think that bringing criminal charges against Halla-aho was not a very wise move. Being able to portray himself as a free speech martyr was all he needed to win big in the Parliamentary elections.”

Halla-aho is chairman of the administration committee of parliament responsible, among other matters, for immigration policy.

As Finland learned from the April 2011 election, being complacent and silent on a social ill like racism is definitely the wrong way to go. Allowing such a social ill to roam freely in our society is like letting out a deadly predator.

The party’s chairman, Timo Soini, claimed to the media with a poker face after the April election that there was not one racist among the PS and that earlier that if Halla-aho got  criminally charged he’d get sacked from the party.

The ball is now in Soini’s court.

UPDATE:  PS chairman Soini said later today on Helsingin Sanomat that the party would take no action against Halla-aho since the fine imposed by the Supreme Court was sufficient punishment.

 

 

 

 

Eino Parkkulainen’s home in Argentina becomes a community library

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The late Eino Parkkulainen, a Finn who moved to Argentina in 1924 from Kitee, would be proud to see part of his former home  in the hamlet of San Martín being used as a library. Built in the mid-1930s, his home is probably the last one in existence built by the Finns that colonized Misiones province in northeastern Argentina.

Parkkulainen was a very enterprising man. One of the many things he accomplished during his lifetime was write a Finnish-Spanish dictionary. Unfortunately, the dictionary no longer exists.

Colonia Finlandesa was founded in 1906 by Arthur Thesleff.

Patricia Ocampo and Daniela Paola Friedl are spearheading a project to build numerous community libraries throughout Misiones. The first ones to open their doors to the public are the libraries of  San Martín and Puerto Leoni. Check out this video (in Spanish) of the inauguration of the San Martín Library on May 24.

The first picture I took of Pakkulainen’s home was in 1978.

Parkkulainen’s home in 2007.

One of the books on the shelves of the San Martín library is Lejana tierra mía authored by yours truly.

If you ever visit Misiones province and visit Colonia Finlandesa, you’ll probably pass by Parkkulainen’s former home.

In 1984, when I was taking pictures of the house, a fifty-year-old woman came out and asked me what I was doing. Everything was fine after I told her that I was  doing research on the Finns of Misiones.

“Send don Parkkulainen many regards when you see him,” she said. “Tell him that the house isn’t in such good shape. In a few years it may not be standing any longer.”

If you continue walking about 70 meters from the house you’ll soon hear the sound of rushing water of the Mártires River. If you stand on the wooden bridge that crosses it built by Artturi Heino about fifty years ago (in 1984), you’ll conclude that it too won’t last long.

After crossing the bridge you’ll be in Colonia Finlandesa.*

*Enrique Tessieri: Kaukainen maani. WSOY. Juva 1986. p. 33.