Author: Migrant Tales

Why was Migrant Tales deactivated for about thirteen hours?

Posted on by Migrant Tales

By Enrique Tessieri

Thursday night was one of the worst I had experienced in a while: my son tells about some SKV neo-Nazi stickers put on a lamppost in front of our house  and then Migrant Tales gets deactivated a couple of hours later because “it does not comply with the WordPress.com Terms of Service or advertising policy.” What’s going on? 

Without any warning, WordPress shut us down and hate forums like Hommaforum, which is closely linked to Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP Jussi Halla-aho’s Scripta, are dancing on Migrant Tales’ grave.

Sorry to ruin the party, folks, but the music ended abruptly thirteen hours later after we were deactivated. I got the following message from WordPress: “Your site was flagged by our automated anti-spam controls. I have reviewed your site and have removed the suspension notice. We are very sorry for that happening and the inconvenience it caused you.” Hmmm.

An anonymous comment on Zuzeeko’s blog, On The Road to Success, reinforces a different story: “It’s offline due to Neo-Nazis making fake complaints against the blog.”

But that’s not all. The following day I get an email from a person who apparently holds a serious grudge against us. After trying to get us to pay him 3,000 euros to settle out of court for [now listen to this] for defaming an anonymous person on our blog, he actually does end up sending an email to one of my workplaces and tells the whole staff what a terrible person I am.

The person even threatened to organize a petition against me. The petition, according to him, is to force me to state in every blog entry that I do not represent all immigrants in Finland but only those on Migrant Tales.

Apparently, this person is very angry at us because we think his and Halla-aho’s points of view of immigrants are simplistic to say the least.

During the spring, Migrant Tales will move to another site where it will be virtually impossible to shut us down.

Thank you all for your support. We have grown stronger from this experience.

Trolls come in many sizes and shapes in Finland

Posted on by Migrant Tales

By Enrique Tessieri

I read an interesting blog entry on Iowa State Daily that gave a very good suggestion to the vicious racist stuff you find in the blogsphere: “Require identification for comments and monitor, monitor, monitor the trolls,” said Michael Bugeja, director of the Greenlee School of Journalism and Communication. “The blogosphere is full of trolls, and some write the most vicious things. Keep them out of mainstream media, and ignore them whenever you can.”

Even if this suggestion seems pretty sensible, we must take it a step further and ask why we must have an effective troll detector. The answer is simple: spreading vicious urban tales that are racist are more hostile than meets the eye.

While it is difficult to measure how much racism and suspicion hate forums like Hommaforum and Scripta fuel, it’s pretty clear that they do have an impact on some Finns’ prejudices. Maintaining these prejudices is synonymous with sidestepping and maintaining some people’s racist perceptions.

After taking part and reading over 21,700 comments on Migrant Tales, I could pretty confidently say that trolls have inhibited debate and effectively taken our eye off the ball, or the real issue, which is finding solutions to the social ill.

One of the most ludicrous claims by Internet trolls is that if their hate speech is censored we will be undermining an important civil liberty like free speech. Apart from being utter baloney it is one of the trolls’ many red herrings on the Internet.

Trolls aren’t always anonymous. If Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP James Hirvisaari ever took part in a discussion on Migrant Tales, there is a good chance that he’d never make it past our troll detector.

One of the favorite strategies of the trolls is to take an issue like racism and accuse the victim of being the racist or changing the argument around.

Trolls are a strange bunch that are constantly demanding to be treated as exceptions. They label whole ethnic groups like PS MP Jussi Halla-aho did today in Parliament with Eastern European Roma, but don’t like to be labelled themselves as far-right racists.

In many respects their arguments on the rights of immigrants and visible minorities in our societies resembles what was debated in many Latin American countries in the 1970s: Should we have a military or democratic government in power?

Can we ever “debate” and compromise those civil liberties guaranteed in our Constitution? Certainly not but this is what anonymous and real-name trolls are actually lobbying for.

In the spiteful and myopic world of people like Hirvisaari, the argument is not only hostile to certain ethnic groups but horrifying: We have the right to tear off the Muslim veil off women because we are looking after their rights.

These types of arguments commonly used by Finland’s far-right anti-immigration extremists are nothing more than red herrings. If you think that these people are looking after your civil rights, think twice.

If you disagree with what I am writing, pay a visit to Hommaforum and read the far-right Counter-Jihadist baloney on Halla-aho’s blog Scripta and you will see what I mean.

JusticeDemon has said in the past that we mustn’t feed the trolls on Migrant Tales.  True but we should see them like the famous warning on a pack of cigarettes: Trolls are hazardous to your mental health and may seriously distort your view of other groups.

 

Ilta-Sanomat tabloid ad (lööppi) from June 14, 1993

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Migrant Tales publishes on and off Finnish tabloid ads* (lööppi in Finnish) from the 1990s. Taking into account that Finland’s immigrant population started to grow during that decade, it is easy at least through some of the main stories of tabloids like Ilta-Sanomat and Iltalehti to see how some of them reflected our xenophobic and racist views.

The billboard below reinforces some Finns’ perceptions that anything that comes from Russia is bad. If you go there, for example, bad things can happen to you like when 70 Finnish tourists were hijacked by the Russian mafia.

In the early 1980s before Finland’s first alien act came to force in 1983, the police justified their tough immigration policy stance by stating that its aim was to keep criminals out of Finland. Another researcher that advised the interior ministry told me that its aim was to “keep the trash out.”

In 1993 only 14,409 immigrants lived in Finland, accounting for 0.3% of the population.

*MIgration Institute archive.

Cold war winds still chill Finland’s ongoing debate on racism and social exclusion

Posted on by Migrant Tales

By Enrique Tessieri

The anger and surprise that Gerry Brownlee has stirred up in this country sheds light why debating an issue like discriminaiton is so diffeicult to accept by some Finns. The  New Zealand minister sharply criticised Finland last week in an address in parliament. Is our anger due to our low self-esteem or to the cold war, when censorship and self-censorship were pretty much the rule?

The first story that I published about Finnish-Soviet relations was for Spain’s leading newsmagazine, Cambio16, in the mid-1980s. The story was about how Bibles were smuggled to the former Soviet Uinon from Finland.

It didn’t take long for a Finnish foreign ministry official to express her dislike for what I wrote. Another embassy official in Madrid, whom I knew, was very straightforward: “If you continue writing those kind of stories you will be blacklisted by the foreign ministry,” she said.

During the end of the 1980s, the foreign ministry spent hundreds of thousands of Finnishmarks inviting foreign journalists to Finland. This was done through Finnfacts. I never knew what Finnfacts’ real role was back then except that its employees toured, wined and dined many of the foreign journalists that came to  Finland.

How much objectivity can you expect from a newspaper if the foreign ministry pays the reporters his plane ticket, lodging and stay in Finland? When I worked for BridgeNews in 1998-2001, we weren’t allowed to accept any gift that was worth over $25.

Some names that come to mind from that period are Matti Kohva, head of Finnfacts, Ralf Friberg, Lasse Lehtinen and Pekka Karhuvaara of the foreign ministry. It sounds incredible but back in those days these officials watched over what foreign journalists wrote like white on rice. They made sure that they followed the official foreign policy line, which did not recognize cold war terms such as Finlandization.

One lunch date I had at the Savoy Restaurant in Helsinki, Friberg asked me to my surprsie that I should get in touch with him if I wrote about Finnish-Soviet relations. At the time I worked for the London Financial Times. Considering that Friberg could make such a suggestion, showed how far the foreign ministry would go to get its point across.

Not only did the foreign ministry watch closely what was written in the foreign media, but they exerted the same influence over the local media. If you do not agree, read the editorials when Soviet forces overran Czechoslovakia in 1968. All the evidence is sitting under our noses.

It goes without saying that the foreign ministry and Finnfacts decalred war on me for exposing what Friberg suggested. They did every thing possible to blackwash me.

Fortunately, I found work abroad in Argentina, Colombia, Spain and Italy as a foreign correspondent and burueau chief. My journalistic career reached new heights thanks to the opportunity I got to work for the big newspaper leagues outside of Finland.

My point is the following: The same mistrust that existed in official circles of foreign correspondents and their utter rejection of anyone who dared question Finnish-Soviet relations at the time is happening today when debating racism and social exclusion. In other words, who are you to tell us we’re wrong?

If you agree it explains a lot of things. For one it reveals why there are so few immigrants and Finns with international backgrounds taking part in the ongoing debate.

Certainly, like during the cold war, you can write and debate these issues today as long as you don’t stray too far from the official or general view of things.

Cold war winds still chill Finland's ongoing debate on racism and social exclusion

Posted on by Migrant Tales

By Enrique Tessieri

The anger and surprise that Gerry Brownlee has stirred up in this country sheds light why debating an issue like discriminaiton is so diffeicult to accept by some Finns. The  New Zealand minister sharply criticised Finland last week in an address in parliament. Is our anger due to our low self-esteem or to the cold war, when censorship and self-censorship were pretty much the rule?

The first story that I published about Finnish-Soviet relations was for Spain’s leading newsmagazine, Cambio16, in the mid-1980s. The story was about how Bibles were smuggled to the former Soviet Uinon from Finland.

It didn’t take long for a Finnish foreign ministry official to express her dislike for what I wrote. Another embassy official in Madrid, whom I knew, was very straightforward: “If you continue writing those kind of stories you will be blacklisted by the foreign ministry,” she said.

During the end of the 1980s, the foreign ministry spent hundreds of thousands of Finnishmarks inviting foreign journalists to Finland. This was done through Finnfacts. I never knew what Finnfacts’ real role was back then except that its employees toured, wined and dined many of the foreign journalists that came to  Finland.

How much objectivity can you expect from a newspaper if the foreign ministry pays the reporters his plane ticket, lodging and stay in Finland? When I worked for BridgeNews in 1998-2001, we weren’t allowed to accept any gift that was worth over $25.

Some names that come to mind from that period are Matti Kohva, head of Finnfacts, Ralf Friberg, Lasse Lehtinen and Pekka Karhuvaara of the foreign ministry. It sounds incredible but back in those days these officials watched over what foreign journalists wrote like white on rice. They made sure that they followed the official foreign policy line, which did not recognize cold war terms such as Finlandization.

One lunch date I had at the Savoy Restaurant in Helsinki, Friberg asked me to my surprsie that I should get in touch with him if I wrote about Finnish-Soviet relations. At the time I worked for the London Financial Times. Considering that Friberg could make such a suggestion, showed how far the foreign ministry would go to get its point across.

Not only did the foreign ministry watch closely what was written in the foreign media, but they exerted the same influence over the local media. If you do not agree, read the editorials when Soviet forces overran Czechoslovakia in 1968. All the evidence is sitting under our noses.

It goes without saying that the foreign ministry and Finnfacts decalred war on me for exposing what Friberg suggested. They did every thing possible to blackwash me.

Fortunately, I found work abroad in Argentina, Colombia, Spain and Italy as a foreign correspondent and burueau chief. My journalistic career reached new heights thanks to the opportunity I got to work for the big newspaper leagues outside of Finland.

My point is the following: The same mistrust that existed in official circles of foreign correspondents and their utter rejection of anyone who dared question Finnish-Soviet relations at the time is happening today when debating racism and social exclusion. In other words, who are you to tell us we’re wrong?

If you agree it explains a lot of things. For one it reveals why there are so few immigrants and Finns with international backgrounds taking part in the ongoing debate.

Certainly, like during the cold war, you can write and debate these issues today as long as you don’t stray too far from the official or general view of things.

Ilta-Sanomat tabloid ad (lööppi) from April 1, 1993

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Migrant Tales publishes on and off Finnish tabloid ads* (lööppi in Finnish) from the 1990s. Taking into account that Finland’s immigrant population started to grow during that decade, it is easy at least through some of the main stories of tabloids like Ilta-Sanomat and Iltalehti to see how some of them reflected our xenophobic and racist views.

Migrant Tales apologizes for the racist content. Some ads that one can find from the 1930s and later in Finland are too offensive to publish on our blog.  Some of these include shoe polish, bubble gum, licorice and other products.

Some billboards are truly hilarious depending on your perspective of things. This one of Miss Finland 1991 Tanja Karpela and of a handsome-looking black man tells readers that she refused to date this person or dance with him.

Was it because Karpela likes only go out with men who are white and Finnish? My guess is as good as yours.

 *Migration Institute archive. 

Finnish PS hardcore far-right MP gives a kick in the gut to the Romany minority

Posted on by Migrant Tales

By Enrique Tessieri

Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP Olli Immonen represents the worst of the worst when it comes to the acceptance of our ever-growing culturally diverse society. Apart from predicting a war between Islam and white Christian Europe, Immonen never loses the opportunity to kick the most vulnerable members of society in the guts. 

Migrant Tales warned recently that the PS in general and its far-right anti-immigration wing in particular will begin a new round of vicious attacks against immigrants and minorities to boost their sagging popularity in the polls as the municipal election nears on October 28.

Immonen said Monday on his Facebook page that the only way to deal with Roma street beggars in Finland from Romania and Bulgaria was to make begging a crime and  forcibly deport them back to their home countries.

Pekka Tuomola of the Helsinki Deaconess Institute asked Tuesday on MTV3  if it is even legally possible to make poverty a crime.  He said that Finland cannot close its eyes to the poor. The Romany minority problem is a European issue and  solutions must be found together with other countries, said Tuomola.

PS MP Immonen from Oulu, who has been strangely quiet concerning two tragic deaths of Muslims that took place in the northern Finnish city in January and February, appears to have a passion for the fascist Lapuan liike movement (1929-32) and its predecessor, IKL (1932-44).

One of the matters that the Lapuan liike movement did during its short-lived  heyday was kidnap its enemies like communists to the Finnish-Soviet border. The fascist party once even kidnapped a former president, Kaarlo Juho Ståhlberg (1919-25), to the border.

When speaking of Romany beggars from Eastern Europe, Immonen uses the same term, or muiluttaa, that the Lapuan liike movement used when it kidnapped, beat up and sent its enemies to the Soviet border.

A tabloid Iltalehti reporter asked Immonen why he used the same term that the fascist party used when speaking of Eastern European Roma street beggars.

“I certainly did not mean that [term used by the Lapuan liike movement],” he said. “I have myself used the term muiluttaa [forcibly transport] as a synonym of transporting [them out of the country]. Does this mean specifically that [street] beggars should be escorted with the help of the authorities from Finland, if necessary even by force.”

Immonen, like other hardcore Suomen Sisu association members of the PS like MPs Jussi Halla-aho and James Hirvisaari and Juho Eerola, all belong to the same party that chairman Timo Soini claimed “doesn’t hate anyone.”

One of the aims of Suomen Sisu is to discourage white Finns from marrying foreigners.

We welcome Finnish and Swedish on Migrant Tales

Posted on by Migrant Tales

By Enrique Tessieri

Some may ask why Migrant Tales is a blog written in English. When I started this blog in May 2007, I thought that English would be an effective filter to leave out the knee-jerk and sometimes openly hostile attacks from Hommaforum and Scripta. 

In the past year, especially after the April election, Migrant Tales has seen record growth and we feel pretty strong today. We have gone through many debates and situations during our short existence.

As we’ve grown into that “humble voice” we have become stronger and more convinced about our convictions.

As editor of Migrant Tales, I welcome more blog entries and comments in Finnish and Swedish. People can in theory respond in any language they please. Google translator makes it possible.

Another language that we’ve used on and off on this blog is Spanish.

Ilta-Sanomat tabloid ad (lööppi) from April 27, 1994

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Migrant Tales publishes on and off Finnish tabloid ads* (lööppi in Finnish) from the 1990s. Taking into account that Finland’s immigrant population started to grow during that decade, it is easy at least through some of the main stories of tabloids like Ilta-Sanomat and Iltalehti to see how some of them reflected our xenophobic and racist views.

Migrant Tales apologizes for the racist content. Some ads that one can find from the 1930s and later in Finland are too offensive to publish on our blog.  Some of these include shoe polish, bubble gum, licorice and other products.

One may correctly ask where hatred for certain groups by some Finns came from. The Ilta-Sanomat billboard is pretty explicit: Somalis swindled [authorities] into giving them asylum.

When I was working for a Finnish family magazine called Apu in the late-1980s and early 1990s, the term “swindle,” huijata, was a no-no. If you accused somebody of being a swindler you had to have pretty strong evidence because it was a pretty bold accusation to would land you in court. While the Finnish media took great caution in labeling someone a swindler in their stories, they apparently didn’t have any problems labeling Somalis.

Tabloid

 

*Migration Institute archive.

Hommaforum stoops to new depths by “defaming” adolescent

Posted on by Migrant Tales

By Enrique Tessieri

Hommaforum is a forum closely linked to Perussuomalaiset (PS) party MP Jussi Halla-aho’s blog, Scripta, and to Suomen Sisu, a far-right extremist association. Even if Hommaforum and Scripta are only smears of hatred that stain Finland’s good name and values,  they don’t care whom they tar and feather. But to attack and defame publicly a brave fifteen-year-old girl, Rebecca Holm, who spoke out against racism shows how low they will go to make their point. 

If Holm wants to know some of the places where racial harassment against her and her friends come from, the answer is pretty clear.

According to Kansan Uutiset and Swedish-language daily HBL,  a complaint has been filed to the police for defaming Holm on Hommaforum after she was awarded on March 21 the Red Cross Award on the UN Day Against Racism.

In their usual smartalecky and cantankerous style, Hommaforum members claimed that Holm was “brainwashed” and that her harassment claims were nothing more than fabrications. Some wrote that Holm was being used by her family and friends.

“I have a feeling that if Rebecka didn’t get her daily dose of racism she would become frustrated and slip into depression,” said another Hommaforum member anonymously.

All those who commented about Holm on Hommaforum did so anonymously.

To not have the decency to speak out against an adolescent with one’s name says a lot about this forums. In my opinion, Hommaforum and Scripta are good examples of the sickness that has inflicted our society as of late.

They are like social media peep shows where little anonymous men meet. Instead of watching a naked woman or man, they get off by reading, writing and commenting about a social ogre called racism.