It is disappointing to note that it took Finland’s largest daily, Helsingin Sanomat, five days to write an editorial on the threat posed by the far-right after the detention of five white Finns on Friday. Considering the media attention and general outrage in general that Abderrahman Mechkah knife attack caused in Turku in 2017, a question emerges: were the suspects in Kakaanpää the wrong type of terrorists?
Pictures apprehended of the terrorist suspects. Source: Police
Moreover, the suggestion that the Kankaanpää suspects were some isolated splinter group detached from society is an example of how the problem is being whitewashed. As Mihai Varga stated: “The main agents of ideological violence are not isolated ‘lone wolves’ but are usually interconnected with communities, non-violent agents and legal entities, at times even including connections to law enforcement personnel.”
From the days when Timo Soini headed the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party to the present, there’s one denial coming from the party that is an outright lie: The PS is not a far-right party with links to neo-Nazi, fascist and far-right groups.
I could list several examples, but let’s look at Kansallismielisten liittouma, a perfect example of the PS links with far-right groups. Eight of the 13 persons (61.5%) in the picture below are or were PS members.
Remember when PS MP Juho Eerola’s aide, Ulla Pyysalo, was caught seeking membership in Pohjoismaisen vastarintaliike (PVL), a neo-Nazi association?
There are many, many other shameful examples. You would have to be very susceptible to believe that the PS is not a far-right party set on destroying our democracy and Nordic way of life.
One notable guest of Kansallismielisten liitouma is Antti Niemi, the former head of PVL’s Finnish chapter.
Source: Twitter
How long will Finns put up with these types of politicians and parties and vote them out of power?
The detention of five far-right terrorist suspects in the western Finnish city of Kankaanpää Friday raises many questions. One of these is the collaboration of this group and others in the burning down of an asylum reception center in December 2015.
The asylum reception center in Kankaanpää wasn’t the only one that suffered arson attacks.
Former Perussuomalaiset (PS)* MP, Ano Turtiainen, was convicted in 2018 for inciting violence against the Finnish Red Cross, which manages many asylum reception centers. The conviction has its roots in a 2015 Facebook post “liked” by PS MEP Laura Huhtasaari.
If we connect the dots and start asking the right questions about what happened from 2015, the answers we may get can be revealing exposing strange and not-so-strange bedfellows.
Moreover, it would be wishful and careless thinking to believe that the terrorist suspects in Kankaanpää acted alone and were totally detached from society.
Mihai Varga hit it right on the dot: “The main agents of ideological violence are not isolated ‘lone wolves’ but are usually interconnected with communities, non-violent agents and legal entities, at times even including connections to law enforcement personnel.”
Source: Police
For those who don’t remember, a building going to house asylum seekers was set alight was burned down in December 2015 in Niinisalo, located a stone’s throw from Kankaanpää. Perussuomalaiset MP Juho Mäenpää, elected to parliament in 2019 but a member of the Nazi-spirited Suomen Sisu association, claimed jubilantly back then after the arson attack: “Great. There is a god. My prayers have been answered.”
An interview published today in The Guardian of Prime Minister Sanna Marin reveals that countries like Finland have not caved into populism, xenophobia, and toxic nationalism. Her leadership is a direct snub at those forces in Finland trying to bring down her government.
Marin said in the interview that she believed future governments would continue to promote Nordic state welfare values like social equality.
“I think so,” she was quoted as saying in The Guardian. “Because it’s work that’s ongoing. We have always worked for equality in Finland, and I think it’s also important in the future, and not only the equality of men and women, or the genders, but also the equality of minority groups in society.
Foretunately, human rights rank high in PM Marin’s government. If the opposition ever gained power, human rights would be compromised and demoted.
“We have to say this is not acceptable. We’re condemning the actions of Belarus. But at the same time we have to make sure that people’s human rights are respected in this situation,” Marin said.
The main agents of ideological violence are not isolated “lone wolves” but are usually interconnected with communities, non-violent agents and legal entities, at times even including connections to law enforcement personnel.
Five white Finns were detained Tuesday and remanded by a Satakunta District Court Friday, at the request of the police, on suspicion of terrorist offenses, according to a statement by the Southwestern Finland Police.
The police said that this far-right suspected terror offense is the first in Finland.
“We have found in their possession terrorist material which, when examined in conjunction with other criminal investigation material, reinforces the impression that they have become radicalized and gives reason to suspect them of terrorist offenses,” said Detective Superintendent Toni Sjöblom, head of the investigation.
While the detention of this group is good news and no longer poses a threat, the interesting question is to see the reaction.
If the suspects were Muslims, Finland would have a serious knee-jerk reaction from Islamophobic parties like the Perussuomalaiset (PS)*, National Coalition Party (Kokoomus), and others to draft tighter terrorist laws and more surveillance powers to the police.
Five white Finns born between 1995 and 1998 were arrested Tuesday by the police on suspected terrorism charges, according to Pori-based daily Satakunnan Kansa. The five suspects are from the Western Finnish region of Kankaanpää.
The police did not call the suspects white Finns but stated that they had “ethnic Finnish names.”
The police and the Finnish Security and Intelligence Service (Supo) will hold a press conference at 6 pm to release more details like the detention of the suspects and the danger they posed to the public.
Tweet #1: “Police of southwestern Finland arrest five people suspected of terrorist offenses. The Satakunta District Court will decide on the matter today.” Tweet #2: “The police suspects that the individuals planned a terrorist act. There is no acute danger. The suspects live in the Kankaanpää region of Satakunta. Police arrested the suspects on Tuesday. Police will comment further at the media conference tonight.”Continue reading “Five white Finns arrested on suspected terrorism charges”
Since the 2011 parliamentary elections, which saw the Islamophobic Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party win 39 starts from 5 seats previously, it has systematically tarred and feathered migrants, especially Muslims, people of color, and specific minorities.
Should you be surprised that all PS MPs elected in 2019 based their campaign on an anti-immigration message.
The PS demands that Finland should strive for zero asylum seekers (code for Muslims). Those that remain in Finland must endure the constant racism, labeling, and bombardment of their group.
PS MP Minna Reijonen epitomizes this toxicity in a question to the government during a session of parliament.
Source: YouTube
MP Reijonen parrots the PS’ populist and racist stance of migrants and minorities, planting the seeds of future social strife.
It should not surprise us that anti-Semitism is also on the rise in Finland. An article in Kirkko ja kaupunki revealed the cost of security needed at the Helsinki Synagogue has soared between 2017 and 2021. Yaron Nadbornik, president of the 1,100-strong Jewish community of Helsinki, was quoted as saying that the cost of security at the synagogue has jumped from 200,000 euros in 2017 to 450,000 euros in 2021.
Personal donation targets have also risen sharply, from 15,000 euros to 50,000 euros.
He said: “The purpose of our community is not to maintain security, but to maintain Jewish life in Finland and especially in Helsinki. In the past, it was not known precisely how much money was spent on security because it was not a meaningful metric that we followed closely.”
Nadbornik added that the accounting system to monitor security was changed three years ago giving a more precise view of such costs.
In an interview last year, the president of the Jewish community of Helsinki said that only recently the police have acknowledged that there is an anti-Semitism problem in Finland.
“The authorities have recognized during 2018-2019 that there is an anti-Semitism problem in Finland,” he said. “Before, it was [for them] pretty unclear if such a matter existed.”
In 2017, Nadbornik blamed the government and police of Finland for not doing enough to clamp down on hate speech, which was directly linked to anti-Semitism.
In the interview with Kirkko ja kaupunki, he stated that the police understand the threat of physical harm, but if somebody paints a Nazi symbol on the synagogue’s wall it is not treat it as a hate crime.
In many parts of the world, racist graffiti is considered a hate crime.
We recommend that the Jewish Community of Helsinki ask the police why they don’t treat racist graffiti like a swastika a hate crime.
I hadn’t heard the statement, “I’m a racist,” for a long time. Even so, two middle-aged women were chatting in Mikkeli loudly about how bad migrants were.
I intervened because silence is a total cop-out.
“Are you a racist,” I asked one of the women.
“Yes, I’m a racist,” she snapped.
“You should be ashamed of yourself for being a racist,” I responded.
There is no need to write what they continued to say about migrants because it was straight from a Perussuomalaiset* playbook.
We cannot just snuggle here and see who comes to the border. We must promote the values of the EU with greater determination because without these values we are worthless.
We just read about the tragic death of 27 people when attempting to cross the English Channel. One of the victims was a pregnant woman with three children, according to The Guardian.
Even if Britain and France are pointing the finger, nothing will change, and refugees, people, will continue to die.
The cold-hearted treatment and hostility towards people attempting to apply for asylum in the EU show that Europe is addicted to lies.
The lie has had terrible consequences. For one, 44,746 people have drowned while crossing the Mediterranean between 1993 and 2021, according to United.
