A “young white man” was arrested in Norway after shooting inside a mosque today, according to the BBC. The man injured one person after he opened fire on the Al-Noor Islamic Center near Oslo.
According to a tweet by Tommi Kotonen, “Norwegian newspaper [VG] reports that police is investigating a forum post related to the Oslo Mosque shooting. A post from Endchan shows [the] alleged perpetrator claiming he was a follower of NZ shooter, refers to race war and urges other to follow him.”
The director of the mosque, Irfan Mushtaq, was quoted as saying that the victim injured was a 75-year-old man who was a member of the congregation.
“One of our members has been shot by a white man with a helmet and uniform,” Mushtaq was quoted as saying to he local newspaper Budstikka.
In the face of rising Islamophobia in all of the Nordic countries, Norway has seen the greatest bloodshed when Anders Breivik attacked eight years ago on 22/7 killing 77 people.
Finland has a lot of top-quality journalists. Even so, the coverage of migrants like asylum seekers by the media is in too many cases not only slanted and unfair but deficient, even racist and misleading at times.
Helsingin Sanomat. called last month The Squad, who are four congresswomen of color as “people of migrant origin.” On the left is the first take and on the right the corrected headline.
A recent example of such opinionated and poor journalism was the coverage of migrants suspected of sexual assault in Oulu. Migrant Tales documented 77 stories published between November 27 and February 13. On January 14, Yle published in one day 13 stories about the topic!
In its coverage of the Oulu sexual assault cases, Yle forgot one of its most important rules: fairness. You don’t need a bazooka to kill an ant.
Having been a journalist and foreign correspondent in countries like Spain, Argentina, Italy, Colombia, and Finland for over 20 years have taught me a thing or two about how the media frame migrants and minorities.
Without getting into a more in-depth discussion about the topic, I am always amazed at how a far-right Islamophobic party like the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* has set the pace and given its anti-immigration rhetoric a lot of weight.
The PS is always bringing up new fear-mongering topics for public consumption. The latest one is a pseudo-theory about how white Finns in the face of migration will end up becoming a minority in their county.
Even if these pseudo-theories are racist and misogynistic, the PS would care less. Making outrageous claims is one of the communication strategies of racist parties like the PS. Below is an example of how it works:
A politician makes an outrageous claim to a journalist, who doesn’t even bother to question its veracity. Eventually, the journalist may do some investigating and find out that he or she was fed malarkey. By then it’s too late because the story is already out there.
Journalists should watch out for the following matters when writing about the PS’ and other parties’ anti-immigration stances:
They rarely say directly that they are targeting Muslims;
-They use code to refer to Muslim asylum seekers/people of color such as “harmful immigration,” “social welfare freeloaders,” “mass immigraion,” “person/people of foreign origin” and others;
-Since they are speaking of these groups, who are mostly Muslims and asylum seekers, they refer to about 10% of all migrants in Finland;
-When a PS politician starts to speak about these groups, the reporter should ask what group they mean and how many people he or she is talking about;
-Since the media allows the PS to speak of migrants in the most general terms, it gives the impression that all or most migrants in Finland are asylum seekers;
-Do some journalists and the media write this way because they too are Islamophobic?
* The far-right Perussuomalaiset (PS) party imploded on June 13, 2017, into two factions, the PS and New Alternative, which is now called Blue Reform. In the last parliamentary election, Blue Reform has wiped off the Finnish political map when they saw their numbers in parliament plummet from 18 MPs to none. A direct translation of Perussuomalaiset in English would be something like “basic” or “fundamental Finn.” Official translations of the Finnish name of the party, such as Finns Party or True Finns, promote in our opinion nativist nationalism and racism. We, therefore, at Migrant Tales prefer to use in our postings the Finnish name of the party once and after that the acronym PS.
One far-right politician who has eagerly spread white Finnish supremacist ideology is Perussuomalaiset (PS)* vice-chairperson and MP Riikka Purra. In her latest Facebook post, she attempts to defend her views with a chart that is misleading and racist.
One of the problems with Purra’s argument is that she speaks of white Finns as natives but excludes non-white Finns as eternal migrants or “people of migrant background.” In short, they are not “real” Finns and should be treated as a threat.
Purra’s arguments, which are filled with populist hot air and made in one of Europe’s whitest countries, aim to reinforce exclusion and hatred of people of color.
If you watch closely, the PS normally speak in code when spreading their racist views. When they talk about “harmful” migrants they mean Muslims and asylum seekers who came in 2015. When Purra talks about the “native” population she only means white Finns.
Far-right ideas like Purra’s are the same ones spread by US President Donald Trump and embolden white supremacists. One of its tragic manifestations was seen on Saturday in El Paso, Texas.
No matter the country, the white supremacist message is the same: Groups with power are afraid of minorities because they fear that when they become a majority, they will treat people like Purra in the same way as she talks and treats migrants and minorities today.
Apart from being a bunch of baloney, the chart, which was made by Kyösti Tarvainen, an astrologist, assumes that the Nordic region and Europe have always been white and that non-whites “invaded” the Nordic region. This type of thinking is what some call white supremacy. The chart shows the decline of the so-called “native” population but aren’t people, irrespective of their ethnic backgrounds, “natives?”
Considering that far-right and white-supremacist rhetoric is keenly copied and pasted by politicians in different countries that form part of a global network, it is surprising how our own denial and exceptionalism has made our media reluctant to ask tough questions to politicians spreading far-right ideology.
One of these after the tragedy in El Paso is if the same rhetoric spread by Purra and PS chairperson Jussi Halla-aho inspire people to start killing migrants and minorities in Finland?
MP Riikka Purra “Hey, you spoke a while back about how the Finnish population can change with more non-white migrants and Finns. What happened in El Paso must have shocked you. Could the same happen in Finland? Could you please answer this email by Wednesday? Thank you.
It would be wrong to blame Purra, Halla-aho and other PS pundits for the rise in racism in Finland. By blaming a party and its politicians, you lose sight of the root of the problem, which is our society.
The best way of challenging an Islamophobic party and far-right politicians is to take a good look at ourselves and take off the mask of denial.
* The Perussuomalaiset (PS) party imploded on June 13, 2017, into two factions, the PS and New Alternative, which is now called Blue Reform. In the last parliamentary election, Blue Reform has wiped off the Finnish political map when they saw their numbers in parliament plummet from 18 MPs to none. A direct translation of Perussuomalaiset in English would be something like “basic” or “fundamental Finn.” Official translations of the Finnish name of the party, such as Finns Party or True Finns, promote in our opinion nativist nationalism and racism. We, therefore, at Migrant Tales prefer to use in our postings the Finnish name of the party once and after that the acronym PS.
Ethnonationalism and “white Finnish replacement” pseudo-theories are being eagerly spread in Finland by politicians like Riikka Purra and Jussi Halla-aho, vice-chairperson and chairperson of the far-right Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party.
An important question arises in light of the tragic weekend when a white supremacist killed 22 victims in El Paso, Texas, and another man killed 9 more in Toledo, Ohio: Could the same happen in Finland?
Since the Finnish media is not interested in asking such a question, I wrote an email to Purra on Sunday if what happened in El Paso could happen here since parties like the PS are pushing ethnonationalism and ethnic replacement pseudo-theories.
The email to MP Purra below was short and to the point:
MP Riikka Purra
“Hey, you spoke a while back about how the Finnish population can change with more non-white migrants and Finns. What happened in El Paso must have shocked you. Could the same happen in Finland? Could you please answer this email by Wednesday? Thank you.
Purra did no answer my email.
In June, Purra suggested that Finland’s population, one of the whitest in Europe, is in danger of changing due to non-white migration.
* The Perussuomalaiset (PS) party imploded on June 13, 2017, into two factions, the PS and New Alternative, which is now called Blue Reform. In the last parliamentary election, Blue Reform has wiped off the Finnish political map when they saw their numbers in parliament plummet from 18 MPs to none. A direct translation of Perussuomalaiset in English would be something like “basic” or “fundamental Finn.” Official translations of the Finnish name of the party, such as Finns Party or True Finns, promote in our opinion nativist nationalism and racism. We, therefore, at Migrant Tales prefer to use in our postings the Finnish name of the party once and after that the acronym PS.
It was clear that the request to the police by Perussuomalaiseet (PS)* Councilperson Maiju Tapiolinna to investigate whether Helsinki City Councilperson Abdirahim Husu Hussein for ethnic agitation and slander would not make it to first base.
And that is what the police announced today. They said they will not investigate the complaint against Hussein for ethnic agitation and slander, reportsHelsingin Sanomat.
But what could you expect? How could there be ethnic agitation if the PS is not an ethnic group and no person was mentioned in Hussein’s tweet?
What is most ironic about the case is that it appears that Tapiolinna may have herself been guilty of ethnic agitation in a Facebook posting today.
Anti-Hate Crime Oganisation Finland asked today the police to investigate a Facebook posting by Tapiolinna where she allegedly encourages hatred for an ethnic group.
Tapiolinna writes today: “Is anyone surprised why the police will not investigate Hussein’s tweets? Not me, I’m not surprised since this is exactly what I expected to happen. It is now proven that we have double standards [in Finlan] and people who come from racist countries can rage in peace. This means that in the future the Perussuomalaiset [party] should take an even tougher stand on immigration. It’s already been proven that Muslims that come here have difficulties to adapt to their new homeland. I am still of the opinion that if one is not happy with things here, they should think of moving somewhere else. We should surely take note of the [Vietnamese] boat people who came to Finland forty years ago. They are diligent and respect others. We are thus contentedly r..cists since this has happened.[1] The next thing we should do is investigate the enormous aid Somali associations received. It is good to continue from here.”
The police should investigate the matter and determine whether Tapiolinna is guilty.
* The Perussuomalaiset (PS) party imploded on June 13, 2017, into two factions, the PS and New Alternative, which is now called Blue Reform. In the last parliamentary election, Blue Reform has wiped off the Finnish political map when they saw their numbers in parliament plummet from 18 MPs to none. A direct translation of Perussuomalaiset in English would be something like “basic” or “fundamental Finn.” Official translations of the Finnish name of the party, such as Finns Party or True Finns, promote in our opinion nativist nationalism and racism. We, therefore, at Migrant Tales prefer to use in our postings the Finnish name of the party once and after that the acronym PS.
[1] This sentence is unclear to translate. I asked Tapiolinna to explain what she meant but she has not responded.
A local pizzeria’s delivery car was vandalized a week ago in a small town in Eastern Finland located near Kuopio. Is it a coincidence that the owner of the pizzeria isn’t a white Finn.
Just like Donald Trump’s racism has consequences for innocent victims in the most recent white supremacist attack in El Paso over the weekend, parties like the far-right Perussuomalaiset (PS)* are polarizing our society and emboldening racists.
The vandalized car. Source: Facebook.
* The Perussuomalaiset (PS) party imploded on June 13, 2017, into two factions, the PS and New Alternative, which is now called Blue Reform. In the last parliamentary election, Blue Reform has wiped off the Finnish political map when they saw their numbers in parliament plummet from 18 MPs to none. A direct translation of Perussuomalaiset in English would be something like “basic” or “fundamental Finn.” Official translations of the Finnish name of the party, such as Finns Party or True Finns, promote in our opinion nativist nationalism and racism. We, therefore, at Migrant Tales prefer to use in our postings the Finnish name of the party once and after that the acronym PS.
It’s been a tough bubble-bursting July and August for Finland’s second-biggest party in parliament, the Perussuomalaiset (PS).* Helsinki city Councilperson Abdirahim Husu Hussein tweeted that the party and supporters were racists, while history researcher Oula Silvenoinen reminded and called the PS a far-right party on television.
Let’s not forget as well the PS’ membership in pro-Putin and far-right Identity and Democracy group in the European Parliament led by pundits like Matteo Salvini of the Lega Nord party.
After the PS’ historic election victory in 2011, Migrant Tales has warned about the party’s far-right and xenophobic roots. “Far-right populism is an illness inflicting Europe at present and it now has a beachhead in Finland,” I wrote in April 2011.
Ties with neo-Nazi groups like the outlawed PVL and Soldiers of Odin are too many to be coincidences no matter what Slunga-Poutsalo says.
Two hairstyles of Riikka Slunga-Poutsalo. On the left when she was PS party secretary and on the right as an MP on A-studio. Even so, she’s the same person who called asylum seekers “welfare shoppers” and who signed in 2010 the anti-immigration Nuiva manifesto. Before the manifesto could be accessed on www.nuiva.fi but it no longer exists. No matter how you cut it, she is an Islamophobe trying to appear like a normal politician. Source: Lehtikuva and Yle.
So why doesn’t the Finnish media call the PS a far-right party?
Calling it a far-right and xenophobic party would be admitting that maybe we aren’t that exceptional as we thought. Considering that over a half a million Finns vote for the PS, newspapers like Helsingin Sanomat are dependent on subscribers and ads.
Without even trying to prove that the PS and its supporters have severe issues with racism, the party has given Hussein the smoking gun.
PS Nurmijärvi Councilperson Maiju Tapiolinna showed us that Finland also suffers from white fragility In a Facebook post she stated: “Somalis should leave the country if they don’t integrate.”
The PS politician made the same comment on a Ylen aamu-tv program.
It’s great that Finland has people like Hussein and Silvenoinen who fearlessly express their views about difficult topics that we should be paying much closer attention like racism and far-right populism.
* The Perussuomalaiset (PS) party imploded on June 13, 2017, into two factions, the PS and New Alternative, which is now called Blue Reform. In the last parliamentary election, Blue Reform has wiped off the Finnish political map when they saw their numbers in parliament plummet from 18 MPs to none. A direct translation of Perussuomalaiset in English would be something like “basic” or “fundamental Finn.” Official translations of the Finnish name of the party, such as Finns Party or True Finns, promote in our opinion nativist nationalism and racism. We, therefore, at Migrant Tales prefer to use in our postings the Finnish name of the party once and after that the acronym PS.
In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.
Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968)
THIS STORY WAS UPDATED
Setting aside the racist attacks and harassment that Social Democratic (SDP) Helsinki city Councilperson Abdirahim Husu Hussein received due to a tweet, why are members of his party and other politicians near-silent offering token support if any to defend a politician of color?
We could ask what is worse, the racist attacks Hussein has endured or the indifference of Finland’s political class?
Hussein tweeted last month that all members of the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party, their voters and supporters are racist. The tweet raised a storm during Finland’s vacation month of July.
On July 19, Hussein tweets from India: “Was yesterday’s tweet update too much for you.Let me be more concrete. All of the Perussuomalaiset and their voters/supporters are racists. Yes i said it. Do you need proof? Look at your history and how you were elected as Finland’s second-biggest party [in parliament].”
While Hussein denies that his tweet aimed at provoking the PS and its followers, it’s clear that Finland does need a long-overdue debate about its racism issues and why politicians and political parties have failed at containing and challenging the rise far-right populism.
How low has Finland stooped? Why is the country’s political class near-silent in the face of a black city councilperson who is being attacked in a racist and hostile manner? In my opinion, it reveals a scared and racist nation unwilling to take leadership and do what is right.
Hussein published on Facebook Thursday an especially vicious attack against him from a person who claims to be a PS supporter:
Racist: “Hi n-word. You will soon be HISTORY N-WORD!!! If I am a racist then you are an n-word: Do you understand???? N-word. N-word.If I support the persut (Peususualaiset party) then you are an n-word. Go back to where you came from.”
So why aren’t the leaders of other parties saying anything substantial to defend and support Hussein who had the guts to speak out? Where is Prime Minister Antti Rinne, who is a member of the same party as Hussein? Where is Pekka Haavisto of the Greens, Left Alliance, Swedish People’s Party, and Center Party leaders? What about the National Coalition Party?
The indifference and near-silence of these parties and their leaders is deafening and reveals why populism has entered Finnish politics big time during this decade. It also shows us that our mainstream parties and society as a whole are at a loss in dealing with such a threat.
* The Perussuomalaiset (PS) party imploded on June 13, 2017, into
two factions, the PS and New Alternative, which is now called Blue
Reform. In the last parliamentary election, Blue Reform has wiped off
the Finnish political map when they saw their numbers in parliament
plummet from 18 MPs to none. A direct translation of Perussuomalaiset in
English would be something like “basic” or “fundamental Finn.” Official
translations of the Finnish name of the party, such as Finns Party or
True Finns, promote in our opinion nativist nationalism and racism. We,
therefore, at Migrant Tales prefer to use in our postings the Finnish
name of the party once and after that the acronym PS.
Former Blue Reform MP and Perussuomalaiset* social and health minister, Hanna Mäntylä, was fired in June as special advisor to the European Council on challenging youth radicalization and marginalization, according to Demokraatti which cites HBL.
We mentioned back in 2017 when Mäntylä was named as a special advisor that she was unqualified to do the job. How can spreading anti-immigration rhetoric and polarizing Finnish society make you an expert on how to stop youth radicalization?
Two Hanna Mäntylä’s: black and blonde. Source: Yle and Seiska.
Migrant Taleswrote: “If we look at Mäntylä’s past record as minister (2015-2016) and her former statements on cultural diversity, it’s clear that they fuel inequality and radicalization and don’t lessen them.”
Mäntylä as social and health minister attempted to spearhead laws where migrants would get less social welfare than Finns. Such laws did not – fortunately – see the light of day since they were unconstitutional. Plans to give less social welfare was part of former Prime Minister Juha Sipilä’s 80-point government pogram to tighten immigration laws.
According to HBL, many wondered about Mäntylä’s appointment since she was unqualified. “It has been unclear to all those who worked with her what her [work] experience was,” HBL said, citing diplomatic sources.
* The Perussuomalaiset (PS) party imploded on June 13, 2017,
into two factions, the PS and New Alternative, which is now called Blue Reform.
In the last parliamentary election, Blue Reform has wiped off
the Finnish political map when they saw their numbers in parliament
plummet from 18 MPs to none. A direct translation of Perussuomalaiset
in English would be something like “basic” or “fundamental Finn.” Official
translations of the Finnish name of the party, such as Finns Party or True
Finns, promote in our opinion nativist nationalism and racism. We,
therefore, at Migrant Tales prefer to use in our postings the Finnish
name of the party once and after that the acronym PS.
After near-constant hostile labeling of Muslims, Somalis and other people of color in Finland by the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party, it is a positive sign that people are speaking out.
One of these persons who has been in the news is Helsinki city councilperson Abdirahim Husu Hussein. Watching him deflect the usual rhetoric from people, who like servile migrants but who are up in arms if they speak their minds, was empowering to say the least. Hussein did not budge but kept true to his stand about the PS being a racist party.
The media is one crucial factor that has helped Hussein get national attention after he tweeted that the PS, its voters, and supporters are racist.
“The aim [of my tweet] was not to provoke on purpose,” he was quoted as saying on Ylen aamu-tv, “but to bring this debate that we need to happen. In my opinion, we hide from such a debate, and we don’t debate it except for one party and one group that [aims to] normalize the amount of hate speech and racism [in society].”
PS Nurmijärvi councilperson Maiju Tapiolinna offered in today’s TV interview as in her past tweets why racism is an issue in her party.
I have learned from years of experience as an anti-racism activist that the best people to point out their racism is usually themselves.
As in her tweet, Tapiolinna tells Hussein that he should leave the country if he thinks that Finland is such a racist country. In a previous tweet, she gave an ultimatum to Hussein: “Somalis should leave the country if they don’t integrate.”
Taipiolinna asked Hussein how can someone be racist if that person doesn’t know what the word means.
“I want to encourage migrants [and minorities] to speak out if they have gone through what I have [as a person of color],” he told Migrant Tales by phone, adding that Finland needs a long-overdue debate about the role of racism in this society.
* The Perussuomalaiset (PS) party imploded on June 13, 2017,
into two factions, the PS and New Alternative, which is now called Blue Reform.
In the last parliamentary election, Blue Reform has wiped off
the Finnish political map when they saw their numbers in parliament
plummet from 18 MPs to none. A direct translation of Perussuomalaiset
in English would be something like “basic” or “fundamental Finn.” Official
translations of the Finnish name of the party, such as Finns Party or True
Finns, promote in our opinion nativist nationalism and racism. We,
therefore, at Migrant Tales prefer to use in our postings the Finnish
name of the party once and after that the acronym PS.
