Category: Enrique

HS.fi: Hommaforum suljettiin Norja-keskustelun takia

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Comment:  A popular website visited by one of Finland’s most notorious anti-immigration crowd was closed Sunday until 10 pm due to the tragedy that hit Norway, reports HS.fi.

When one reads the views of people who speak against immigration and cultural diversity in Finland like Hommaforum administrator Matias Turkkila or a Persussuomalaiset party MPs like James Hirvisaari, the gist of their message must be read between the lines of the text.

“We wanted to calm debate,” Turkkila was quoted ast saying on HS.fi. “I am certain that it won’t calm down (the debate) but we wanted to make it clear that we in no way accept what happened in Norway.”

One of the matters that Anders Behring Breivik’s killing rampage exposed in the raw in other Nordic countries like Finland was the relationship it had with the hate speech commonly found on Hommaforum and blog entries by PS MP’s like Jussi Halla-aho and his followers. 

While Turkkila showed the needed respect that any sensible person should show in the face of such a tragedy that took place in Norway, it doesn’t speak too highly of the bloggers that visit Hommaforum. This link will give you some idea (in Finnish) what bloggers at Hommaforum think about what happened in Norway.

JusticeDemon, who gave the heads up of this story, wrote: “Suddenly they are concerned at how foreigners feel, but this begs the question as to why this particular discussion forum should identify so closely with this particular incident.”

Hirvisaari, who is Halla-aho’s faithful follower in parliament and who has become infamous for his hate speech on his blogs, reveals what he really thinks about what happened in Norway: “With a sound immigration policy we could cool tensions and prevent many problems like such atrocities (that took place in Norway).”

Even though Hirvisaari condemns terrorism and acts of violence, he somehow wants to blame immigration policy when, in fact, he should look the other way at what he and others write provocatively about immigrants and Muslims. 

The political fallout of what happened in Norway has impacted Finland and especially the loud and offensively vocal anti-immigration crowd. Norway has torn their arguments wide open and put them on the stand where I am certain Breivik’s 1,500-page manifesto would be a chief piece of evidence. In it he mentions how he agrees with Halla-aho’s writings in 2006.

See Ossi Mäntylahti blog on Uusi Suomi.

The monster that Halla-aho and his followers have sown has bit them hard.

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Maahanmuuttokriittinen keskustelupalsta Hommaforum suljettiin sunnuntaina. Sulkemisen syynä oli Norjan terrori-iskuista käyty kiivas keskustelu. Hommaforum aukeaa sunnuntai-iltana kymmeneltä.

Read whole story.

Norway is a watershed for Finland and the Nordic region

Posted on by Migrant Tales

 By Enrique Tessieri

The horrific carnage that took place in Norway on Friday at the hands of a far-right extremist is a watershed for our societies. Even if the mass killer, Anders Behring Breivik, is in police custody his outlandish deeds continue to bully some of us into denial. 

Former President Martti Ahtisaari showed the kind of leadership we should not only expect of our politicians, but of ourselves as well. He was quoted in Mikkeli daily Länsi-Savo as saying that our silence has fuelled the rise of far-right groups and their language of hatred towards minorities.

“I always remember what Martin Luther King said when (we) wondered why blacks got their (civil) rights so late and why did inequality last for so long,” continued Ahtisaari. “King said:  The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people.”

Silence is a powerful force. Even military regimes that commit grave human rights violations rely on silence and enforce it through censorship.

The role of silence, or the lack of leadership against intolerance, has been seen throughout history.  Ahtisaari said that the silence of the majority was the faithful servant of undemocratic regimes in the Balkans and Nazi Germany.

“There is no place in the Nordic democratic system for extremist groups or inciting hatred against (other) nationalities or that prejudice is acceptable in any form, even in our speech” said Ahtisaari. “Nordic countries are the most tolerant in the world, therefore this development (growth of intolerance) is foreign to us.”

A fertile breeding ground for this type of hatred and intolerance has been websites like Homma, associations like Suomen Sisu and political parties like the Perussuomalaiset, which gained 19.1% of the votes in the April election.

An anonymous blogger published (in Finnish) on Uusi Suomi the reaction of some Homma bloggers on what happened in Norway.Denial is lightly putting it. According to them, the horrific events in Norway had nothing to do with our culture, religion, anti-immigration stances and racism. It was the work of a single psychopath that was totally disconnected from our values and the hatred so commonly seen in our societies today.

Norway is a watershed against our silence and those hate groups that have grown politically in Finland in recent years.

They are a menace to our values and society. Like Breivik showed, when you leave hatred and racism out of the cage it can bite you back in ways you never imagined.

HS.fi: Arkipäivän rasismi on huutelua ja ahdistelua

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Comment: It is truly sad to read  about how some immigrants face racism in this country on a daily basis.

What is surprising in the HS story below is a comment by Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP Tom Packalén.  A policeman by profession, Packalén claims that Finland isn’t a racist country. “When comparing the size of Helsinki for example there is very little racist violence compared with other countries,” he said.

Isn’t it interesting how it is always NOT the victim of racism that is playing down this social ill in Finland?

Pakalén’s denial and that of other people could reflect the low social position that immigrants have in Finnish society. Since immigrants are not important,  a good way of robbing them of their identity and a better place in society is by denying any serious problems in that community. In other words, denying racism could be a way of rejecting Finland’s cultural diversity.

Do you agree?

Thank you JusticeDemon for the link!

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Afrikkalaisperheen lasten rattaista löytyy koiran kakkaa, 18 vuotta Suomessa asunutta, töissä käyvää naista käsketään palaamaan kotimaahansa. HS kysyi toukokuun alussa lukijoiden rasismikokemuksista Suomessa. Siitä lähtien toimitukseen on saapunut useita kirjoituksia rasismista.

Read whole story.

Crossing a line in Norway and condemning it in Finland

Posted on by Migrant Tales

By Enrique Tessieri

When does a person or group cross the magic line from right-wing populism to far-right? The tragic events that struck Norway on Friday should help us to distinguish better where that magic line is and what our reaction to it should be.

If Anders Behring Brejvik, the man who was responsible for the death of over 90 people on Friday, would have never carried out his outlandish deeds he’d be walking amongst us today visiting the numerous hate websites on the net.

What happened in Norway is a rude wake up call for us in Europe and Finland. It casts an eerie shadow on the role of those politicians, political parties and associations that spread a culture of hatred against immigrants and minorities and repackage it as patriotism.

Even though these groups are dazzled by the power of racism they soon notice that after the monster has been left out of the cage it can bite back at them.

Brejvik was chairman of the populist and anti-immigration Fremskrittspartiet party in Oslo West for about nine months and then on the local party’ board for about two years.*

Moreover, Brejvik was reported by TV1’s 20:30 news that he is an admirer of Perussuomalaiset MP Jussi Halla-aho, who is a mamber of the Nazi-spirited Suomen Sisu association.

The tragic events in Norway should embolden us to act and distinguish those groups and members in our society that want to change it at the cost of other people’s civil rights. Probably the reason why some of us haven’t branded some of them yet as far-right extremists is because we are in denial or dread admitting that there are these types of people and groups amongst us.

We need  a serious debate in Finland about the role of associations like Suomen Sisu in our parliament and the racism that festers in the Perussuomalaiset party.

The tragic events of Norway should strengthen our resolve to defend our Nordic way of life, which is built on social justice and equality for all. We should stand firm and be especially vigilant against those who want to destroy our noble values.

It is the minimum we can offer to the victims in Norway.

* Thank you Jonas for the heads up!

Reuters: Analysis: Questions over far-right link in Norwegian attacks

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Comment: The terrible events that hit Norway on Friday appear to be the work of a far-right extremist, according to a story by Reuters below. Taking into account the rise of far-right and right-wing populist parties in Europe due to anti-immigrant and anti-Islam sentiment fuelled by a shaky economic panorama, what happened in Norway can be a serious wake up call to countries like Finland.

Writes Reuters: “But violence, while sometimes fatal, has rarely escalated beyond group thuggery and the use of knives. That may have changed in Oslo and on the holiday island of Utoeya on Friday. Seven people were killed in a bombing in the capital — Western Europe’s worst since the 2005 London al Qaeda-linked suicide attacks that killed 52 people — and at least 10 (the number has risen to at least 80) in a shooting rampage by a lake.”

Migrant Tales and some bloggers who visit our blog have regularly expressed concern about how some far-right members of parties like the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party have stoked the flames of racism with their provocative statments and blog entries.

If a terrible tragedy is possible in Norway could something similar happen in Finland? Certainly it could and it has happened before when lone gunmen have gone on shooting rampages in Jokela and Kauhajoki.

Why is tolerance and acceptance important in society? Why should we confront bigotry and fascism forcefully?

Oslo and Utoeya island, northwest of the capital Oslo, are probably answers and the tragic consequences.

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By William Mclean

A report that Norway’s bomb and gun rampage may be the work of a far-right militant confronts Europe with the possibility that a new paramilitary threat is emerging, a decade after al Qaeda’s September 11 attacks.

Read whole story.

Norway’s tragedy appears to be homegrown

Posted on by Migrant Tales

By Enrique Tessieri

We are all saddened by the loss of life and tragedy that ripped open a terrible scar in Norway after a car bomb exploded in the capital and a man shot dead 80 innocent victims on Friday, according to media reports.  The police have apprehended a suspect, Anders Behring Breivik, a Norwegian “conservative,” according to politicons.com.

As the tragic events unfolded on Friday, some were quick to point the finger at international terrorism.

This now appears unlikely, according to the Guardian of London.  “The targeted nature of the attacks at both government offices and the Labour party youth camp both suggest a more political agenda rather than an attempt to create widespread terror,” the daily reports. “Norwegian news reports last night said that police did not think the attacks were linked to international terrorism and that it was more likely directed at the current political system.”

Former ambassador to Norway, Ole Norrback, jumped the gun a bit on the YLE’s Friday 20:30 news but said the right things. Even if the bombing initially suggested the work of an international jihadist terrorist organization, according to him, it should be seen as the work of a minority.

Norrback said that the majority of the immigrants living in Norway are hard-working people who have nothing to do with what happened.

Let’s wait for more information by the police to determine what kind of political motive the man had and how his actions could impact the rest of the region.

The PS and their culture of fear in Finland

Posted on by Migrant Tales

By Enrique Tessieri

If there is one matter that I would wish stopped in Finland it is the culture of fear being spread by the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party. We can all remember prior to the April election how some members of the right-wing populist party portrayed immigrants and refugees as gang rapists and social welfare shoppers as soon as they crossed the border into Finland.

The fear-mongering by the PS appears to have no end. It changes constantly according to the political situation. Yesterday immigrants were their favorite target and today it is the financially embattled European Union.

I was quite astonished when I read a letter to the editor published this week in Mikkeli daily Länsi-Savo. A prominent PS politician sounded the alarm bells claiming an apocalyptic end to Finnish culture and language if the EU ever became a federation.

He compared our fate as a “small nation” to other Fenno-Ugric tribes of Russia that numbered a few thousand at the most.

Certainly it is a sad matter that our Fenno-Ugric relatives were devoured by a bigger and more powerful Russian culture but to compare their fate to a nation of over five million is ludicrous.

If Finnish culture is so vulnerable as the PS politician wanted to show to outside encroachment, why didn’t it disappear when Finns formed part of the Swedish and Russian Empire for about 700 years?

What will be the next fear-mongering stunt by the PS?

That we are being invaded by Martians?

 

Iltalehti: Ulkomaalainen mies ryöstettiin Vaasassa

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Comment:  An African 40-year-old man was robbed and assaulted on Saturday in a Vaasa neighborhood, reports tabloid Iltalehti. The attackers, who were 5-6 white Finns between the ages of 20 and 25, started to call the man names like the n-word. After being threatened in public, one of the assailants threw a punch at the man, who then fell on the ground and was kicked. 

Being verbally and physically attacked in public is horrible for anyone but what surprises me, if the report by Iltalehti is accurate, is that the police is treating the matter as a robbery.

Certainly we should not jump to conclusions until the police report is out and the perpetrators have been brought to justice.

However, it is common practice in countries where paramilitary groups roam freely to kidnap their victims at their homes and steal something to show that robbery could be involved.

Once again we must thank the Finnish media for bringing these types of crimes to light. It shows that sensible Finns will not accept this type of behavior in their country.

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Uhri kaadettiin maahan, ja häntä lyötiin ja potkittiin.  Afrikkalaissyntyinen 40-vuotias mies ryöstettiin Ristinummella Vaasassa lauantaina klo 15 jälkeen. Miehen luokse oli tullut 5-6 suomalaista noin 20-25-vuotiasta miestä ja ryhtynyt nimittelemään tätä muun muassa neekeriksi. 

Read whole story.

Nelonen: Hakkaraisten tulipalojen koettelema saha hoipertelee konkurssin partaalla

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Comment: This time Perussuomalaiset (PS) party MP Teuvo Hakkarainen is not being carried out drunk by two doormen from a bar or for his racist gaffes, well almost. At the end of the video clip he does make an attempt to  do his infamous imitation of a Muslim Minaret call to prayer.

This time it was his family’s sawmill business that is on life support.

One of the scoops that the Nelonen TV newsclip revealed was that Hakkarainen’s family business has received during the last decade 835,808 euros in subsidies, of which 284,292 euros came from the EU. On his personal website, some of the promises he vows to make is to get Finland out of the European Union.

Hakkarainen’s sawmill was reported previously of having got half a million euros in subsidies from the EU.

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Perussuomalaisten kansanedustajan Teuvo Hakkaraisen perheyritys on rämpinyt vakavissa talousvaikeuksissa kymmenen vuoden ajan. Lähes konkurssikypsälle sahalle on pumpattu yhteiskunnan tukia vuosikymmenen aikana yli 800 000 euroa.

Read whole story.

SPIEGEL Interview with Economics Minister Rösler: “I Used to Dream I Was a Vietnamese Prince”

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Comment: Below is a very interesting interview with Vietnamese-born German Economics Minister Philipp Rösler on Spiegel Online. Rösler was brought up in a German family when he was nine months old. Rösler is for many immigrants and Germans of immigrant descent a role model.

The economic minister also questions indirectly Angela Merkel’s claim in October that multiculturalism has failed.  Spiegel asked him if Germany’s policies towards immigrants have been too indulgent with those who refuse to integrate. “My belief is that our policies have offered too little, in terms of language courses for example,” he said. “Punishment shouldn’t be our first response.”

Another interesting point Rösler made was on Muslims living in Germany. “There are around 4 million Muslims in the country and they to help to shape it, so yes, it’s also correct to say that Islam belongs in Germany.”

He had good advice for those that ridicule immigrants and minorities.  “How is someone supposed to become part of society when he or she is told from the beginning, “You’re not really a part of us?”

In my opinion, the last statement, “You’re not really a part of us,” is what exposes the true nature of the anti-immigration beast of parties like the Perussuomalaiset. 

How are people supposed to integrate and embrace our culture if these groups are constantly building walls around Finland?

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German Economics Minister Philipp Rösler, who was adopted into a German family from Vietnam at a young age, insists that he never had problems because of his background. He spoke with SPIEGEL about integration, discrimination and what it means to be German.

Read whole story.