Category: Enrique

Finland’s Tahrir Square is located on Facebook

Posted on by Migrant Tales

How deep in denial is Finland concerning the Perussuomalaiset (PS) and the values they represent? It’s pretty clear that the shameful racist gaffes of PS MP Teuvo Hakkarainen and the party’s public statement on Thursday condemning racism are fuelling Finland’s Tahrir Square on social media sites like Facebook.

Just like what ignited the Arab street to rise up against their despotic rulers, we are seeing in Finland candid outrage to social ills like racism that have been accepted in silence for so long but never seriously challenged.

The PS’ public statement denouncing all forms of racism is a good example of how Timo Soini’s party is emboldening Finns to take action in our own Tahrir Square. We saw it gain strength right after the April 17 election when about 1,000 people demonstrated against the PS in front of parliament.

Apart from PS MP Hakkarainen, whose racist gaffes have made Finland a worse place to live for minorities like immigrants, the public statement by the PS denouncing all forms of racism is a good example of their cat-and-mouse game stance on racism.

But what else could be expected from a party that mixes too often facts with populism and hearsay? The statement against racism by the PS is another unfortunate example: We agree to be against all forms of racism and discrimination as long as we destroy minority rights by doing away with so-called positive discrimination.

Some professors like Kaarlo Tuomi, Tuomas Ojanen and Veli-Pekka Viljanen warned in Saturday’s Helsingin Sanomat that the PS statement was “terrible” and “very problematic” because it is in conflict with our Constitution. Instead of promoting equality it would undermine it fatally.

The PS have crossed once again another line but have revealed to us their double-talk and how they plan to further their jumbled political agenda for this country.

Since leading political parties like Kokoomus and the Social Democrats underestimated the PS and did not consider their challenge a menace to our society on matters like racism, it is then the job of common people to take action, which they have started on different social media sites.

The continued willingness of different political leaders to continue to see Soini as a “moderate” and “nice guy” is synonymous with burying one’s head in the sand. They should look at the big picture: The PS has 39 MPs in parliament that would be ready to water down minority rights for their brand of populist nationalism.

Recent attacks reported in the media of immigrants by thugs and the PS’ wishy-washy stand on racism ensure that Finland’s Tahrir Square will continue to gain strength.

HS: Maahanmuuttajakin voi rakastaa Suomea

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Comment: Here is a moving letter to the editor published in Helsingin Sanomat by  Somali-born Finn, Wali Hashi, who tells about his appreciation and love for his second homeland, Finland.  Even if some people are trying to destroy this bond in parliament, there is nothing that can erase memories and love for your home. Hashi’s story is that of many tens of thousands multicultural Finns that live in this country today.

If I had the opportunity to live 50-80 years more and had to look back on this period and the last century, I’d notice that there were two Finlands: one that was predominately white in the twentieth century and a new one that is now culturally diverse. I do not, however, have to live that long to see that day because it will happen no matter how many Perussuomalaiset MPs get elected to parliament. 

Hashi agrees and states rightly at the end of the letter:”The Finnish flag is no longer the property of the white (Finns), but to all those that love and respect Finland.”

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Herjaaminen ei saanut minua vihaamaan maata, joka on antanut kaiken, mistä olen aina haaveillut: rauhaa, ruokaa, lääkkeitä ja asunnon.

Ruotsissa asuva pikkuveljeni soitti 16. toukokuuta kello 0.20. Ennen kuin hän onnitteli minua jääkiekon maailmanmestaruudesta, hän kysyi, mikä äänessäni on vikana ja onko minulla kenties flunssa. Vastasin, ettei minulla ole flunssaa vaan olin laulanut joka maalin jälkeen “ihanaa, Leijonat, ihanaa”. Se ei kuulostanut kivalta veljeni korviin, sillä hän on henkeen ja vereen Tre Kronor -joukkueen kannattaja.

Samaan aikaan nuori juopunut suomalaismies tuli sanomaan minulle, että minun on ihan turha pitää Suomen paitaa päällä, koska olen somali ja sellaisena aina pysyn.

Puhuin nuoren miehen kanssa siitä, miksi hän on suomalaisempi kun minä. Pitkän keskustelun jälkeen me molemmat huomasimme, että ainoa asia, joka meidän suomalaisuuttamme erottaa, on se, että hän on valkoinen ja syö makkaraa ja juo kaljaa, mitä minä taas en harrasta. Kaikki muut asiat, jotka hän määritteli suomalaisuudeksi, olivat minunkin ajattelumaailmassani. Mies on 21-vuotias, ja minä olen asunut Suomessa 22 vuotta. Se oli hänelle pieni herätys.

Kun sota syttyi Somaliassa, nuorten miesten kohtalona oli sotia joko hallituksen tai kapinallisten joukoissa. Sen välttääkseen vanhemmat halusivat lähettää poikansa turvaan maasta. Enoni lykkäsi käteeni rahaa, passin ja lipun ja sanoi, että mene nyt jonnekin.

Tulin nuorena poikana pakolaisena Suomeen. Muistan, että oli toukokuu ja katsoin ulos Venäjältä Helsinkiin saapuvan junan ikkunasta. Oli kauniin vihreää, ja maa oli siisti. Ensimmäinen reaktioni oli: “Vau, mikä maa!”

Sitten alkoi mustan miehen arki. Sain kuulla usein rasistisia huuteluja. Melkein joka viikonloppu ihmiset tulivat haastamaan riitaa, vaikka yritin välttää sellaisia tilanteita viimeiseen asti. Ensimmäiset oppimani suomenkieliset sanat olivat “neekeri”, “saatana”, “kusipää” ja niin edelleen.

Herjaaminen ei kuitenkaan saanut minua vihaamaan maata, joka on antanut kaiken, mistä olen aina haaveillut: rauhaa, ruokaa, lääkkeitä ja asunnon. Somaliassa olin ollut katulapsi. Aloitin työt kengänkiillottajana yhdeksänvuotiaana. Kun sain rahaa, lähetin yksinhuoltajaäidilleni maissia ja sokeria. Jouduin yhdeksänvuotiaasta asti pitämään huolta siitä, että äitini ja sisarukseni saisivat ruokaa.

Yksi niistä lapsista, joista pidin huolta, on pikkuveljeni Mohamed, jonka kohtalo vei Ruotsiin. Hän on siis Ruotsin kansalainen, ja olemme aina eri mieltä siitä, kumpi maa on parempi, Suomi vai Ruotsi. Kinastelu alkoi vuonna 1995, kun Suomi löi Ruotsin jääkiekon MM-finaalissa. Vuoden 2003 ottelun jälkeen veljeni taas muistutti aina siitä, kuinka Mats Sundin oli tehnyt viimeisellä minuutilla maalin.

Yksi asia, josta olemme veljeni kanssa samaa mieltä, on se, että me molemmat rakastamme ja kunnioitamme maita, jotka ovat ottaneet meidät vastaan.

Se, että yhdestä perheestä voi tulla eri maiden kansalaisia, kertoo tragediasta, joka on kohdannut entistä kotimaatani Somaliaa. Somalialaiset ovat lähteneet ympäri maailmaa, ja uusi sukupolvi on saanut uudet identiteetit, kun he ovat ruotsalaisia, suomalaisia, tanskalaisia, norjalaisia, yhdysvaltalaisia ja niin edelleen. Yhdestä Afrikan yhtenäisimpinä pidetyistä yhteiskunnista on tullut eri kulttuurien jakama joukko ihmisiä. Kansasta tai valtiosta voi tuskin enää puhua.

Suomen valtaväestön kasvu on nykyään kaksi prosenttia ja meidän maahanmuuttajien kahdeksan prosenttia. Tulevaisuudessa ei siis enää ihmetellä, kun värilliset maahanmuuttajat heiluttavat Suomen lippua ja ovat ylpeitä suomalaisuudestaan.  Suomen lippu ei ole vain valkoihoisille, vaan niille, jotka rakastavat ja kunnioittavat Suomea.

Wali Hashi, toimittaja

Turku

HS: Rasismia ei torjuta etuja purkamalla

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Comment: Here is a good Helsingin Sanomat editorial on the public statement made Thursday by the Perussuomalaiset (PS) against all forms of racism.

The inclusion of so-called positive discrimination, or lowering the bar for some minorities, in the PS statement was criticized by the editorial.

If the PS had their way, their recipe for social equality, even for minorities such as the Roma, would be to scale back positive discrimination. HS disagrees with this position.

Moreover, one could ask if eliminating positive discrimination would be an effective way of undermining or fueling greater racism in society?

In a culturally diverse society it is important that we have the right mix of ethnicities and sex in any job. The other side of the coin is that if  minorities are not sufficiently represented in certain fields like the police force, it could lead to perceptions of institutional racism and sexism. The end result? Lack of credibility.

Leveling out the playing field for all people, even those that aren’t as fortunate enough to compete equally with other groups, is a noble way of promoting equality by leveling the playing field.

The other side of that policy could be that all forms of discrimination are wrong, even positive. This is the argument that the PS has chosen to take.

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Perussuomalaisten eduskuntaryhmä ilmoitti keskiviikkoiltana julkilausumalla tuomitsevansa kaikenlaisen rasismin, syrjinnän ja väkivallan.  Perussuomalaisilta oli vaadittu kannanottoa siksi, että yksi puolueen kansanedustajista on toistuvasti käyttänyt maahanmuuttajista ilmauksia, jotka luokitellaan rasistisiksi. Eduskuntaryhmä antoi samalla edustajalleen huomautuksen.

Read whole story.

Racist propaganda during Finland’s Winter War (1939-40)

Posted on by Migrant Tales

By Enrique Tessieri

Consequently, racial prejudice and discrimination are nonexistent (in Finland).                                                                                                          

Heikki Waris, An introduction to Finnish Society (1965), p. 2

Finland was also denying in the 1960s that racism did not exist because there weren’t any foreigners living in the country. Racism has, however, been part of our culture for a very long time: Kongo shoe polish, Neekeripusu (n-word kiss) chocolate,  the Fazer licorice Gollywog are some examples of how this social ill had implanted itself in the national culture.

If Waris and other researchers wanted to find out if racism existed in our culture, all they’d have to do was study Finns that emigrated to Africa, North and South America. I once asked a second-generation Finn in Argentina how many races there existed in the world. “There are three,” he said. “White, black and pitch-black.”

We can even see racism prevalent in a Suomen Kuvalehti Easter 1940 issue: “In the East Indies Islands there appears a strange form of sudden mental disorientation that is called ‘running amok,’ or being taken over by horror and then reacting in a mad fashion. Even while running away from battle with a dagger in hand, the inflicted person rushes here and there striking anyone dead (that gets in his way).”

And then on the next page of the story is a picture of two Finnish solider representing the “civilized” world who know how to keep calm in the face of shocking situations. “Can somebody imagine for example that these Finnish soldiers would “run amok?” the caption reads.

The gist of the story by PhD Jan Gästrin, headlined “Spiritual discipline,” is that blacks are uncivilized and Finns civilized. In battle Finnish soldiers don’t “run amok” but can withstand the most rigorous tests of war: rats, lice, poisoned air etc.

The first page of a Suomen Kuvalehti article published in 1940 that attempted to show how the European white man was superior to blacks.

Note: The author apologizes for the racist content of the Suomen Kuvalehti article and wants to make clear that he does not play down the valiant fight the Finns put up against the former Soviet Union in the Winter War.

HS: True Finns renounce racism, discrimination, and favouritism

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Comment: I got acquainted with the public statement made against all forms of racism by the Persussuomalaiset (PS) through PS MP James Hirvisaari’s blog. For those who do not know who Hirvisaari is, he’s probably the most eccentric in his attacks of immigrants, especially Muslims. But after he got elected he appears to have turned into Dr. Jekyll from his pre-election Mr Hyde-mode.

Another question mark of the PS’ statement is that it was drafted by Hirvisaari’s political soul mate, Jussi Halla-aho.

Kristiina Kouros, the secretary general of the Finnish League for Human Rights, considered the PS  statement awkwardly drafted and not clear because it differs from the UN and EU Declaration of Human Rights, where there is no mention of the discrimination of the majority population by the minority.  “It’s very rare that a minority (group) can exclude the majority by discrimination,” said Kouros in Iltalehti. “Minorities do not have that type of power.”

Even though it is a good matter that a party like the PS is speaking out against all forms of racism and violence, how seriously do they take such a statement especially when it was drafted after PS MP Teuvo Hakkarainen went on another of his outbursts against blacks this week on Jämsä Seutu?

What do you think?

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True Finns MP Teuvo Hakkarainen was chided by his Parliamentary group on Wednesday for recent racist comments. The group also made public a statement condemning all types of racism, discrimination, and violence.

Read whole story.

If you want to read a strong critique of the PS’ statement against racism visit Ossi Mäntylahti’s blog (in Finnish).  He is a member of the Kokoomus party.

Denying racism is rejecting Finland’s cultural diversity

Posted on by Migrant Tales

By Enrique Tessieri

When one looks at some topical issues being debated in Finland, like the role of cultural diversity and tries to understand them, it is essential to dig deeper behind words. What do the most anti-immigration voices of the Perussuomalaiset (PS) say when they are against multiculturalism?

Anyone who has attempted to understand what multiculturalism is knows that it isn’t an easy concept to grasp. If we are speaking of the Canadian social policy that came about in the 1980s, there are only three countries in the world (Canada, Britain and Australia) that are officially multicultural, according to researcher Peter Kivisto.

Multiculturalism as a social policy works differently in all three of the above-mentioned countries. There is no same-size-fits-all when it comes to multiculturalism as a social policy.

What do anti-immigration groups like the PS tell us when they express their loathing for multiculturalism? Is it a last-ditch attempt to keep Finland white and hinder the development or, worse, deny our cultural diversity as a society?

What do anti-immigration groups like Suomen Sisu and PS MP Jussi Halla-aho reveal to us when state that they are against multiculturalism and find some basis for their arguments in the writings of  Alfred Rosenberg, David Duke and Michael Levin?

All of these persons have one matter in common: they are against cultural diversity, or are the antithesis of multiculturalism. Rosenberg, a Nazi war criminal who went to the gallows after the Nuremberg trials, believed that the ”Aryan race” would find greatness after it kicked out the Jews from Germany.

David Duke is a former Klu Klux Klan leader who believes whites should live separated from blacks. Levin is another controversial figure who sees whites at the top and blacks at the bottom of the ethnic totem pole.

When anti-immigration representatives in Finland tell us that they are only against certain groups moving to this country, they are stating us the same thing: we loathe people who strengthen cultural diversity.

The present debate taking place in Finland goes much deeper than what meets the eye because it is about the inevitable future of our society. One group, like some in the PS, are denying it by living in a Finland of the past century, while others have already accepted it.

What, then, is a person telling us when he claims there is no racism in Finland?

It’s the same side of the sinister coin: denial that Finland is already culturally diverse.

HS: Ilta-Sanomat: Soini ottaa Hakkaraisen taas puhutteluun

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Comment: Perussuomalaiset MP Teuvo Hakkarainen, who became known nationally and internationally for his racist gaffes, has done it again. PS chairman Timo Soini was reported by tabloid Ilta-Sanomat to “be enraged” upon reading about Hakkarainen’s latest racist slurs in Jämsän Seutu.

The MP from Viitasaari was quoted as saying in the Central Finland local paper that “niggers” should be sent to work in the forests because the market squares in Helsinki are crowded with these type of people.

Black and gay Green MP, Jani Toivola, was naturally one of many Finns who was taken aback by Hakkarainen’s comments, according to MTV3.

“I belong to the same group (that Hakkarainen is referring to) and I have heard these types of words all my life,” said Toivola. “In my opinion it’s strange that not even grown-ups can shake off such words from their language.”

MPs like Hakkarainen have become a liability to the PS because they erode credibility from the party. For one, it has kept far-right Suomen Sisu MPs like Jussi Halla-aho from making provocative statements against immigrants.

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Perussuomalaisten puheenjohtaja Timo Soini joutuu taas puuttumaan kansanedustaja Teuvo Hakkaraisen (p) ulkomaalaispuheisiin, kertoo Ilta-Sanomat.

Read whole story.

Finland has been challenged by an anti-EU, anti-immigration and anti-Islam party

Posted on by Migrant Tales

If I were the head of Finland’s secret police, Supo, I would have sent a long time ago my best agents to investigate whether there is a connection and well-orchestrated plan by far-right groups in Europe and Suomen Sisu to the Perussuomalaiset’s (PS) election victory in April.

If  Supo decided to leave many stones unturned on this front or keep such information to itself, I would as head of a large Finnish daily send my best investigative reporters to find the tensions and links between Timo Soini’s SMP wing of PS and the MPs that belong to the Suomen Sisu association.

Here are some of the matters I’d ask my reporters to investigate: (1) Is there a greater-than-known link between Suomen Sisu/PS and other right-wing populist parties in Europe like the Danish People’s Party (DPP)? What level of consultancy work have the DPP given to Suomen Sisu/PS to spread more effectively the Islamophobic message in Finland? (2) Is one of the attack strategies of such a sinister plan overwhelming the net with Islamophobist websites like Hommaforum, which have close links to Suomen Sisu?

Apart from Migrant Tales, groups like Hommaforum have inhibited researchers, common Finns and bloggers to speak out against their xenophobic and nationalist message. Our blog was attacked by over 800 Hommaforum supporters in September 2008.

As head of Supo or of a major daily, I would look at the reaction of the politicians and society towards rising xenophobia in Finland. Did politicians cave in to the Islamophobia and reacted too late and with too little firepower? Or did the message of people like PS MP Jussi Halla-aho appeal and serve the interests of some like Kokoomus and the Social Democratic Party?

The biggest loser of the election was the Center Party. That party under the leadership of former Prime Minister Mari Kiviniemi lost the most votes due to her pro-EU and outspoken stance against the PS.

Sometimes you need to cash in defeat in order to become stronger in the future. President Barak Obama is a good example by being one of the few senators that opposed the US invasion of Iraq in 2003. Thanks to his leadership, he was able to reap lots of advantages against his Republican rival John McCain in the 2008 presidential election.

Nothing happens by chance never mind getting 19.1% of the votes from 4.05% four years earlier. Certainly outside factors like the global financial meltdown of September 2008 and the EU bailouts of Greece, Ireland and Portugal played crucial roles that benefited the PS. Even so, living in denial and playing down such a threat and lack of leadership by political parties probaby played an even bigger role in boosting the PS.

Despite the good fortunes of the Soini’s party, there is one lesson that can be learned: If you don’t stand up to right-wing populism it will end up challenging your power base. Why? Because it is a message of hatred that divides our societies and impoverishes us in the end economically and socially.

That is why we need today more than ever leadership concerning the menace that has challenged our society with its anti-EU, anti-immigration and anti-Islam message.

Jealous and spiteful behavior towards immigrants in Finland

Posted on by Migrant Tales

By Enrique Tessieri

The jealous and spiteful behavior of some Finns and especially politicians belonging to the Perussuomalaiset (PS) is nothing new.  Even after Finland ceded for the second time Karelia in 1944 to the former Soviet Union, some Finns were very hostile and spiteful of the over 400,000 Karelian refugees that were relocated here.

After the war, some Finns not only blamed the Karelians for all the hardship the country endured during those difficult years, but were especially angered by the money the government gave them to buy land and start life anew.

A typical gripe of the anti-immigration groups in Finland is pretty much the same. They blame immigrants and refugees for getting preferential treatment and are especially angered because they get social welfare.

An interesting editorial in Kajaani-based Kainuun Sanomat states two factors propelled the PS vote in April: anti-EU sentiment, which is understandable in light of the bailouts, and immigration, which is incomprehensible.

A quote that caught my eye a while back on Twitter was by @sabergato. He put the anti-immigration sentiment in Finland in perspective from the Civil Rights era in the US:  “The most racist, rural, uneducated southern whites were very jealous & spiteful of Blacks.”

Here is a good example (in Finnish) of how the PS is fuelling the same type of jealousy and spite towards immigrants and refugees in Rovaniemi.

Unless major political parties like Kokoomus and Social Democrats consider Teuvo Hakkarainen’s Viitsaari in Central Finland a key battleground for votes, Finland needs today more than ever leadership on the anti-racist front.

Cultural diversity is guaranteed in our constitution and it is the obligation of all parties, including the PS, to defend minorities.

Let’s not make a mockery of our values and let Finland go on a free-for-all Internet lynching mode against minorities.

Finland’s Hommaforum fuels much of the anti-immigration sentiment on the net

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Enrique Tessieri

On Friday’s Pressiklubi hosted by Ruben Stiller there was an interesting talk on the rise of racism in Finland. Columnist Kaarina Hazard and Saska Saarikoski, the head of Helsingin Sanomat’s culture section, threw some hard questions at Matias Turkkila, head of Homma ry and PS MP Jussi Halla-aho’s campaign manager. 

When looking at the rerun, see how Turkkila looks and feels uncomfortable as he is slouches in the seat throughout the show. Even his hand movements express edginess.

Some consider Homma ry a place where stereotypes and suspicion of immigrants and refugees have a home.  For me it is like a sprinkler that waters much of the racism we find on different chat and websites in Finland.

Some of the posts on Migrant Tales have been debated, or discected,  on Hommaforum.

Scripta, Halla-aho’s blog like Hommaforum, operate as an army of faithful bloggers that would attack other sites if they did not like what they were reading.  One of of these was Migrant Tales’ in September 2008, which got over 800 hits from Scripta.

Turkkila claimed on the show that Homma ry represents 60% of the Finns’ opinion of immigration and immigrants.

While Turkkila is stretching it quite a bit with such a claim, the website is the humble servant of the hostile message to immigrants and refugees of politicians like Halla-aho.

One of the matters that surprised me most on the talk show was his explanation why Homma ry was born. According to Turkkila, the media always exaggerated and glorified immigrant but never bothered to report on the negative matters.

I have lived in Finland on and off for over thirty years and there has been very little of what Turkkila states of the Finnish media. If there have been human-interest stories on immigrants it has been more on what a great country Finland is to live in.  Rarely have they treated seriously the social problems and exclusion that some immigrants may suffer in this country.

If immigrants were “glorified” as Turkkila wants us to believe, why are so few taking part in the ongoing immigration debate in this country?

One of the biggest problems with websites like Hommaforum is that most of those giving their opinions of immigrants are Finns. It’s like a groups of only male chauvinists giving their unchallenged views on women.