Category: Enrique

Pirkko Mattila is the clear line that now separates Timo Soini and Suomen Sisu

Posted on by Migrant Tales

The decision by the Perussuomalaiset (PS) parliamentary group to choose Pirkko Mattila to be the new chairwoman of the administration committee of parliament is welcome news. Considering that her challengers, Juho Eerola and Ismo Soukola, lost by wide margins bolsters PS chairman Timo Soini’s influence in the party.

It shows as well that an ever-growing number of PS MPs aren’t happy with the anti-immigration Suomen Sisu wing led by MP Jussi Halla-aho, who was forced to resign last week as chairman of the administration committee.

If we look at the latest polls, it’s clear that an ever-growing number of Finns are turning their backs on the PS due to the numerous scandals that have rocked the party and its failure to get anything done in the opposition.

You cannot spread prejudice and racism about immigrants and visible minorities indefinitely and get away with it. Even if anti-immigration sentiment has been a key factor in turning the PS into one of Finland’s largest parties, it can be a double-edged sword and put Soini between a rock and a hard place.

If the PS is challenged to address Finland’s problems, Halla-aho and his Suomen Sisu followers are even more in the dark about what to do about our ever-growing culturally diverse society. They have no other political purpose other than whine and slow as much as possible society’s acceptance of people of different backgrounds.

Anti-immigration rhetoric is like the PS: It is a wonderful political punching bag that you use to let out steam but that’s all.

It’s a good matter that the PS chose Mattila over Eerola to chair the administration committee. Even so, it still has a long way to go before it can be accepted as a “normal” mainstream party by Finns.

For immigrants and visible minorities, this acceptance may take an eternity.

 

Pro-Soini Pirkko Mattila to chair administration committee of parliament

Posted on by Migrant Tales

The Perussuomalaiset (PS) party’s parliamentary group chose Tuesday Pirkko Mattila to be the new chairwoman of the administration committee after PS MP Jussi Halla-aho was forced to resign last week.  The PS MP from the northern Finnish town of Muhos got 25 votes, clearly beating challengers Juho Eerola and Ismo Soukola, who got 5 votes apiece, according to Helsingin Sanomat. 

Political observers see Mattila’s appointment as a clear defeat for Halla-aho’s anti-immigration Suomen Sisu faction. Halla-aho had handpicked Eerola to be his successor.

The former chairman will continue to be a member of the committee.

PS MP Pirkko Mattila.

Mattila’s victory reveals as well that the PS is losing patience with its anti-immigration wing, which has received widespread negative coverage by the media and caused the party’s poll ratings to plummet.

The former chairman of the administration committee was forced to resign last week after he was fined by the Finnish Supreme Court fined for defaming a religion and for inciting ethnic hatred.

The administration committee oversees immigration policy.

 

 

 

 

Finnish Supreme Court upholds hate speech conviction against Hirvisaari

Posted on by Migrant Tales

The Supreme Court announced Monday that it will not grant Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP James Hirvisaari permission to appeal a conviction for hate speech handed down in December by the Kouvola Court of Appeal, reports Helsingin Sanomat. 

Last week, the PS suffered another blow when its MP Jussi Halla-aho was forced to resign as chairman of the administration committee after the Supreme Court had fined him for defaming a religion and for inciting ethnic hatred.

The PS chairman Timo Soini said in December that he would decide if Hirvisaari could continue being a member of the party after a higher court had decided to take the PS MP’s appeal or reject it.

Soini said in 2009 that any person would get sacked from the party if that person were charged for a racist crime. He claimed soon after last year’s election that there wasn’t one racist among the PS and that if Halla-aho got  criminally charged he’d get sacked from the party.

Writes YLE in English:  “Last December Hirvisaari was sentenced to a fine when the Kouvola Appeal Court reversed a decision of the Päijät-Hame district court, which found him not guilty of the charge.

Hirvisaari was sentenced for a blog article about immigration in the Uusi Suomi (New Finland) online paper back in February 2010.”

 

 

The wrong Finnish identity for all the wrong reasons

Posted on by Migrant Tales

In many respects, Finland is a fortunate country when it comes to a social construct like national identity. We are still a young nation actively searching for our roots. We have learned many things about ourselves as a society thanks to the rise of an anti-immigration party like the Perussuomalaiset (PS).

One of the matters that the PS has done is encourage some Finns to test the waters of their worst prejudices. Is there anything good about this?

Like this Saami woman in the picture, we Finns are from many places and come from diverse backgrounds.  Source: New York Public Library. 

Paradoxically, the PS has brought out more inclusive and positive values about ourselves than ever before thanks to its anti-immigration, anti-EU and anti-outside-world views.  While this may be true, social-media platforms like Hommaforum and associations like Suomalaisuuden liitto (Association of Finnish Culture and Identity) continue promoting the opposite.

As the municipal elections near in October, it’s clear that embattled PS chairman Timo Soini still pins his hopes on the anti-immigration and anti-cultural diversity message.  Matias Turkkila, Hommaforum editor, was named in May editor-in-chief of the PS’ newspaper and web page.

Turkkila was PS MP Jussi Halla-aho’s campaign manager. If there is any person that has spread the PS’ anti-immigration and especially anti-Islam message, it is Turkkila.

The Finnish Alliance,  chaired by PS EuroMP Sampo Terho, is another example of how the PS and anti-immigration groups have hijacked our national symbols and dressed up history to suit their exclusive views of Finnish culture.

One of the aims of the Finnish Alliance is to undermine the role of the Swedish-speaking minority by lobbying against mandatory Swedish-language lessons at schools.

The aim of the PS, Hommaforum and Finnish Alliance  is to hinder and place obstacles on the growth of our culturally diverse society and retard acceptance. They have no solutions except promoting deep divisions in our society. There is no strategy except to make life as hard as possible for immigrants and visible minorities.

Considering that over 1.2 million Finns emigrated from this country between 1860 and 1999, it is  incredible how some in this country continue to promote a race-and-blood view of our Finnish identity.

Our national identity is rich and diverse. Accepting this fact could be one of our most exciting goals in the new century.

 

 

The crux of European racism: Too little inclusion, too much race and blood

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Much of the way Europeans perceive themselves as a group today is still deeply embedded in racism. The fact that we haven’t yet even started to confront the legacy of colonialism, which fuels our ”us” and ”them” view of the world, reveals a disturbing fact: There’s still too little inclusion and acceptance in this part of the world. 

Sadder still is the fact that too few of us openly promote more inclusion and acceptance in our society. How many times have you heard your local politician use terms like “mutual acceptance” and “respect” when speaking of immigrants and visible minorities?

Our race-and- blood view of ourselves and “others” explains why some Europeans still have difficulty overcoming the “us vs. them” mindset.

It would be naive, even foolhardy, to claim that the root of European racism does not date back to the nineteenth century, when we were a colonial power.

Racist views of other groups, especially blacks, is still predominant. The drawing is from the Golden Book Encyclopedia. The 1959 edition sold over 60 million volumes. 

While nineteenth century evolutionism played a crucial role in justifying the exploitation of Africans, Asians and other regions, it was a very effective excuse to justify our domination of other groups. These same arguments are still used today by different groups to justify our racist views.

Julian Abagond asks in a blog entry whether blacks would have raided, pillaged and enslaved so many people if they had had guns and ocean-going ships before whites.

He writes: “Technology advances and spreads unevenly. It is common for one region to have a technological edge over another – yet it is rare for it to lead to genocide, even when the edge is military.”

While Europe’s new inhabitants want to adapt and see their living standards rise in their new homeland, they too are part of the “us-vs.-them” problem. Some immigrants come from countries and societies that are just as racist as Europe.

While the latter may be true, everyone can learn new rules and values in our new or old homelands that promote a well-functioning society.  We should learn that racism and social exclusion are our biggest threats.

European Uncle Toms are as much of a danger to our ever-growing culturally diverse society as far-right groups. They are hindering the creation of a more-inclusive and culturally diverse Europe that can live side by side in harmony and reap synergies.

Writes Migrant Tales:  “The Finnish Uncle Tom is a pretty opportunistic person. He or she believes that the only way to escape discrimination is by accepting those values that promote social exclusion of other groups like immigrants.”

In order to avoid the terrible wars that once ravaged this part of the world, we must strive to create and teach present and future European generations the crucial role that mutual acceptance and respect play in inclusion.

Racism  is the shovel we Europeans use to dig our common grave.

We need more social inclusion in Europe to build a better society tomorrow.

 

 

The scars of ethnic profiling

Posted on by Migrant Tales

How serious is ethnic profiling in Finland? Denials that it doesn’t occur at all by the police suggest that it may be a much wider problem than believed. The Ombudsman for Minorities has received a number of complaints from immigrants and visible minorities claiming to be victims of ethnic profiling. 

Statements in April by Christian Democrat (KD) interior minister, Päivi Räsänen, haven’t helped matters either. She said that spot checks by the police of foreigners were fine since it was an effective way to clamp down on undocumented immigrants.

Contrary to the New York Police Department (NYPD), the Finnish police does not compile statistics of  how many Finns and foreigners are stopped and frisked.  In 2011, the NYPD stopped and frisked people 685,724 times. Eighty-seven percent of them were either blacks or Latinos, according to Racism Review, citing the New York Civil Liberties Union.

The New York Times published an opinion piece on ethnic profiling called “The Scars of Stop-and-Frisk.” In the piece, there is a video clip documenting the “scars” a young black man has received from ethnic profiling.

Rainer Hiltunen, the Ombudsman for Minorities’ head of office,  said that there are two things one can do if you believe you’ve been stopped unfairly by the police. You can ask the police for a written explanation stating why you were stopped or report the case directly to the Ombudsman for Minorities.

Below is one case of ethnic profiling in Finland that was never reported to the police and took place in 2007-08. The victim was a Somali man in his mid-twenties.

I had just had coffee with a friend and we went to the [Helsinki] Railway Station to catch the last train home. It was about 11 pm.  As we waited, my friend noticed 4-5 muscular-skinhead-looking-white Finns walking towards us. We decided to split up and run in opposite directions. The men ran after my friend. I ran to VR [Finnish Railways] security guards’ office. I was allowed in after I banged on the door.  I told them that we were being chased by 4-5 men. I was asked to take a seat. 

The VR security guards didn’t do anything when I told them that the men who were chasing us were standing right outside the door. It looked as if they knew each other. To my surprise, the guards started to insult and call me the n-word and asked me why I was so ugly. The police came  about 30 minutes later. They were very angry at me and I was arrested. I asked why they were arresting me if I was the victim.  

I was taken to the police station and spent a night in a prison cell. 

The victim said that ever since this incident he has lost belief in the police.

Halla-aho scandal in Finland: Leadership is now needed more than ever

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Finland’s political parties,  including the Perussuomalaiset (PS), have a golden opportunity to show leadership and make a clear break from Jussi Halla-aho and his Suomen Sisu association followers. We’ll be back, however, to square one if Halla-aho’s heir-apparent, Juho Eerola, becomes the new chairman of the administration committee of parliament. 

Suomen Sisu is an extremist association that discourages Finns from marrying foreigners, especially those with African or Muslim backgrounds.

Suomen Sisu discourages Finns from marrying foreigners. Source: Vallan vahtikoira.

What value can an anti-immigration politician like MP Eerola bring to the administration committee, which sets, among other matters, immigration policy?

Eerola claims that he has enough experience to be the chairman of such an important committee because he has worked at a refugee center in Kotka.  The PS MP is a practical nurse by profession who has done a number of odd jobs to survive before he was elected to parliament last year.

Apart from his unimpressive qualifications and experience to chair the administration committee, one of the matters that should set alarm bells ringing are Eerola’s extremist political views. These are well-known. He once wrote that he liked Benito Mussolini’s economic system because there was full employment.

His views of a dictator like Mussolini and the corporatist state that maintained him in power reveals more ignorance than anything else. How much employment was there in Italy after Mussolini’s policies and political world view brought so much devastation and suffering to the country?

Eerola wasn’t too concerned last year when his aide, Ulla Pyysalo, was found on a membership list of the Suomen Kansalinen Vastarinta, a neo-Nazi association.

There has been too much complacency by political parties to a small extremist group within the PS led by Halla-aho. Finland and its political parties have today the opportunity to offer leadership by giving a clear thumbs down to Eerola and begin the process of isolating Halla-aho and his cronies.

There is a clear message in our actions: Finland will not tolerate people who want to exclude others because of their ethnic background.


 

 

 

Halla-aho wants Juho Eerola to be his successor

Posted on by Migrant Tales

The Perussuomalaiset (PS) party never ceases to surprise us. Former administration committee chairman MP Jussi Halla-aho said he wants Juho Eerola to be his successor. The MP, who is second vice president of the PS, is Halla-aho’s close ideological ally and a member of the far-right Suomen Sisu association.

Appointing Eerola as the new chairman of the administration committee would be another blow to its credibility.

Another important question is if Eerola is qualified to chair the administration committee. He is a practical nurse who has worked at a refugee center in his home town of Kotka.

Juho Eerola

Eerola’s far-right and anti-immigration views are well-known. He once wrote in a blog entry that he liked Italian fascist Benito Mussolini’s economic system because there was full employment.

The PS MP does not seem to care too much if his aide, Ulla Pyysalo, wanted to join a neo-Nazi associaiton, Suomen Kansalinen Vastarinta (SKV).

SKV is a violent association that openly supports national-socialist values. This sticker claims that multiculturalism is hazardous to your children and grandchildren.

While some PS members demanded that Pyysalo should resign from the party, Eerola was against sacking his aide. Pyysalo said, however, she’d resign if she found a new job by the end of the year, which she didn’t.

Pyysalo published in July homophobic jokes on Facebook about Green Party MP Jani Toivola.

Writes Migrant Tales in January: “The Pyysalo affair demonstrates beyond any doubt that it is perfectly fine to be a PS member and belong to a neo-Nazi association like SKV as long as you were drunk while applying for membership or didn’t quite know what you were doing but thought it was a patriotic act.”

Jussi Halla-aho resigns as chairman of the administration committee

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP Jussi Halla-aho announced that he will resign as chairman of the administration committee, according to Helsingin Sanomat in English.  The decision comes after the Supreme Court charged Halla-aho on Friday for defaming a religion and inciting ethnic hatred.

A new chairman will be chosen by the committee on Tuesday.

Halla-aho published a statement at 1:30pm that he will bow out as chairman of the administration committee. The statement was published shortly after a commission, made up of all the parliamentary party leaders, voted unanimously that Halla-aho should step down as chairman of the administration committee.

PS parliamentary leader Pirkko Ruohonen-Lerner boycotted the meeting.

Jussi Halla-aho

Halla-aho’s problems got worse when he announced in a statement that he would not resign as chairman of the administration committee because the Supreme Court sentence was “a personal interpretation by a few people.”

Helsingin Sanomat said that some PS members see the row as a witch-hunt aimed at distracting attention from the euro crisis.

“Every time that the dissolution of the euro comes just a little bit closer, they focus on someone from the Finns Party group – often someone whose surname starts with the letter H – and try to bury the fact that the euro has not been a success story”, said the party’s deputy chairman Juho Eerola.

Eerola belongs to the same far-right Suomen Sisu anti-immigration wing of the PS as Halla-aho.

Social Democrat veteran politician Paavo Lipponen warned last year of the far-right threat in Finland and that parliament should isolate politicians like Halla-aho.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cultural diversity in Finland: The high price of being too alike

Posted on by Migrant Tales

As a writer and person with a multicultural background, I have been seeking to narrate a more inclusive and accurate history of Finland. Taking into account that over 1.2 million people emigrated from this country between 1860 and 1999 and our ever-growing immigrant population, aren’t both of these facts enough proof of our cultural diversity?

The question we should, therefore, ask is why have we denied our cultural diversity for so long? Why do some still deny it?

Since we have had our heads buried for too long in the sand thanks to social constructs like Finnish culture and ethnicity, their aims have been sinister: to exclude instead of include.

A middle school geography book published in 1941 claims that Finland had two predominant “races:”  Nordic and Eastern Baltic.* These races were still mentioned in history books published in the 1970s.

Our narrow view of ourselves reveals many things about our society and the challenges we face today. It explains the rise of the  Perussuomalaiset (PS) and Jussi Halla-aho, both of which are reactions to Finland’s ever-growing cultural diversity and internationalization.

Finns have paid a high price for being too alike for too long. Forging a monolithic national identity based on myths was a short-term solution to a complex issue.  It explains why some of us don’t understand how racism is a threat and why the media and public were dazzled by the PS before the April election.

Blame all of this on the fact that we were taught and made to look too alike. It explains what is essentially wrong with us and why it has encouraged a strongly one-sided view of history, the role of “others” in our country, and permitted us to erase an important part of our cultural heritage.

Are we a minority? This picture was originally taken in the early 1980s in Los Angeles, California.

I am confident that the Finland we are building today is and will be very different from the one we built in the last century. It will be more confident, stronger and lasting because it will be based on inclusion, social equality and acceptance of our cultural diversity.  Our diverse make up as a nation offers us different experiences but we should never forget one crucial fact: We are not separate.

*J.E. Aro, J.E. Rosberg and L. Arvi P. Poijärvi: Koulun maantieto. Otava 1941. p. 32.