Swedish-language daily HBL writes on Sunday that we must challenge the rhetoric of hatred by Counterjihadists. As everyone knows, the Counterjihadist hardcore in the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party comprises of three MPs: Jussi Halla-aho, James Hirvisaari and Olii Immonen.
While many at Migrant Tales have valiantly challenged Counterjihadism in the past, populist radical right-wing rhetoric and hate speech in Finland, it is interesting that a major daily like HBL believes that we must now challenge such a threat.
As Maria Paaso’s report for Supo revealed, the Counterjihadist threat become more real after Norwegian mass murderer Anders Brevik went on the rampage on July 22, 2011, murdering 77 innocent victims.
If such a tragedy could happen in Norway, why not in Finland?
Migrant Tales wrote shortly after the tragedy in Norway that nothing was going to be the same for the Counterjihadists in the Nordic region after 22/7.
We wrote six days after the tragedy in Norway: ”What was acceptable before, like racist gaffes and jokes by politicians, their aides and common citizens, look terribly embarrassing today in light of Norway.”
Toby Archer is quoted as saying on HBL that while elected politicians who are Counterjihadists are not a danger to society, it is up to the media and politicians to challenge them.
Contrarily, researcher Jussi Jalonen says that while we have elected Counterjihadist MPs in the Finnish parliament, it is a good matter that we can openly debate with them.
The downside — according to Jalonen — is that if the same hate rhetoric that is allowed in parliament by these Counterjihadists encourages the same mimicking in the streets.
HBL writes that the turning point for Finland’s Counterjihadists came in summer, when Halla-aho, the chairman of the administration committee, was forced to resign after the Supreme Court slapped him with a fine for defaming a religion and inciting ethnic hatred.
Other members of the PS have since then distanced themselves from the xenophobic Counterjihadists like Halla-aho, according to Jalonen.