The Islamophobic Perussuomalaiset (PS)* chairperson, Jussi Halla-aho, convicted of ethnic agitation and breaching the sanctity of religion in 2012, is a columnist for television station MTV. Two matters emerge when skimming through his latest column: The media is part of Finland’s racism problem; and the PS is the first modern Finnish party to capitalize exclusively on immigration, especially Islamophobia.
Another MTV columnist, Ivan Puopol, is in the same anti-immigration league as Halla-aho.
Both of them have one aim in their writing: Immigration is a problem but Muslims are even a worse problem.
When reading their Islamophobic opinions, one asks what is their end game?
If they want to make migrants and minorities feel hated and socially excluded, then that could be an aim of their writing
Will they be able to kick migrants and Muslims out of this country? Will they succeed at keeping Finland white?
In light of their racist worldviews, they will fail because Finland is becoming more culturally diverse, not less.
Our writing should concentrate on how to gain a louder voice and more power in Finland.
Unfortunately, too many Finns, like Puopol and Halla-aho, believe that their privilege and power is eternal.
Read the full text here.
* The Perussuomalaiset (PS) party imploded on June 13, 2017 into two factions, the PS and New Alternative, which is now called Blue Reform. Despite the name changes, we believe that it is the same party in different clothing. Both factions are hostile to cultural diversity never mind Muslims and other visible minorities. One is more open about it while the other says it in a different way.
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.