Finland’s culturally diverse community must point out and scorn our Uncle Toms

Posted on by Migrant Tales

What does it say about our society when second-generation children of migrants join far-right groups that spew racism? We have a few of them in Finland like Gleb Simanov and the even more notorious types like Junes Lokka, Marco de Wit, and Miki Sileoni. 

Of the above four names, Sileoni is the least known. He’s an active far-right Suomi ensi member and was a candidate in the municipal elections of April.

I know Sileoni’s Argentinean father and was quite surprised that his son is so spiteful of cultural diversity. His Argentinean grandparents or great grandparents were migrants that came from Europe to Argentina.

Simanov didn’t turn to his boss to address the problem of people not paying their bus fares but turned to the most extremist and racist publications in Finland. Here he’s interviewed by Junes Lokka, a Moroccan-born Finn who hates Muslims, and his girlfriend.

In the United States, minorities such as blacks protect themselves from people like Lokka, de Wit, Simanov, Sileoni and others by labeling them, Uncle Toms.

Continue reading “Finland’s culturally diverse community must point out and scorn our Uncle Toms”

(Polina Kopylova) Tunnollinen kuski Gleb Simanov: uhri vai syötti?

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Blogikirjoitus julkaistaan venäjäksi lähiaikoina / ??????? ????? ?? ??????? ???? ????? ??????????? ? ????????? ?????

Viraaliksi mennyt sekä Adressi.comiin ja Iltalehteen asti edennyt venäläistaustaisen Nobinan bussikuski Gleb Simanovin tapaus nostattaa monenlaisia tunteita — ja syystä, tai pikemminkin monista syistä. Ensiksi, Simanov pyrkii esiintymään rehtinä miehenä joka puolustaa koko yhteiskunnan etua pummimatkustajien kieroudelta — tämä herättää myötätuntoa. Toiseksi, Simanov on itse vähemmistön edustaja, eli venäläistaustainen, joka erotettiin pikaisesti työstä viitaten hänen asenteisiinsa — eli somalien rasistiseen kohteluun. Venäläisten, ainakin joidenkin, on sitä vaikea nielaista. Kolmanneksi, Simanov on kunnallispoliitikko, jolla on entisestään kertynyt  julkisuutta mm. vuoden 2014 Venäjä -illan osallistujana. Itse sain ensikäsitykseni Glebista juuri tuolloin, koska olen itse mukana ohjelmassa. Sillin hän vaikutti hyvin kiltiltä ”mallimaahanmuuttajalta”, jolla on rehti ja vaatimaton ammatti, perhe sekä jalat maassa -asenne asioihin. Jos muistan oikein, hänet oli silloin studiossa istutettu Venäjä -kriittisten vieraiden puolelle ja hänen mielipiteensä vastasi sitä.

Vuoden 2017 huhtikuussa surffatessani Facebookissa törmäsin Gleb Simanovin nimeen hieman yllättävässä kontekstissa: hän jakoi selvästi venäjämielisen Olga Tchizhik-Kinnusen vetoomuksen Suomen venäläisiin, jossa ks. Olga pyysi lähettämään hänelle tietoa ”russofobia -tapauksista” toimittaakseen ne Venäjän ulkoasiainministeri Sergei Lavroville. En ehkä kiinnittäisi siihen sen enempää huomiota, mutta pian sen jälkeen FB-ystäväni Kerkko Paananen jakoi linkin, joka todisti Glebin vierailun tunnistamattoman Donetskin tasavallan edustustoon Prahaan. Yllätyin jälleen ja tartuin venäläiseen hakukoneeseen Yandeksiin. Nopea haku todisti, että Gleb Simanovin yhteydet Donetskin tasavaltaan lienee tavallista sympatiaa vahvempaa ja virallisempaa luonnetta: tunnistamattoman valtion Ulkoasiainministeriö julkaisti Facebookissa Glebin videopuheen, jossa hän käsittelee englanniksi kansanmurhaa ja väittää muun muassa Kiovan hallituksen tukevan ”uusnatseja”. Samasta kavanasta löytyy toinenkin aiemmin tallennettu Simanovin englanninkielinen video, jossa hän kertoo ”fasismista Ukrainassa”. Ominaista kummallekin videolle on se, että Simanov aloittaa aina Holocaustista ja vertailee sitten häikäilemättömästi Ukrainan hallitusta Natsi-Saksaan toistaen Venäjän harrastaman propagandan vastaavanlaista väitettä: juutalaisten roolissa hän näkee ”people of Novorossia”, eli kahden tunnistamattoman tasavallan asukkaat.

Continue reading “(Polina Kopylova) Tunnollinen kuski Gleb Simanov: uhri vai syötti?”

Finland’s far right cowardice and bravado. Why do they hide behind fake names and spread fake news?

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Gleb Simanov, the fired bus driver who thought it was a good idea to post racist videos of his customers and published them on a far-right website managed by Paavo Tajukangas (a fake name), is a perfect example of cowardice and bravado.

When the chips are down, racists and their followers run and hide. They rarely come to each other’s rescue.

After Simanov got fired Thursday, the former bus driver has appeared on populist and far-right social media platforms. He gives his account of what happened but conveniently forgets to tell us why the bus company sacked him for “inappropriate and racist behavior.” There is no mention of his ill treatment of Somalis on his bus and that he calls them liars, among other things, without a shred of proof.

He gives his account of events but conveniently forgets to tell us why the bus company sacked him for “inappropriate and racist behavior.” He makes no mention of the ill treatment of Somalis on his bus and that he caleds them liars, among other things, without a shred of proof.

One young Somali woman wanted to pay for the fare, but Simanov kicked her off the bus with her friend calling her a liar.

Simanov’s arguments are nothing more than red herrings. He uses Somalis, who allegedly want to bum a ride without offering any proof of his claims, as a pretext to expose his hatred for them.  It is a common far-right strategy.

Who is “Paavo Tajukangas?”

There is another person who is trying to hide for cover by washing his hands of what happened. I wouldn’t be surprised if he and Simanov planned the whole thing that got the bus driver fired. Simanov videotaped and Tajukangas published them – and later took them down – on his blog and YouTube.

The fact that aka “Tajukangas” states that “we” took them down from his blog and YouTube is pretty revealing.

Tajukangas says that he’s not a member of Suomen Sisu, a far right white supremacist association, or belongs to either the political right or left.

Let’s give, if we can, Tajukangas the benefit of the doubt. What do the two pictures and links to a neo-Nazi association below reveal about himself?

You be the judge.

“Paavo Tajukangas” speaking at a Suomen Sisu event. He claims he’s not a member of Suomen Sisu. Note the sunglasses. Source: YouTube.

If the picture and video don’t speak volumes about his far-right ideology, what does the picture below tell us?

Continue reading “Finland’s far right cowardice and bravado. Why do they hide behind fake names and spread fake news?”

The fired bus driver who seeks fame with his racist videos will end up forsaken, jobless

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Racism is a sickness, and as a disorder, it has consequences for the victim and the perpetrator. We learned about a bus driver and Peurssuomalaiset (PS)* politician called Gleb Simanov, who thought up the “bright” idea to videotape and insult Somalis while at work in three videos that he posted.  

On Thursday Simonov’s fortunes changed when he was fired from Nobina, a bus company.

His sacking reminds me of what happened in 2015 to a woman called Martta Petman, who worked at the Tikkurila congregation. She was fired after she wrote on Facebook that she spat in the porridge that she served asylum seekers.

Petman might have raised some attention with her questionable actions, but she was quickly forgotten. Nobody came to her rescue never mind helped her find a new job. Sakari Timonen, one of Finland’s best bloggers, said that racists are the last people to come to another racist’s rescue.

The same is happening to Simonov. He may have caught the attention of the anti-immigration Perussuomalaiset (PS)* and other xenophobic groups, but he too like Petman will be forgotten and left without a job.

In the Facebook posting below, Simanov thanks his supporters. He even thanks a person for giving him 10 euros.

For a single father with two children, ten euros isn’t going to take you very far.

One of the interesting questions to arise from what happened is Paavo Tajukangas’ role. Tajukangas is a far-right white supremacist and a member of Suomen Sisu, an association that wants to keep Finland white.  Continue reading “The fired bus driver who seeks fame with his racist videos will end up forsaken, jobless”

The Helsinki bus driver that videotaped, insulted his customers was fired Thursday

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Today we read about a bus driver of Russian origin, and a candidate of the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party ethnically profile Somalis, insulted, videotaped and published on YouTube got sacked today. The bus driver was so sure of himself that he even gave the numbers of his company’s managers to complain. 

The bus driver, Gleb Simanov, got fired for “inappropriate and racist” behavior.

Migrant Tales spoke to one of the managers at Nobina, the bus company where he works.

 

“Let me state that it’s not acceptable that a bus driver [of our firm] videotapes clients in our buses,” said Mårten Winqvist of Nobina. “Moreover, it was wrong for the bus driver to ask a woman to leave the bus even after she offered to pay the fare.”

Winqvist said that the actions of the bus driver were in conflict with company policy.

Gleb Simanov posts the following on his Facebook wall: “Nobina Finland has fired me because of inappropriate and racist behavior. “I’m now unemployed and Kela’s [The Social Service Institution] new customer,” he writes. His firing will take effect on September 14.


We won’t publish the videos because we don’t want to bring more suffering to the victims.

Even if Paavo Tajukangas, a far-right white supremacist, and a member of Suomen Sisu, has published Simanov’s videos, nobody will come to his rescue.

* After the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party imploded on June 13 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.  One is more open about it while the other is more diplomatic. 

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.

A Helsinki bus driver who publishes video tapes of Somali clients he’s insulted

Posted on by Migrant Tales

What would you say if a bus driver, who only video tapes Somalis, starts calling them liars and forces them off the bus even after one of them wanted to pay for the bus fare? Ethnic profiling? Racist or all of the above? 

Add to the latter a story authored by Paavo Tajukangas and the message and intent of the story is clear.

Tajukangas is a member of the far-right white supremacist Suomen Sisu association. His trademark is making up stories to suit his racist writings.

We won’t publish the videos because we don’t want to bring more suffering to the victims.

According to a Facebook posting, the bus driver of Russian origin seeks a lawyer because he found out that he cannot videotape customers and publish them.

Migrant Tales got in touch with the company, which promised to call back.

Continue reading “A Helsinki bus driver who publishes video tapes of Somali clients he’s insulted”

Defining white Finnish privilege #36: Hate speech and censorship

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Let’s be honest and expose one of the biggest lies concerning hate speech and censorship that always pops up at interviews like the one Thursday MTV with (the old) Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party secretary Riikka Slunga-Poutsalo and the editor of the party’s magazine, Matias Turkkila. 

Both claim that people aren’t allowed to express themselves freely when it comes to cultural diversity because they don’t want to be named racists. Before I respond to this false claim, let’s see who are Slunga-Poutsalo and Turkkila.

Slunga-Poutsalo is one of the persons who signed the Nuiva manifesto in 2010, an anti-immigration proposal to keep Finland white and how to disenfranchise migrants and minorities. She called asylum seekers in 2015 “economic migrants” and “social welfare shoppers.”

Turkkila is an old ally of Jussi Halla-aho, who was convicted of hate speech in 2012 and caused the PS to implode after he was elected chairman in June.

Turkkila is also one of the founders of Hommaforum, a racist platform where its members, usually anonymously, make racist comments. Hommaforum could be described as a racist peep show where racism is the erotic attraction.

Both Slunga-Poutsalo and Turkkila had the opportunity in MTV to spread once again a lie that “common Finns” cannot say what they think about immigration.

 

Watch the full interview (in Finnish) here.

The affirmation is, as we know, one of the biggest lies spread by anti-immigration politicians. On many occasions, the person making such a claim said right after it something racist and bigoted.

Finnish white privilege #36

Continue reading “Defining white Finnish privilege #36: Hate speech and censorship”

Finnish Police Board clears police of ethnic profiling…Really?!

Posted on by Migrant Tales

The Police Board in Finland has cleared the police of ethnic profiling while monitoring migrants, according to YLE News. In a racialized country like Finland should we be surprised by the Police Board findings? 

Not in the least.

Let’s go back to spring 2016 when the police carried out spot checks with the Finnish Border Guard on “foreign-looking” people in the Helsinki, Espoo, and Vantaa.

The latter example doesn’t count, right?

When the police service and Finnish Border Guard stop “foreigners” or “foreign-looking people” for their IDs the question we should ask is what does “a foreigner” look like?


Read the full story here.

Migrant Tales has published some stories about suspected ethnic profiling cases and the Finnish police.

Continue reading “Finnish Police Board clears police of ethnic profiling…Really?!”

Analysis by Ali Asaad Hasan Alzuhairi: What has changed in Iraq since the downfall of Saddam Hussein?

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Migrant Tales insight: Ali is one of the many Iraqi asylum seekers that came to Finland in 2015. He wants to share his thoughts about the situation in Iraq so that people and policymakers could be better informed about the reality in his former home country. 

At the moment we are faced in Iraq with terror coming from the militias and are not able to express opinions which are critical of the Iraqi government.

In the era of the Ba’ath party regime in Iraq,  it was difficult to express one’s opinion on issues that concerned social or political issues or even sports. We had to bow down to the single ruling party and the dictatorial regime. I still remember, how people used to be afraid of the walls of their houses because they used to say that “the walls have ears.” The Ba’ath regime would monitor everything that people said or did.

At the moment the situation in Iraqi is slightly different but not much from those times. In the past we were dealing with the dictatorial regime, now we are dealing with “electronic militias,” which pursue anyone who dares to criticize those in power.

The Iraqi constitution stipulates that all citizens are equal and that they have the right to an opinion and of expression, however, in practice, these words are merely ink on paper. When it comes to freedom of expression in Iraq right now, there are many “red lines” that one cannot cross.  One cannot criticize the ruling party, the militias, the armed wings of the political parties, or anyone who holds any power in the country. Because of the “electronic

Because of the “electronic militias,” people are afraid to express their opinions on social media. The militias or people who sympathize with them are everywhere. They follow social media accounts and start to monitor and follow any critical users. People who cross the red lines will either be killed or punished through the judicial system, which the militias have also infiltrated through the people in power.

People who hold secular views in Iraq are not allowed to express them. For example, in Baghdad in the last few weeks several civilian activists who demanded freedom of expression, have been kidnapped.

In other words, more than 13 years after the fall of the previous regime, we again to have in place a system in which the ruling political class is creating laws which only benefit itself and its interests.

Adaption of migrants in Finland is a one-way (assimilation) process

Posted on by Migrant Tales

What do politicians and public officials in Finland mean when they claim that integration is a two-way process? Is it only political correctness that motivates them to make up such claims or is it code that means one-way adaption, or assimilation?

The first question that I’d like to ask is what does two-way integration mean? How is it put in practice in Finland?

The table above shows the educational background of 15-64-year-old migrants (ulkomaalaistaustainen) and Finns (suomalaistaustainen) who have completed tertiary education (korkea aste), upper secondary school (toinen aste) or comprehensive school (peruskoulu). Source: Survey on work and well-being among people of foreign origin.

In an ideal world, it is supposed to mean – I suspect – when two equal members of society representing different cultures learn from each other and try to find synergies to create a stronger and more dynamic society. For such a thing to happen, however, there must be no institutional racism. And there’s a lot of that in Finland.

Continue reading “Adaption of migrants in Finland is a one-way (assimilation) process”