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.

The Halla-aho scandal raises disturbing questions

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Disquieting questions emerge in light of the Jussi Halla-aho scandal: Is pressure on the Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP to resign as chairman of the administration committee due to his dismissive reaction to the Supreme Court sentence or because of what he wrote about Muslims and Somalis, which got him in trouble in the first place?

When the PS won the April 2011 elections, it was well-known by many that the PS was an anti-EU, anti-immigration and especially anti-Islam party.  The question, however, at the time was how many politicians were ready to admit the latter about the PS.

Another important fact that Finland’s political establishment knew last year was that there were a few problem cases in the PS like Halla-aho, who was charged in 2009 by a lower court for defaming a religion.

In light of these facts, why was Halla-aho approved unanimously to chair the administration committee, which, among other matters, is in charge of immigration policy?

Would political parties be demanding the MP’s head today if he’d remained quiet and taken the Supreme Court decision with a drop of humility?

Legal scholars have reacted to Halla-aho’s provocative statements after the Supreme Court decision, who considered the ruling as “a personal interpretation by a few people.”

Halla-aho’s and the PS’ view of our judicial system is odd coming from a party that claims immigrants don’t follow and respect our laws.

Writes Husein Muhammed on Migrant Tales: “Now I grasp what the Perussuomalaiset actually mean when they demand that immigrants should respect the country’s laws. They don’t themselves respect Finnish laws/judicial system.”

If Halla-aho’s arrogant stand has surprised many, PS chairman Timo Soini’s decision to not do anything hasn’t helped matters either.

Soini said in 2009 that any person would get sacked from the party if that person were charged for a racist crime.

Soini has been forced to eat his words on a number of occasions. With a poker face, he claimed right 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 the boot from the party.

Halla-aho plans to take up the matter before the European Court of Human Rights.

If there is anything positive about the scandal, it may be that political parties in Finland are starting to take a social issue  like racism more seriously.

Finland’s parliament may be making history tomorrow if the PS does not force Halla-aho to resign.  Parliament may decide Wednesday to dissolve the administration committee and appoint new members, which in turn would choose a new chairman.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Uusi Suomi: Länsimaiset arvot uhattuina

Posted on by Migrant Tales

by Husein Muhammed* 

Kansanedustaja ja Eduskunnan hallintovaliokunnan puheenjohtajan Jussi Halla-ahon (ps) mielestä korkeimman oikeuden antama tuomio uskonrauhan rikkomisesta ja kiihottamisesta kansanryhmää vastaan on väärä ja epäoikeudenmukainen. Hän pitää medialle lähettämässään tiedotteessa Suomen korkeimman oikeuden ratkaisua “muutaman ihmisen henkilökohtaiseena tulkinta”, ei “minään taivaallisena totuutena”.

Tähän asti Halla-aho on esiintynyt “maahanmuuttajien rikollisuudesta” huolestuneena kansalaisena ja poliitikkona. Nyt hän itse halveksii Suomen voimassa olevan lain mukaan annettua tuomiota “joidenkin henkilökohtaisina mielipiteinä”. Kansanedustaja vertautuu tässä suorastaan taparikollisiin: he eivät koskaan ymmärrä tehneensä mitään väärin.

Halla-aho on kansanedustaja. Jos hänen mielestään esimerkiksi uskonrauhan rikkominen tulisi dekriminalisoida eli tehdä lailliseksi, hänellä – jos kellään – on mahdollisuus ryhtyä ajamaan lainuudistusta. Mutta Halla-aho ei ole suinkaan vaatinut lainmuutosta, ainoastaan heittäytynyt uhriksi sekä nyt sitten myös halveksuu Suomen korkeinta oikeutta. Jos KKO on tosiaan vain muutama henkilö henkilökohtaisine mielipiteineen, miksi siis kenenkään pitäisi noudattaa lakia ja oikeuden päätöksiä? Minä kun luulin persujen vaativan oikeutta ja järjestystä – ilmeisesti ajavat niitä vain muille.

Nyt alan sisäistämään, mitä perussuomalaiset ajavat takaa, kun vaativat maahanmuuuttajia noudattamaan nimenomaan maan tapaa, eivätkä (toisin kuin esimerkiksi allekirjoittanut) maan lakia. He eivät siis itse kunnioita Suomen lakia/oikeusjärjestystä.

Tähän asti äärioikeistoa on pidetty uhkana lähinnä erinäisille vähemmistöille.Heitä on pahimmassa tapauksessa esitetty ikään kuin anarkistien, äärivasemmiston tai muuten vaan hörhöjen vastakohtana. Tältä osin olemme menneet pahasti metsään. Kuten tuomitun halveksivasta suhtautumisesta korkeimman oikeuden tuomioon on pääteltävissä, äärioikeistosta ei suinkaan ole vaaraa lähinnä erinäisille vähemmistöille. Suurin uhka kohdistuu nimenomaan demokratiaan, oikeusvaltioon ja länsimaisiin arvoihin, joita äärioikeisto on puolustavinaan.

Ihan samalla tavalla ääri-islamistien suurin uhka ei suinkaan kohdistu länsimaihin, vaan muslimeihin ja islamin rauhaa ja oikeudenmukaisuutta korostaviin periaatteisiin, joita äärimuslimit ovat puolustavinaan.

Äärioikeisto ja äärimuslimit ovat siis vastustavinaan toisiaan. Tosi asiassa niillä on yhteinen epäpyhä allianssi: molemmat inhoavat ja halveksivat syvästi demokratiaa, vapautta ja tasa-arvoa. Kukin niistä on nimenomaan suureksi vaaraksi omalle kulttuurille: ääri-islamistit islamille, äärioikeisto länsimaille.

*Kirjoittaja on kirjailija ja lakimies.

Alkuperäisen blogikirjoituksen voi lukea tästä.

Tämä blogikirjoitus julkaistiin Migrant Talesissä luvalla.

PS MP Halla-aho says he will not resign as chairman of the administration committee

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP Jussi Halla-aho announced Monday that he had no reason to bow out as chairman of the administration committee of parliament after he was fined by the Supreme Court on Friday for defaming a religion and inciting ethnic hatred. The PS MP said he would not resign because he considered the Supreme Court decision ”wrong and unfair,” according to a statement. 

I beg your pardon?! Incorrect and unfair?

Apart from revealing Halla-aho’s arrogance and disregard for our legal institutions, the PS MP should ask those people whom he has insulted, Muslims and Somalis, if the Supreme Court fine was “incorrect and unfair.”

Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja criticized the PS chairman for not sacking Halla-aho from the party after the Supreme Court decision.

”Now Timo Soini, who three years ago threatened that anyone charged for racism had no place in the party, has eaten all of his words. This could be best understood if Soini openly supported Halla-aho’s opinions. In light of the [municipal elections], it shows instead a party leader giving in to opportunism and being morally bankrupt,” he said.

Abagond: Colorblind racism

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Comment: Every time we stray from the real issue behind racism (=ethnic background) we are flirting or committing  colorblind racism. 

A familiar colorblind racist counter-argument commonly heard from anti-immigration groups is why whites are treated unfairly? Why was Jussi Halla-aho fined for defaming a religion and inciting ethnic hatred but nothing happens to you if you insult whites and the Lutheran religion? Why aren’t such people fined for hate speech? 

Another example of colorblind racism in Finland  was seen in May 2011, when the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party made a  public statement that the best way to challenge racism would be to end positive discrimination. Thus in the PS’ and colorblind racists’ mind, the only way to attain “social equality” in our society would be by denying that ethnicity plays any role in racism.

A happy-go-lucky colorblind racist would claim: “Let’s be equal and pretend that ethnic background does not matter [when in fact it does].”  

Below is a good blog entry on Abagond that gives us a good idea of how colorblind racism works. 

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By Julian Abagond

Colour-blind racism (1970- ), also known as aversive racism,  is racism that acts as if skin colour does not matter – even when it does. It is the most common form of racism among white Americans who grew up after the fall of Jim Crow in the 1960s. It takes the place of Jim Crow racism, the meaner, more naked white racism common in the 1950s and before.

Political correctness and the idea of hate speech grew out of colour-blind racism. So did the welfare queen and model minority stereotypes. It helped to spread the word “African American”.

Colour-blind racists say things like this:

  • It’s not race, it’s economics …
  • It’s not race, it’s culture …
  • It’s not race, it depends on a person’s background …
  • I’m not prejudiced, but …
  • I’m not black, but …
  • One of my best friends is black.
  • My cousin married a black man.
  • I voted for Barack Obama.
  • I don’t see you as black.

And believe things like this:

  • I am not racist.
  • Blacks are not willing to work hard.
  • Blacks want everything handed to them.
  • Blacks hold themselves back, not racism.
  • Blacks are unfairly favoured, whites are not.
  • Blacks do not want to live with us (or eat at our table).
  • Blacks live in the past. They need to get over it and move on.
  • Blacks need to pull themselves up from the bottom like everyone else.
  • Blacks cry racism for everything even though they are the racist ones.

Notice how white people never seem to do anything bad.

While they would agree with most of those statements, they would have a hard time saying them straight out like that. Race makes them uncomfortable. Their statements would be more long-winded and watered down, throwing in phrases like those from the first list, even the one about the cousin.

They seem to think that if they do not say the words then racism will somehow go away by magic. As if racism is just a matter of words.

They rarely think of themselves as “white” and avoid saying the word “black” in public, even when they are thinking it. Their supposed colour-blindness is a front.

For example, I have heard white people talk about someone who I knew had to be black just by the way they bent over backwards to avoid saying the word “black”. Yet when they left the room and thought I could not hear, they said “black” just as plain as day, as if they were talking about their dress.

They avoid the word “race” too. Instead they use words like “culture”, “background”, “ethnicity”. That is why they like the word “African American” so much: it seems colour-blind.

They are not as mean or violent as Jim Crow racists, nor do they wear their racism well. Unlike Jim Crow racists, they are willing to vote for a black man for president. But they still look down on blacks and still believe the stereotypes, adding some of their own.

They are not as colour-blind as they think. The only colour they are truly blind to is white.

Read original story here.
This piece was reprinted by Migrant Tales with permission.

Finnish politicians should smell the coffee of far-right extremism

Posted on by Migrant Tales

After over a year of following countless scandals, fines for hate speech, racism and exposures of their far-right ideology, a question begs an answer of the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party: Who is Timo Soini? 

If we asked Foreign Minister Erkki Tuomioja, a social democrat, his answer would be moral weakness and opportunism.

Tuomioja writes a day after PS MP Jussi Halla-aho got fined by the Supreme Court for hate speech:  ”Now Timo Soini, who three years ago threatened that anyone charged for racism had no place in the party, has [now] eaten all of his words. This could be best understood if Soini openly supported Halla-aho’s opinions. In light of the [municipal elections], it shows instead a party leader giving in to opportunism and being morally bankrupt.”

I would go further than Tuomioja and claim that in principle Soini does agree with Halla-aho on a number of points concerning the perceived threat of our ever-growing culturally diverse society. A column by Soini reinforces the latter.  The big difference, however, between the PS chairman and the anti-immigration extremists of the party is diplomacy. Soini knows how to sugar-coat his words and play the good-cop role. How long will it take for mainstream politicians in this country to step up to the plate and admit what we’ve been saying all along on Migrant Tales: The PS is a racist, anti-immigration, anti-Islam and anti-EU party. In addition some members of the PS like Halla-aho want to turn the political clock of Finland back to the 1930s.

The sooner we understand the dark elements lurking inside the PS, where the far-right anti-immigration extremists are gaining strength over an embattled Soini, the greater our chances of saving our country from far-right nationlism.

One of the reasons why some still believe they can live with far-right extremists in parliament, who mock at our laws and institutions like Halla-aho did concerning the Supreme Court fine for hate speech, is because the PS isn’t still seen as a threat.

Why should they feel threatened by the PS? If you are a white Finn and have a stable job, the PS isn’t a threat because it is a party that excludes and victimizes immigrants and other minorities in Finland.

That’s now, but tomorrow may be a more perilous story if we don’t smell the coffee of  far-right extremism.

Abagond: What this blog has taught me about white people

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Comment: Abagond is a very successful blog that debates issues like racism in the United States. We at Migrant Tales like to ask serious question about such a social ill as well. What about if we asked that same question as Abagond did in the headline? 

For me personally, Migrant Tales has taught me that racism is a problem that should be challenged in Finland. Our blog has helped expose as well the outright lies of anti-immigration groups like the Perussuomalaiset. Most importantly, it has inspired a lot of people to challenge one of the worst menaces threatening our society today: prejudice, nationalism, xenophobia, far-right ideology and racism. 

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Keeping this blog has blown my mind. White people say stuff here that they would never  say offline in my hearing. I knew white Americanswere racist – living in so-called liberal New York left no doubt in my mind about that – but I had no idea how deep their racism ran.

Read original blog entry here.