The PS’ dangerous advice to the Finnish media

Posted on by Migrant Tales

By Enrique Tessieri

It was pretty surprising to read about Perussuomalaiset MPs like Jussi Halla-aho and James Hirvisaari offering the Finnish media lessons on how they should do their job. Whenever governments and politicians start to blame the media for their shortcomings we know there is something wrong. 

Just like the separation of the church and state, there must be a clear line between the media and politicians. Telling journalists how they should do their job or what the editorial policy of a newspaper should be is simply unacceptable in a Western democratic society.

Certainly we could take examples of countries like Myanmar, North Korea or Russia to see how governments and politicians manipulate the media for their own aims.

Apart from criticizing the media on numerous occasions and preferring not to answer tough questions by journalists, Halla-aho has now decided to boycott Tampere-based daily Aamulehti. The reason? He does not like the pictures that the newspaper prints of him.

Halla-aho did not like this picture published of him by Aamulehti. He said he would no longer give interviews to the newspaper. (Picture by Kimmo Brandt)

In another odd statement, Hirvisaari said that the media was treating the PS with disrespect.

Both Halla-aho and Hirvisaari reached public notoriety with the help of their xenophobic blogs. They are what some have called the “far-right extremists” of Timo Soini’s party.

Both are members of Suomen Sisu, a “Nazi-spirited” association, according to the Finnish Criminal Police (KRP) and Supo.

Can representatives of a “Nazi-spirited” association seriously offer advice to Finland’s media?

Can two people who base their writings on spreading stereotypes and hatred of immigrants and refugees in Finland tell the media what is ethical and correct? Seeking advice from Halla-aho and Hirvisaari would be like an ex-smoker with terminal lung cancer asking tobacco companies for advice.

Halla-aho was asked recently on a television program if he renounced the work of Alfred Rosenberg and David Duke, a former Klu Klux Klan head. It is understandable why associations like Suomen Sisu don’t have any issues with Rosenberg, who was tried in Nuremberg and sent to the gallows in 1946.

In Rosenberg’s The myth of the twentieth century, his argument is the antithesis of cultural diversity, or multiculturalism, which Suomen Sisu and Duke are vehemently opposed. Rosenberg believed that in order for the Germans to become the “master race” it needed to expel the Jews from the country. Only then would Germany reach greatness.

Tens of millions of people perished in World War 2 after Nazism and its representatives like Rosenberg were defeated and placed on trial to answer for their crimes.

It is ludicrous that people like Halla-aho and Hirvisaari want to teach our free media how to do its job. By keeping these two politicians, as well as others under scrutiny, we know that the media is doing its job.

BBC: True Finns leader Timo Soini explains his party ethos

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Comment: Here is an interesting short BBC video on the “obscure euroskeptic” True Finns party. The reporter tries to find out who are the “True Finns.”

The 7:23-minute video gets more critical at the end.

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In April Finnish nationalist party True Finns, which is anti-immigration and staunchly Euro-sceptic, saw a dramatic surge in support in the country’s general election. The party quadrupled its share of the vote to win 39 seats in the 200-member parliament.

Newsnight’s David Grossman went to meet the group’s leader Timo Soini to find out more about them and what they represent.

Click to watch video.

Broadcast on Tuesday 10 May 2011.

Prosecutor General expected to announce Hakkarainen ruling “within days”

Posted on by Migrant Tales

The Prosecutor General is expected to announce “within days” its ruling over whether PS MP Teuvo Hakkarainen should be charged for his racist remarks last month, according to the spokesman of the Ombudsman for Minority Affairs.

According to STT, Hakkarainen was quoted as saying in an interview with Helsingin Sanomat that “the country’s borders were awash with “n-words” and went on to mock an Islamic call to prayer.”

The police said  Tuesday in a preliminary investigation that bringing charges was unecessary.

This was reinforced a few hours later by the Prosecutor General who said that no charges would be brought against Hakkarainen, accordging to Helsingin Sanomat.

Finnish Americans tell us what immigration is

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Here is an interesting 18:18-minute video on some interviews of second- to fourth-generation Finnish Americans who give their insight on immigration.

Two comments I liked were by Dan Karvonen, a fourth-generation Finnish American, and  second-generation American Eric Salonen.

Karvonen said that when people in the United States criticize immigrants for bringing their relatives and friends they forget that that was exactly what Finns did 150 years ago. “Many siblings and friends came from the same place (in Finland),” he said.

Karvonen believes that eventually the stigma of being an immigrant will go away because their children will be part of society.

Salonen asked the following question, which is topical in Finland and elsewhere in Europe:  “Too many… politicians who are obviously using the (immigrant) issue simply to gain political advantage and that don’t really have any realistic proposals in mind. And so where are we going to find people who are actually seriously address the issue?”

[vimeo http://vimeo.com/22125388]

I would like to thank Gerry Luoma Henkel  for sending me the video clip. He is editor of New World Finn.

Talouselämä: Perussuomalaiset vaativat mediaa lopettamaan puolueensa kalvamisen

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Comment: The job of the media is not to let down its guard and it appears odd that the Perussuomalaiset are asking the media to stop treating them unfairly. These types of incredible requests are being made by none other than PS MPs like James Hirvisaari, whose blog writings of Muslims have become infamous.

The request by the PS and Hirvisaari, who belongs to the far-right Suomen Sisu association and who believes in “racial purity” since Finns should not marry foreigners, is telling the media like some autocratic ruler what their editorial line should be.

If nobody has told some of these PS MPs, they should know by now that they are public figures and therefore are under the public spotlight.

Hirvisaari is one of the PS MPs that former Prime Mininster Paavo Lipponen made reference on Monday of having a far-right ideology and who should be isolated in parliament.

The request to the media made by the PS and Hirvisaari reveal their ignorance of what the role of the media is in society.

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Olli Ainola

Perussuomalaiset ovat pahoittaneet mielensä kohtelustaan mediassa. Puolueessa toivovaan toimittajilta työrauhaa ja uutisvälineiden lopettavan puolueen kalvamisen.

Read whole story.

Is Finland a safe country for non-whites?

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Scores of stories have been published recently in the Finnish media on how non-white Finns and people with immigrant backgrounds have been harassed and attacked in broad daylight. Even though it is a positive sign that the media has pointed out this worrying trend there is still a lot of work to be done on this front.

It should not come to any surprise that these attacks have something to do with the rise of the Perussuomalaiset in the April 17 election.

I once asked the bloggers who visit Migrant Tales what should be done if one is harassed and attacked in public. Here is one case that happened recently:

An African was on the bus in Jyväskylä and a young man shoved and then hit him on the back. Nobody on the bus reacted. The African walked away shaken from the incident.

After numerous calls to the police, a policeman finally told the African what he should do if he were attacked in public the next time by a stranger.

”I have been on the force for 35 years and my advice is to walk away,” the policeman said. ”It’s not worth (reporting the crime)  because we’ll never catch the person. My advice? Just walk away.”

Certainly the walking away part is fine because the victim should do everything possible to get out of harm’s way. We weren’t, however, convinced about not reporting the incident.

Not satisfied with the policeman’s advice, we called the Ombudsman for Minorities. A woman who spoke to us did not have a ready answer. She did, as promised, call back and said we should report the incident. ”It should be reported to the police because they may catch the suspect one day,” she said.

The African decided to call the Jyväskylä police and report the incident.

He recommends you do the same.*

*Update (June 26, 2011): After encouraging the African to get in touch with the police to report the harassment incident, the person decided not to apparently due to fear of the police. We had to call the police a number of times to speak to an offiicial in Pieksämäki who told us that it was better not to report the case because nothing could be done to catch the culprit.

This case shows very clearly why some hate crimes in Finland go unreported.

Nelonen: Lipponen: Äärioikeisto asettunut perussuomalaisiin

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Comment: Former Social Democrat Prime Minister Paavo Lepponen threw today a hard blow at what he called “the far-right” Perussuomalaiset MPs in parliament, according to Nelonen Television. 

“It’s pretty clear that the far-right has representatives in parliament,” said Lipponen, adding that these MPs must “be isolated” and not an inch of ground should be given to them.

It is healthy and correct that Lipponen has come out to condemn this group in the PS led by Jussi Halla-aho and others belonging to Suomen Sisu association and who signed the Nuiva manifesto last year.

Migrant Tales has maintained the same concern about the PS as Lipponen. Far-right group in the PS have been responsible for systematically spreading racism, hatred and divisions within Finnish society. Lipponen said that we have seen this type of ideology try unsuccessfully to take root in Finland in the 1930s.

The Finnish Criminal Police (KRP) and Supo have classified Suomen Sisu as a “Nazi-spirited” association.

It is a good matter that a statesman like Lipponen has finally come out and sounded the alarm on these far-right PS MPs.

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Entisen pääministerin Paavo Lipposen mukaan perussuomalaisten äärioikeistolaiset on eristettävä, eikä heille saa antaa tuumaakaan periksi. Paavo Lipposen mukaan nykyiseen eduskuntaan on nyt asettunut äärioikeisto.

Read whole story.

Here is an MTV3 video clip of the interview.

HS: Seitsemän kysymystä rasismista

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Comment: Researcher Vesa Puronen is interviewed by Helsingin Sanomat  and asked what is racism. It seems a bit odd that in a country like Finland too many of us do not yet know in 2011 what racism is.

Puronen says that to be critical of immigration policy doesn’t mean one is a racist. However, racism is a system whereby some people are treated differently in society due to their ethnic background.

The big mistake that bigots make in Finland is that they believe they can sell such a social ill as a “normal” state of our society. The truth is, and what will eventually come to light in this country more than ever, is that racism is a pathological state.

One group that is pushing this view is PS MP Jussi Halla-aho. Puronen states that his ideas are very similar to what the Nazis had of the Jews in the 1930s. The Jew of 2011 for some PS members is Islam.

A society that breeds on racist ideology cannot expect a rosy future. The Nazis tried it but it led to Germany’s and Europe’s  near-total destruction.  Similar racist policies were tried in the former Yugoslavia with disastrous results.

The only way racism can succeed and justify its existence is through violence and war.

We should take advantage of the moment since racism and bigotry have raised their head big time in Finland.  I personally believe that one matter that people like Jussi Halla-aho and his followers never counted on is the mounting opposition and outrage to their views.

The message should be a clear one: Finland will not tolerate racism or hidden ideologies that support such views.

This country belongs to everyone and everyone should be treated equally.

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Tuomas Peltomäki

Joskus ihmiset sanovat, etteivät ole rasisteja vaan maahanmuuttokriitikoita. Miten rasismi eroaa maahanmuuttokritiikistä?

Read whole story.

guardian.co.uk: This multiculturalism debate is not about culture

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Comment: The story below is a good attempt to dissect the “state-multiculturalism-has-failed” affirmation in February by Prime Minister David Cameron. Certainly when a prominent political figure like Cameron or German Chancellor  Angela Merkel claim that multiculturalism has failed, it emboldens those in Finland who believe the same despite our underwhelming immigrant population compared with the latter two countries. 

The problem with such arguments, as the Guardian story correctly highlights, is that they are based on an assumption that the host society is not multicultural.

The Guardian writes: “In all the fevered comment, the assumption seems to be that British culture should be counterposed with other alien cultures, which are problematically separate from, and should be assimilated into, it. Unfortunately for this assumption, it is a truism of anthropology that cultures vary as much within themselves as between each other. Very few are homogenous.”

If multiculturalism has failed, according to Cameron and Merkel, with what do they want to replace it with?

You will never get a comprehensive answer to that question, especially from politicians.

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By Peter Guillam

The idea that there is a distinct set of British values is a myth. All cultures are multi-cultures – this debate is being used as a proxy. The debate about multiculturalism is hotting up. It also clearly splits the coalition, as the contrasting speeches of David Cameron and Nick Clegg have shown.

Read whole story.

Finland after April 17: Awakening phantoms of the past

Posted on by Migrant Tales

By Enrique Tessieri

What would Finland see if it took a long and deep look at itself in the mirror after April 17? Would it see the ogre of racism? Xenophobia? The rise of right-wing populism? Would it say in sotto voce: “Mirror, mirror on the wall whose societal values are the fairest of them all?”

Optimism is an indispensable resource that humans have to pull through difficult times. When we use, however, such optimism to create wishful thinking that is when we tread into dangerous territory.

After last month’s election victory by the Perussuomalaiset,  which gained 19% of the votes and 39 MPs, what would Finland see today if it looked at itself in the mirror?

For one we’d see a slightly different country where our values of social equality and tolerance for all enshrined in the Constitution are being threatened by nationalist populist rhetoric.

Alan Bruce put it eloquently:  “Europe is being stalked by organized and pernicious forces of hatred – many of which have simply been lying low since 1945.”

Anyone who wants a glimpse of the mindset of some PS MPs, especially those that belong to the far-right Suomen Sisu association,  should acquaint themselves with the work of Alfred Rosenberg and David Duke.  The ideology of racism, anti-Semitism and White, or in the case of Rosenberg Aryan supremacy, unites both authors.

PS MP Jussi Halla-aho, one of four Suomen Sisu members who were elected to parliament, has refused publicly to condemned Rosenberg’s and Duke’s writings.

He does not because the Finnish twenty-first century context of Rosenberg and Duke are Suomen Sisu and the Nuiva manifesto.

It is widely known that Suomen Sisu is against Finns marrying foreigners. The racist views of these people, very present in Rosenberg’s and Duke’s writings, is based on the fear that white Finland will be overtaken by immigrants and Islam. Their opposition to multiculturalism can be compared, in today’s context, to the loathing  that the Nazis had of the Jews and other minorities.

Rosenberg and Duke are the antithesis of multiculturalism, which means generally accepting and living in a culturally diverse society.

The main argument of Rosenberg’s The myth of the twentieth century is that the “Aryan race” became corrupted and lost its power due to the Jews. In order to become the “master race,”  Germany had to expel the Jews from the country.

Alfred Rosenberg was tried in Nuremburg for crimes against humanity. He went to the gallows on October 16, 1946. Source: collections.yadvashem.org

Former Klu Klux Klan leader David Duke shaking hands with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Duke believes that his goal is “the advancement” of races by segregating white and black people. Is this what Somen Sisu seeks in Finland?

The same ideology, in a Finnish twenty-first century context, is being allowed through the backdoor by parties like the PS through MPs like Halla-aho and others.

It is not only unfortunate but shameful that some Finnish politicians’ lack the leadership to condemn an ideology based on far-right nationalism, xenophobia and racial myths spread by the likes of Rosenberg and Duke. Politics does make strange bedfellows but there are certain lines one cannot cross in a democracy.

Do Kokoomus, the Social Democrats and other parties believe that the Finland we are now seeing in the mirror will vanish magically with the help of wishful thinking?

Is Finland’s future being left to chance?