Europe is in a moral quandary these days. It’s ironic that the more it attempts to implement security through the building of higher and tougher outside boundaries and treat people who flee war, strife and poverty with disdain, the more it feeds our sense of insecurity.
Tag: Anti-immigration groups
Why do we consider Timo Soini to be “a good cop” if he brought all these “bad cops” to power?
Doesn’t Perussuomalaiset (PS) leader Timo Soini bear responsibility for giving people like Jussi Halla-aho, James Hirvisaari, Teuvo Hakkarainen, Olli Immonen and a very long list of others a platform to spread their hatred and intolerance? Why does the media let Soini get off the hook so easily? Is Soini the culprit for anti-immigration sentiment and…
Alleged white Finn attacks Helsinki church dressed as a Muslim
What would you say if a white Finn dressed like a Muslim attacked a Lutheran church in Helsinki by breaking its windows, yelling and obstructing window repairmen from repairing the damage he caused? What would you say if this happened on Tuesday night, when YLE aired A2 Islam debate on television? Would you say it was…
Pressiklubi exposes MP James Hirvisaari’s fabricated lies and ignorance of immigrants and minorities
MP James Hirvisaari, who got expelled from the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party last week, appeared on Ruben Stiller’s Pressiklubi Friday. Compared with his appearance on Enbuske & Linnanahde Crew’s talk show the previous day, the new Muutos 2011 MP’s fabricated lies and ignorance were exposed in the raw. See full program (in Finnish) here. Just like the…
Why does intolerance get so much attention in the media?
Why does racism, xenophobia and intolerance get so much space in the media and so little condemnation by politicians and society? Is it because racism strikes a chord inside of us or is it because we are taught from a very early age to leave if alone? We can make the following argument as well:…
Confessions of a recovering racist
Society has achieved at least one significant victory in the fight against racism – it has succeeded in making open racism a dirty concept. The power of stigma that worked so effectively to reinforce racism has been harnessed to turn the tide against open discrimination – at least in polite society. Today, in most public…
When Timo Soini and the PS cross the political point of no return
When do you know when Timo Soini and the Perussuomalaiset (PS) have crossed the line and passed a political point of no return? The 50,000-euro ad on the front page of Helsingin Sanomat, Finland’s largest-circulation daily, blasting the government’s euro bailout policy is one of many examples. While more voters are turning their backs to the…
The Boston bombings reveal a deadlier blowback
I was shocked to hear about the twin bombs in Boston and my heart goes to the victims. Two days after the incident, however, speculation has been rife about the probable ethnicity of the perpetrator. The eerie silence of the killer suggests that this was probably carried out individually. The latest story on the…
Finland’s response to extremism should be more openess and democracy
An editorial on Thursday’s Helsingin Sanomat comments about Anjem Choudary’s visit to Finland last week. It points out correctly that hate speech should be condemned irrespective who makes it. Living in a culturally diverse society requires more mutual acceptance, not less acceptance and respect. Some of the controversial statements made by the cleric was that…
Jyväskylä may turn into another blow to Finland’s Counterjihadist -anti-immigration hardliners
If the Counterjihadist-anti-immigration tide turned in Finland and the Nordic region after 22/7, when Anders Breivik went on the rampage killing 77 innocent people, the attack in Jyväskylä on Wednesday by suspected far-right thugs could be a serious blow to anti-immigration and far right groups in Finland. Whenever hatred metamorphoses into violence, like in the case…