Tag: Far-right parties

A question begs an answer: Who are the Perussuomalaiset?

Posted on by Migrant Tales

The million-dollar question after the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party’s historic election victory was what kind of party had entered the Finnish political stage. After over a year in parliament and numerous scandals that have rocked the PS, a question still begs an answer: Who are they?

If you seek an answer directly from the party, the response you’ll likely get is as convoluted as the PS itself. Great lengths will be taken to point out what they’re not.

This shouldn’t surprise us considering that the PS’ political fuel comes from near-constant whining and scapegoating.

The historic election success of the PS was by and large based on hit-and-run tactics like scapegoating and denial.

Irrespective of its hodgepodge nature, how is it possible for a far-right politician like PS MP Jussi Halla-aho and party chairman Timo Soini to sit at the same table? What unites both men ideologically?

Would it be fair to call the PS an opportunistic right-wing populist party with a heavy dash of far-right nationalism? Would the best description of the party be: anti-EU, anti-immigration, anti-Islam, anti-gay, and anti-minority rights?

If we look at close political relatives of the PS in the Nordic region, we’d find  the Islamophobic Danish People’s Party, Sweden Democrats, and Progress Party of Norway.

All of them are anti-EU, anti-immigration and especially anti-Islam.

The PS’ only MEP, Sampo Terho, is a member of the eurosceptic Europe of Freedom and Democracy (EFD) parliamentary group.  The biggest number of EFD MEPs come from the UK Independence Party (10), which wants the UK to exit the EU, and the xenophobic Lega Nord (9), which considers southern Italy a part of North Africa.

Even if the PS wants to tone down its right-wing conservative radicalism because it doesn’t sit well with moderate Finnish voters, it’s fair to claim that they are an anti-EU, anti-immigration, anti-Islam, anti gay, and anti-minority rights party.

  • The PS are an anti-EU party because 100% of PS MPs don’t want Finland to bailout any EU country. Some even believe that the Finland should exit the EU.
  • They are an anti-immigration party because 97% of the MPs don’t want anymore immigrants to move to Finland. If Finland must accept immigrants, they should be white Christians.
  • The PS is an anti-Islam party because MPs like Olli Immonen and James Hirvisaari, among others, believe that it’s only a matter of time when Europe will be taken over by Islam (Eurabia).
  • They are an anti-gay party because 82% are against same-sex marriages.

Conclusion: The PS are an anti-EU, anti-immigration, anti-Islam, anti-gay and anti-minority rights party with ties to the far right.

 

Business Insider: Timo Soini’s “threat” to the world economy

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Not only must have Perussuomalaiset (PS) party chairman Timo Soini been swept off his feet with delight for being named by Business Insider  as the seventh-most dangerous person to the global economy, but Finland as well for such a dubious recognition. Who ever heard of Business Insider anyway?

For starters, somebody could inform the online publication that the official English name of the PS isn’t any longer the True Finns, but the Finns Party.

After weighing the old and new English-language official translations of the PS, Migrant Tales (MT) decided last year that we didn’t want any part of this populist nonsense and decided to call Soini’s party by its Finnish name, the Perussuomalaiset.

Timo Soini is a dangerous persons to the global economy, according to Business Insider. 

While we understand  at MT that the PS has been a blow to the credibility of Finland’s international image and to institutions like parliament, the political clout that Soini has hinges by and large on the lack of leadership of  Finland’s major parties, which rolled out the red carpet for him before last year’s election.

Soini’s anti-EU, anti-immigration and especially anti-Islam message appeals to a wide range of politicians in this country.

Why did Business Insider choose Soini as the seventh-most dangerous public figure to the global economy?

The online publication writes: “As the leader of the largest opposition party in Finland’s parliament and one of the biggest eurosceptics in Europe, Timo Soini is in a position of incredible importance with regard to continued euro bailouts.”

I doubt that the PS chairman is any longer in a position of “incredible importance” in Finland. The numerous scandals that have rocked the party and Soini’s disappointing showing in the presidential election have dimmed much of his shine.

Other influential personalities on the Business Insider are: German Chancellor Angela Merkel (1); French President Francois Hollande; German economist Hans-Werner Sinn; Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke; Nkolaus Blome, Bild newspaper deputy editor; and US President Barak Obama.

Far-right violence spreads across Europe – what about Finland?

Posted on by Migrant Tales

As the euro financial crisis deepens so does the rise of far-right violence across Europe, according to a report by the Institute of Race Relations. Finland stands out as one of the 100 cases documented by the report. It states that academics studying immigration in this country are forced to withdraw from public discussion rather than face intimidation and threats to their families.

Migrant Tales has been as well the focus of attacks, death threats and intimidation.

The report, Pedlars of Hate: the violent impact of the European far Right, documents the cold-blooded shooting of a Moroccan during Black February as a clear warning sign for Finland.

The far right has found a good platform in the PS. 

The report states on page 8: “The Satakunta Police Department is investigating  whether Facebook comments made by a [former] True Finns [Perussuomalaiset] elected councillor in Köyliö constitute incitement to racial hatred. After a 21-year-old Moroccan man was  shot dead in Oulu in March [see page 15], Tommi Rautio posted that the murderer should be given a medal because there is ‘a war going on and in every war decorations are handed out.'”

While there are some encouraging signs that politicians and the media see PS politicians like Jussi Halla-aho and his Suomen Sisu followers as extremists, it’s still not too late to defeat the far-right menace that has attacked Finland.

How much of a threat is the far right in Finland? Are matters going to get far worse before they improve?

Pirkko Mattila is the clear line that now separates Timo Soini and Suomen Sisu

Posted on by Migrant Tales

The decision by the Perussuomalaiset (PS) parliamentary group to choose Pirkko Mattila to be the new chairwoman of the administration committee of parliament is welcome news. Considering that her challengers, Juho Eerola and Ismo Soukola, lost by wide margins bolsters PS chairman Timo Soini’s influence in the party.

It shows as well that an ever-growing number of PS MPs aren’t happy with the anti-immigration Suomen Sisu wing led by MP Jussi Halla-aho, who was forced to resign last week as chairman of the administration committee.

If we look at the latest polls, it’s clear that an ever-growing number of Finns are turning their backs on the PS due to the numerous scandals that have rocked the party and its failure to get anything done in the opposition.

You cannot spread prejudice and racism about immigrants and visible minorities indefinitely and get away with it. Even if anti-immigration sentiment has been a key factor in turning the PS into one of Finland’s largest parties, it can be a double-edged sword and put Soini between a rock and a hard place.

If the PS is challenged to address Finland’s problems, Halla-aho and his Suomen Sisu followers are even more in the dark about what to do about our ever-growing culturally diverse society. They have no other political purpose other than whine and slow as much as possible society’s acceptance of people of different backgrounds.

Anti-immigration rhetoric is like the PS: It is a wonderful political punching bag that you use to let out steam but that’s all.

It’s a good matter that the PS chose Mattila over Eerola to chair the administration committee. Even so, it still has a long way to go before it can be accepted as a “normal” mainstream party by Finns.

For immigrants and visible minorities, this acceptance may take an eternity.

 

Finnish Supreme Court upholds hate speech conviction against Hirvisaari

Posted on by Migrant Tales

The Supreme Court announced Monday that it will not grant Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP James Hirvisaari permission to appeal a conviction for hate speech handed down in December by the Kouvola Court of Appeal, reports Helsingin Sanomat. 

Last week, the PS suffered another blow when its MP Jussi Halla-aho was forced to resign as chairman of the administration committee after the Supreme Court had fined him for defaming a religion and for inciting ethnic hatred.

The PS chairman Timo Soini said in December that he would decide if Hirvisaari could continue being a member of the party after a higher court had decided to take the PS MP’s appeal or reject it.

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

Writes YLE in English:  “Last December Hirvisaari was sentenced to a fine when the Kouvola Appeal Court reversed a decision of the Päijät-Hame district court, which found him not guilty of the charge.

Hirvisaari was sentenced for a blog article about immigration in the Uusi Suomi (New Finland) online paper back in February 2010.”

 

 

The wrong Finnish identity for all the wrong reasons

Posted on by Migrant Tales

In many respects, Finland is a fortunate country when it comes to a social construct like national identity. We are still a young nation actively searching for our roots. We have learned many things about ourselves as a society thanks to the rise of an anti-immigration party like the Perussuomalaiset (PS).

One of the matters that the PS has done is encourage some Finns to test the waters of their worst prejudices. Is there anything good about this?

Like this Saami woman in the picture, we Finns are from many places and come from diverse backgrounds.  Source: New York Public Library. 

Paradoxically, the PS has brought out more inclusive and positive values about ourselves than ever before thanks to its anti-immigration, anti-EU and anti-outside-world views.  While this may be true, social-media platforms like Hommaforum and associations like Suomalaisuuden liitto (Association of Finnish Culture and Identity) continue promoting the opposite.

As the municipal elections near in October, it’s clear that embattled PS chairman Timo Soini still pins his hopes on the anti-immigration and anti-cultural diversity message.  Matias Turkkila, Hommaforum editor, was named in May editor-in-chief of the PS’ newspaper and web page.

Turkkila was PS MP Jussi Halla-aho’s campaign manager. If there is any person that has spread the PS’ anti-immigration and especially anti-Islam message, it is Turkkila.

The Finnish Alliance,  chaired by PS EuroMP Sampo Terho, is another example of how the PS and anti-immigration groups have hijacked our national symbols and dressed up history to suit their exclusive views of Finnish culture.

One of the aims of the Finnish Alliance is to undermine the role of the Swedish-speaking minority by lobbying against mandatory Swedish-language lessons at schools.

The aim of the PS, Hommaforum and Finnish Alliance  is to hinder and place obstacles on the growth of our culturally diverse society and retard acceptance. They have no solutions except promoting deep divisions in our society. There is no strategy except to make life as hard as possible for immigrants and visible minorities.

Considering that over 1.2 million Finns emigrated from this country between 1860 and 1999, it is  incredible how some in this country continue to promote a race-and-blood view of our Finnish identity.

Our national identity is rich and diverse. Accepting this fact could be one of our most exciting goals in the new century.

 

 

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.”

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. 

___________

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.

 

Greed, narcissism, apathy and fascism are the greatest threats to Finland today

Posted on by Migrant Tales

One of the matters I have admired most about Finland is its underdog spirit. When I grew up part of the year as a child and adolescent in Finland with my grandparents, that fighting spirit was ever-present. It was the fuel that led the country forward and turned it into a model society today.

Despite our successes as a nation, you don’t have to search far to see social ills like greed, narcissism, apathy, totalitarian far-right ideology and ineffective checks and balances threatening our society.

Finland’s anti-immigration sentiment, based on greed and collective jealousy, is a part of the general malice that has spread like cancer in our society.

I remember reading in the 1960s a National Geographic feature on Finland, which claimed that there were so few auto thefts in this country that all of them could be listed on a single sheet of paper!

That sheet of paper has, unfortunately, grown into many volumes. Tragedies at schools in Jokela and Kauhajoki, tragic family killings as well as Hyvinkää, which caused the death of two people, reveal the serious illness that has inflicted our society.

Helsingin Sanomat reports today that the general managers’ salaries and bonuses of Finland’s 43 largest stock quoted companies rose on average in 2011 to 918,000 euros versus 792,000 euros in the previous year.

How can any human being be so valuable that he or she can make twenty-four times more money than an average worker? Weak checks and balances are certainly to blame.

It’s difficult to say what is more shameful, the avarice of general managers like Finnair’s CEO Mika Vehviläinen or his insistent denial of any wrongdoing in a suspected bribery case.

A number of politicians who should know better have rightfully got their fingers burned. One of these is National Coalition Party veteran MP Ilkka Kanerva, who was convicted in April of aggravated bribery.

Like the Vehviläinens and Kanervas of the business and political world, far-right parties and politicians  capitalize on general discontent by repackaging and simplifying social, political and economic problems into 1 + 1= 2 terms.

In Finland the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party is a good example of how far-right ideology bloomed in the April 2011 election.

Like the CEOs that make hefty salaries and enjoy fat bonuses, politicians like PS MP Jussi Halla-aho, James Hirvisaari and others have struck gold with their racism and far-right rhetoric.

It’s so easy to attack defenseless people like refugees escaping war-torn regions and make up fairy tales about them. It is a shameful case of political opportunism, cowardice and chicanery.

Finland must and can do better than today. One of the ways of changing matters is to reinforce those very values that made us into a great nation today.

Those values are nothing more than social equality, empathy, modesty and patriotism, or a sense of community where everyone is accepted and included.