Tag: fascism

Yle poll: The PS becomes the second-biggest party. Thank mainstream parties like Kokoomus, the Center Party and the media.

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Some were surprised to see in a poll published by Yle Thursday that the far-right Perussuomalaiset (PS)* became the second-most popular part in Sunday’s parliamentary elections after the Social Democrats. If we are honest with ourselves, the poll result should not have come as a surprise.

The party that the PS knocked to third place from second is the National Coalition Party (Kokoomus), which had tried – apparently unsuccessfully – to mimic that party’s Islamophobic and anti-immigration rhetoric.

If I were the head of the PS, I’d thank as well the Finnish media, especially Yle, for spreading the party’s anti-immigration rhetoric and making racism and fascism appear normal. If you want an answer to the latter question, take a look at Yle PS members on the board.

The greatest threat to Finland today? Terrorism? Yes, white Finnish supremacist parties like the PS. If Finland doesn’t watch out, it will turn into a Denmark, a country that is Islamophobic but on steroids.

The mainstream parties like the National Coalition Party, Center Party, Blue Reform, Christian Democrats should thank themselves as well for their efforts to make racism normal in Finland.

They have lacked the leadership to challenge racism in our society because they have issues with such a social ill among their ranks.

If I hated migrants and asylum seekers, I would vote for the real thing instead of an imitator.

Wouldn’t you?

Read the full story here.

* The Perussuomalaiset (PS) party imploded on June 13, 2017, 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 never mind Muslims and other visible minorities. One is more open about it while the other says it in a different way.

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.

Defence Minister Jussi Niinistö’s far-right past is a fact

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Defence Minister Jussi Niinistö* calls into question professor Martin Scheinin’s motives for criticising the proposed security legislation which will allow the Security Police and military intelligence to troll emails and calls of citizens without informing people they have been spied on.

Niinistö says Scheinin’s views are questionable because of activities in the professor’s youth when he had a job for a year with the Finnish Communist Party indicating that he was a supporter of totalitarianism.

Read the original blog where he criticized experts such as Martin Scheinin here.

Niinistö’s reasoning is hard to follow because Scheinin’s criticisms related to surveillance activities without democratic public oversight. Niinistö is trying to fast track the tightened security legislation through parliament and was annoyed when parliamentary speaker Paula Risikko sent the bill back to committee after the professor’s remarks.

Niinistö is walking on very thin ice when he refers to the youthful radical activities of his critics. in the early 90s, according to Uusi Suomi, he worked very closely with the extreme rightist The National Cultural Front the program of which included purging the country of refugees and other impure non-Finnish elements according to fascist traditions in Europe’s recent past.

Niinistö was an ideologue of the group and a regular contributor to their publication. For half a decade now we have had the Equality Act in place in Finland which prohibits discrimination based on things like race, religions, disability, etc… even political viewpoint. Finland has also ratified international treaties like the UN Treaty on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. Yet Niinistö and his party colleagues are constantly calling for tighter laws against immigrants- whatever that means.

Continue reading “Defence Minister Jussi Niinistö’s far-right past is a fact”

Facebook Soldiers of Odin: Asylum seeker and migrant hunting season have kicked off…

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Far-right vigilante group Soldiers of Odin want to take the law in their hands by hunting pedophiles. After a bla-bla-bla Finnish macho rant, one of the vigilante members takes a club and starts threatening suspected “paedophiles,” which is a word used to mean asylum seekers. The masked vigilante warns in the video: “Pedophiles and raunchy [asylum seekers/migrants?] hey, welcome to dating with us, we guarantee that dating is memorable! And hey, don’t worry, we don’t call the police. [Then the speaker approaches the camera in a threatening manner with a club in his hand].”

Remember when these types of vigilante groups started to appear in Finland in 2016? One of the conditions that the police gave to such vigilante groups was that they cannot take the law in their hands.

It is not the first time that the Soldiers of Odin have used weapons in their posts.

I have notified Facebook administrators about this post that encourages violence.

Statement Anti-Hate Crime Organisation Finland: Far-right marches on Finnish Independence Day

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STATEMENT

ANTI-HATE CRIME ORGANISATION FINLAND

SUOMEN VIHARIKOSVASTAINEN YHDISTYS RY

FINSKA ANTI-HARBOTTSORGANISATION RF

December 6, 2018

Message denouncing far-right marches on Finnish Independence Day

Anti-Hate Crime Organisation Finland* denounces all forms of far-right marches in Finland on Finnish Independence Day.The “612 torch parade”, initiated on Finnish Independence Day 2014, originated as a far-right joint effort.

The march organized by the far-right from the start had (at least) three political goals:

  • To bring the far right into the streets, and break the prevailing consensus in Finnish society that the far-right doesn’t hold demonstrations;
  • To gather the scattered far-right into one demonstration to unite their forces;
  • and to create a new fascist Independence Day’s tradition, for the members of the far-right and their sympathizers who wish to celebrate the day in a political way.

In past marches, we have seen violent counter-protests which have sometimes turned in to a brawl between the protesters and the police. In the last few years, many on the Finnish right have re-branded themselves as ‘ethno nationalists’. This is one of the new buzzwords for extremist groups across Europe which has helped to show the links between the Finnish right-wing groups and their international counterparts.

The British campaign group Hope Not Hate, which is backed by politicians and celebrities, has said “people, ideas, and tactics cross borders with an ease not previously possible” and has highlighted a number of events where North American right wing thought leaders are teaming up with European right-wing groups to endorse and amplify their message.

For further information:

www.facebook.com/nohatenetwork

[email protected]

@NoHateNework

* Anti-Hate Crime Organisation Finland was founded in September and registered as an NGO in October. The aim of the NGO is to tackle and eradicate hate crime and all forms of discrimination in Finland such as anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, Afrophobia, misogyny and other forms of social exclusion through education and training, seminars, events, conferences, among others.

Turku appeal court of Finland upholds earlier decision to ban neo-Nazi PVL group

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Migrant Tales was happy to hear that the appeal court in Turku has upheld an earlier decision by the Pirkanmaa district court in Tampere to ban in Finland the neo-Nazi Nordic Resistance Movement (PVL) and Pohjoinen Perinne (Nordic Tradition Group), a PVL –linked group, according to YLE News.

The PVL will have to end operations in Finland once court’s decision becomes enforceable, or when there is no longer any possiblity of appeal by the neo-Nazi group.

Last November, the court in Pirkanmaa banned the PVL but the group appealed the decision.

Apart from openly supporting anti-Semitism, racism and hostility towards sexual minorities, both courts ruled that the PVL encouraged violence. The ultimate aim of the former neo-Nazi organization is to set up in Finland and elsewhere in the Nordic region a nationalist socialist state.

The PVL represents one of many extremist groups in Finland that have gained more public exposure.

The growth of the far-right group could not be possible without the support of political parties like Perussuomalaiset (PS),* Blue Reform and even mainstream parties like the National Coalition Party (Kokoomus), which do not openly support fascism but seem distant relatives to such extremist ideologies.

PS members Ulla Pyysalo have had links to the PVL as well as others, like Sampo Terho and Jussi Niinistö, in far-right groups.

* 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.

 

 

QUOTE OF THE DAY: You first have to break society to remold it into your vision

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Migrant Tales insight: This quote by Christopher Wylie, a former employee of Cambridge Analytica, gives us a glimpse of how the alt-right uses social media platforms like Facebook to manipulate voters. If I had to choose a party that is in the same league as Steve Banon and the hard right, without question it would be the Perussuomalaiset* and its leader Jussi Halla-aho. They have aimed to polarize and break Finnish society to remold it into their deranged vision.  

The Perussuomalaiset aren’t the only ones. There are a lot of politicians in parties like the National Coalition Party that want to break existing Finnish society. 

This appears in an interview in The Guardian of London: 

“If you want to fundamentally change society you first have to break it. It’s only when you break it is when you can remold the pieces to your vision of a new society. This was the weapon that Steve Bannon wanted to use to fight his culture wars.”

Read the full story and watch the video here.

* 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.

We have only to blame ourselves for the rise of vigilante gangs, racism and fascism in Finland

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                                                                                              Shortly, we’ll look at this period as the lost decade where we openly and shamelessly flirted and sided with racism and fascism.

Remember these quotes about the vigilante white supremacist Soldiers of Odin? They were made by public servants that should know better. In a Facebook posting, the far-right vigilante group is threatening (surprise, surprise) Africans, Arabs, dark-skinned people, vegetarians gays liberals, humanists and others with acts of violence. 

Any sensible person could have seen the writing on the wall: Groups like the Soldiers of Odin are white supremacists supported by other white Finns and the establishment.

Their rise is similar to the Perussuomalaiset* (PS), whose ascent to political power was assisted by the media, politicians (and I wouldn’t be surprised by Russia’s troll army). The fact that too many don’t see these groups as a threat to our Nordic democracy and society is the best indication we have of our denial of the issue.

Is it a coincidence that the police service gave support to such vigilante groups when they started to show up more in Finnish cities and towns? This year, an openly racist Facebook page was uncovered with over 2,800 police or about one-third of the country’s police service. Does a survey in 2016, which reveals that 80% of the police see asylum seekers as a threat, say anything about racist attitudes. What about if 25.1% stated that they voted for an openly anti-immigration party like the PS?

Let’s look at these public representatives that are supposed to defend our society but failed miserably in the task:

Detective Chief Inspector Markku Tuominen. Marshall Carl Mannerheim’s portrait as commander of the White Guards is highly suggestive. Source: Nurmijärven Uutiset.
  • Detective chief inspector of southern Finland, Markku Tuominen, surprised a lot of people In January 2016 when he was quoted in the media as saying that Finns should avoid contact with foreigners. In December, we even read that the police service of Häme welcomed street patrols in the town of Asikkala, according to Hämeen Kaiku.

Deputy Police Chief Ilkka Koskimäki. Source: Twitter.
  • Finnish deputy chief of police of Helsinki, Ilkka Koskimäki as saying in January 2016 in the Daily Telegraph: “This phenomenon [sexual harassment] is new in Finnish sexual crime history. We have never before had this kind of sexual harassment happening at New Year’s Eve.”

Really? Have Finnish women ever before been harassed sexually by Finnish men?

National Police Commissioner Seppo Kolehmainen and Minister of Employment Jari Lindström. Sources: Uutismaailma and Turun Sanomat.
  • National Police Commissioner Seppo Kolehmainen and Minister of Employment Jari Lindström openly supported in 2016 vigilante gangs while Interior Minister Petteri Orpo was skeptical.

  • Add to the above the complacent silence of politicians like former PS leader Timo Soini and a long list of others and a clear picture emerges: It’s fine for white folks to be racist and fascist as long as they are hostile to Muslims and other non-white groups they scapegoat.

  • Another worrisome phenomenon that helped fuel the rise of vigilante groups was the Finnish media’s fascination, their toothless editorials and lame reaction to vigilante groups and the rise of racism and fascism in the country.

I consider Pohjolan Sanomat of Kemi as one o the best examples of media fascination for racism and fascism. Today we know that the vigilante group has a lot of members with criminal records. Read the original story here.

Continue reading “We have only to blame ourselves for the rise of vigilante gangs, racism and fascism in Finland”

Saturday was a day of marching neo-Nazis and coded populist anti-immigration rhetoric

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 Blue Reform (formerly Perussuomalaiset*) MP Sampo Terho took part on Saturday in YLE’s Ykköaamu talk show. Later in the day in Tampere, neo-Nazis and other fascists held demonstrations. 

One of the matters that struck me the most about Terho’s interview was when the host, Seija Vaaherkumpu, asked him about what differences there were between the Perussuomalaiset (PS) and his newly formed party.

One of the matters he said was that Blue Reform doesn’t like to “yap about migration” in the opposition but wants to influence policy in government.

Yes, right, Terho. When you were head of the PS parliamentary group, your former party and you spearheaded the tightening of immigration policy by making family reunification an impossible dream for many migrants. You did away as well with residence permits given on humanitarian grounds; you shortened appeal times, you undermined the legal rights of asylum seekers and poisoned the air with your oversimplified rhetoric.

One good distinction between Blue Reform and the PS concerning immigration policy is how they express their racism and contempt for cultural diversity (anti-white supremacy). Terho’s group speaks more in code while the PS says it straight out. Terho is also minister for European affairs, culture and sport as well as chairman of the Association of Finnish Culture and Identity, which systematically destroyed – and continues to undermine – cultural diversity with the help of whitewashing.

Watch the Ykköaau talk show here.

Another important matter that arose in the interview is Terho’s hostility towards asylum seekers and Muslims. He showed as well that he is still an anti-immigration populist with a deep love of neo-liberal economic policies.

Meanwhile, around one thousand people took part on Saturday in Tampere in neo-Nazi and anti-fascist demonstrations, reports YLE News.

Continue reading “Saturday was a day of marching neo-Nazis and coded populist anti-immigration rhetoric”

Ilari Kaila & Tuomas Kaila: Finland, we hardly knew

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Migrant Tales insight: The op-ed piece below gives another view of Finland that appears to always be the best, the happiest, the most successful in everything. All of this is happening, as the authors, Ilari Kaila and Tuomas Kaila correctly point out how the Finnish welfare state is being eroded with the rise of the far right.

The op-ed piece was published in Jacobin Magazine.

The Finnish welfare state is being eroded, and the far right has gained momentum. As the country turns one hundred, what’s happened to Finland?

You’ve got to hand it to Finland: in its centennial year, the country enjoys “strong brand recognition” and “positive brand sentiment” — to use the kind of corporate-speak that’s in vogue with much of Finland’s contemporary political class.

Judging by the international news stories circulating on social media, our native country is a veritable Shangri-La. Its citizens are ecstatically happy — perhaps because we are a mysterious people “of quiet strength and pride,” or because we’ve uncovered the “Secret to Success With Schools, Moms, Kids . . .and Everything.” Finns aren’t just technologically but socially innovative. Everyone is taken care of, from the cradle to the grave, by a friendly Santa Claus state: even as we speak, Finland is pushing the boundaries of its already stellar public education and social welfare systems. The country is welcoming and egalitarian, with free health care for all and high speeding tickets for millionaires. It’s inclusive and progressive; last in corruption, number one in homoerotic postage stamps.

But here’s a more urgent story you aren’t likely to see: much of what once made Finland an exceptional place to live is being systematically dismantled. Finland should not be held up as a beacon of equality and progress. All the media hype and myths notwithstanding, there is no secret Nordic formula for social justice. The famed Finnish welfare state, while still much more generous than the US’s, mirrors the trajectory of other industrialized nations, from its advancement after World War II to its current erosion. And with the curtailment of the welfare state, political space is opening up for the far right.

So how did we get here?

Read the full story here.

The Rise and Fall of a Nordic Welfare State

On New Year’s Eve 1917, a Finnish delegation, seeking an audience with Russia’s new Bolshevik leadership, waited patiently in the ice-cold lobby of the Council of People’s Commissars in St Petersburg. The place was brimming with people: chain-smoking commissars, civil servants, typists, sailors, Red Army officers.

Read the full story here.

Introducing presidential hopeful Laura Huhtasaari, the Islamophobe with the kindergarten teacher smile

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The far-right anti-immigration Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party announced Friday that their first vice president, Laura Huhtasaari, is their candidate for the 2018 presidential elections. The announcement didn’t surprise anyone but it did raise a lot of media and social media interest. 

There are many things we could say about Huhtasaari. The short description below will give you a taste of what she is:

Huhtasaari is an avid Islamophobe, a Donald Trump supporter, a creationist who wants to see Finland shut its doors to asylum seekers and wants keep the country white and ditch the EU. Her white image and her bigoted comments have earned her the title at Migrant Tales of the Islamophobe with the kindergarten teacher smile.

Even if Huhtasaari is a special needs teacher and she should know better, Reija Härkönen revealed in January how she shamelessly plagiarized other people’s text.

Some believe that if she can copy other people’s text with such ease, the same could have happened in her master’s thesis, which was on multicultural classrooms.

Huhtasaari’s thesis could be accessed on the Internet a few years ago. That is no longer possible.

Helsingin Sanomat writes that experts say that Huhtasaari is a different type of presidential candidate since she is an under-40-year-old woman with no foreign policy experience and a creationist.

What does Huhtasaari represent and what does it say about the far right in Finland?

Even if her candidacy attracted a lot of attention a recent poll gave showed her popularity at 1%. That compares with 62% for President Sauli Niinistö and 11% for Green Party hopeful Pekka Haavisto. Continue reading “Introducing presidential hopeful Laura Huhtasaari, the Islamophobe with the kindergarten teacher smile”