Finland Archives - Page 247 of 359

Migrant Tales Literary: Death

Posted on August 5, 2013 by Migrant Tales

By Dana

Death is calling me, caaall calling

Because my life is a bore, booore bore

Death is teaching me, hooow… why

That i may enjoy Mama’s company, hiiigh high.

Death is calling my name, oh that’s well

Because in Finland i have nothing to heal

Death is calling my heart, wow its dark

Finnish law biting at my flesh, it’s a big shark

Death is calling my soul, ding dong dalang

Racist working trampling my rights, they are a gang

Death is telling me to come, give me your hands

I cannot leave my bro, he is my chance

Death is showing me its face, moon and space

I cannot come with you now, light is my case

Death is dancing here full of a joy

But my dad is shouting at me…stay in world

Death is singing to me inside a bird

My Mama kisses my head tells me, darling girl

Death is in everywhere, I’m a refugee

The system gave me problems, sharp and huge

Death is coming to me in my dreams

Oh please leave me alone, i have to sing

Death is jumping around, it is in a jail

Finland is a wolf in my life, listen to my wail.

Victimizing and labeling immigrants for political profit

Posted on August 5, 2013 by Migrant Tales

UK’s David Cameron is one European PM who is using immigration to bolster his Conservative Party’s poll ratings. It’s a recurring and worrisome political story across Europe: let’s get tough on immigration so we can gain a few percentage points in the polls. This type of campaigning is not only cowardly, but racist and disgraceful.

Source BBC.

In Finland, we do matters in the same way but the methods we use are different.

Finnish politicians have always been aware of the undercurrent of hostility and fear of foreigners. For decades they have been careful not to upset voters by speaking up for immigrants and cultural diversity.

Something happened in the April 2011 election, when the Perussuomalaiset (PS) attained their historic victory. It was the first time that a party during modern Finnish times openly used anti-immigration rhetoric to lure voters.

This is understandable taking into account that Finland was effectively a closed country to immigrants and foreign investment up to 1995, when it became an EU member and matters started to change.

I asked a Social Democratic Party MP in the mid-1980s why doesn’t she doesn’t stand up for immigrants. She told me that it wasn’t a smart idea because you could anger voters. Anti-foreign sentiment was deeply rooted in Finland.

When I approached around 1984 National Police Commissioner Olli Urponen in parliament and asked him why Finland made life so hard for immigrants, his answer was straightforward: “We want to keep the criminals out of Finland.”

When I asked Urponen that question, 0.3% of Finland’s total population was foreign in 1983-86. according to the Population Register Center. Many of these so-called foreigners, who totaled in 1984 15,702 people, were Finnish expats.

Finland’s immigrant population totals today 195,511, accounting for 3.6% of the population.

While there are many Finns who believe in cultural diversity, there are still many who oppose it tooth and nail. A good example of Finland’s anti-immigration undercurrent was the April 2011 election, which gave the anti-EU, anti-immigration and anti-Islam Perussuomalaiset (PS) their historic election victory.

Coming to terms with our ever-growing cultural diversity isn’t easy. Unfortunately, Finns have been taught in the past at school and at home that this country is white and that foreigners should be perceived as a threat.

This perception of diversity is odd considering that over 1.2 million Finns emigrated between 1860 and 1999. If all of them would have stayed in Finland, our population today would be about 7 million.

We have a lot of work to unlearn what we have learned about ourselves and others.

The sooner we begin in earnest this task, the better for Finland.

Why aren’t we outraged enough by intolerance?

Posted on August 3, 2013 by Migrant Tales

Finnish department store J. Kärkkäinen’s Magneettimedia writings are a disturbing sign of how anti-Semitism, like anti-immigration and anti-Islam sentiment, have gained a foothold in Finland. And why shouldn’t it find fertile ground to grow in this country? During the past years, the genie of intolerance has been let out of the bottle and it shows.

We’re still not outraged enough by intolerance. If we were, it would be on the defensive.

Why aren’t we?

One of the reasons is that we fallaciously believe that our racism works in our favor.

If many of us have little idea how destructive racism is, some are at an even greater loss when it comes to finding ways to challenge it.

Why are we so much in the dark about the pernicious impact of racism on society? The answer sits right under our noses: It is what maintains the national and global status quo of power. There’s a lot of clout and wealth to be made by maintaing such a socially unjust national and global system intact.

Turn in a new leaf

While Juha Kärkkäinen, the owner of the retail company that carries his same name promises to no longer publish anti-Semitic pieces by the likes of David Duke and Ted Pike, the damage has been done.

But to whom?

Two matters are crucial in order for racism to thrive and survive another day: apathy of the victims (they’ve given up before the fight has even begun), and denial-secrecy (intolerance is the most effective and strongest when it works behind the scenes and is institutionalized).

By publishing virulent anti-Semitic opinion pieces by racists like Duke, who was the former head of the Ku Klux Klan, Kärkkäinen does a disfavor to all those confessed and closet racists in Finland and elsewhere because it exposes the problem.

After the horrors of Nazi Germany, which was responsible for the systematic death of some six million Jews, one way to ensure that Jews would not fall victim of such massive treachery was by lobbying and confronting anti-Semitism head on.

The many victories of the Simon Wiesenthal Center against anti-Semitism is a source of inspiration and a reminder that the only way to confront intolerance is by challenging it directly. Silence will encourage greater hostility, not undermine it.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center sent a letter to President Sauli Niinistö expressing concern over the anti-Semitic writings on Magneettimedia.

But do other ethnic and religious groups have the same resources? If not, are they doomed to suffer for generations social exclusion and discrimination?

Perussuomalaiset

How do you explain and justify the rise of an anti-immigration and anti-Islam party in Finland like the Perussuomalaiset (PS) in April 2011, and which is still as popular as ever as a recent YLE poll shows?

It suggests that we live in a society where intolerance is fruiting and continues to shortchange others of opportunities. It is the very undercurrent that has geysered in Denmark with the Islamophobic Danish People’s Party, in Holland with Geert Wilders, in England with Prime Minister David Cameron’s “Go Home or Face Arrest” campaign, in Germany with Chancellor Angela Merkel’s “multiculturalism has utterly failed” statement, and Finland with the PS.

Even if the PS is the most vocal anti-immigration and anti-cultural diversity political force in Finland, its popularity could have never reached present levels without the direct or indirect support of Finland’s political establishment.

As long as our collective denial, that we have intolerance under control or it is a “minor problem,” we will continue to feed it and it will continue to grow.

If we have learned little from the horrors of two World Wars and xenophobia, which is raising its head higher than before these days in Europe, it proves that our education is deficient and outright racist. We are not taught tolerance at school but more effectively, in fine print, code and in between the lines, intolerance.

It’s clear why we aren’t outraged by such a destructive force.

We are content with the way things are because intolerance doesn’t threaten us directly.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

Magneettimedia of Finland will no longer publish anti-Semitic writings of David Duke, Ted Pike and others

Posted on August 2, 2013 by Migrant Tales

Magneettimedia editor and owner, Juha Kärkkäinen, will stop publishing anti-Semitic opinion pieces in the free newspaper, according to Helsingin Sanomat. The publication, which advertises the department store’s products, is published online as well.

“A decision has been made with the board and the content [of the publication] must be more market oriented and we must avoid publishing these types of radical stories [in the future],” said Kärkkäinen but added that restricting the publication of such columns “infringes on free speech.”

While public opinion and challenging directly anti-Semitism can prove useful as the Magneettimedia case shows, it should be applied to all groups. We can achieve a lot by working in a concerted manner against intolerance.

Islamophobia, which is only a modern version of anti-Semitism during the Nazi regime, is rife these days in Europe. The same arguments used by the Nazis against the Jews, but in a different time frame and historical context, are used today against immigrants and visible minorities.

In Finland, the most visible anti-immigration and anti-Islam party is the Perussuomalaiset party.

We can slow its path and cut intolerance’s wings if there is enough public outrage and resolve.

Magneettimedia is a case in point.

Read full story (in Finnish) here.

Some of the anti-Semitic writings that have been published in previous issues of the publication are by extremists like Ted Pike, David Duke and even cartoons that are similar from the former Nazi tabloid, Der Stürmer (1923-45).

The deputy state prosecutor has filed ethnic agitation charges against J Kärkkäinen’s Magneettimediaa for anti-Semitic writings that have appeared in previous issue of the publication.

Numerous anti-Semitic articles have been published in previous issues of Magneettimedia. These include:

The Jews Who Control the Media
Who Owns the Media in 2012?
A Great Video Shows What a Cheat Albert Einstein Really Was!
Zionist Terrorism in Norway
CNN, Goldman Sachs and Zionist Control
How to Break Down and Dominate the Zionists

The last two writings were written by former Ku Klux Klan wizard, Duke.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center – Europe expressed concern in a letter to President Sauli Niinistö about the columns that appeared in the publication.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center reveals the content of the letter to President Niinistö in a statement:

“The letter pointed to “the latest edition of July 2013 that sinks to a new low, featuring an article entitled ‘The Great Rabbi Rape Cover-Up’ (translated from the rantings of a so-called Oregon Pastor, Ted Pike). This is accompanied by a vicious antisemitic cartoon, that could have been taken from the 1930’s Nazi ‘Sturmer.’”

And adds at the end: “It behooves Finland to contain this revival of concepts once current during the 1941-1944 Finnish alliance with Nazi Germany. Mr. President, we expect your response to be prompt and unambiguous,” concluded [Wiesenthal Centre Director for International Relations, Dr. Shimon] Sammuels.”

The organization that hunts Nazi criminals and challenges anti-Semitism globally believes “scapegoating” to be the reason why Kärkkäinen is publishing anti-Semitic columns.

In 2011, Kärkkäinen had to reschedule a 37-million euro debt, according to The Simon Wiesenthal Center statement.

Internet policeman Marko Forss mildly reprimanded by deputy ombudsman for tweeting stereotypes of the Roma

Posted on August 1, 2013 by Migrant Tales

Deputy Parliamentary Ombudsman Jussi Pajuoja mildly reprimanded Internet policeman Marko Forss for tweeting a so-called joke about the Roma, reports YLE. The personal tweet, as Migrant Tales reported in November, spread and strengthened stereotypes about the Roma.

What did Forss, who was named policeman of the year in 2011, tweet?

“Some funny things happen in police work, and for some reason these incidents often involve gypsies. In the best one a gypsy woman drops a frozen chicken from under her clothing in a shop. When police take the group into custody one of the men loudly objects: ‘come on, own up! Who threw that chicken at our Ally?’”*

Forss, who is supposed to be an example on the internet, burned his fingers badly with his so-called joke.

He was even quoted on tabloid Iltalehti as saying, “I don’t see any racism in such a joke,” and “it’s pretty disturbing if [people] are so sensitive.”

Read original blog entry here.

Not only was Forss’ tweet revealing but his defense arguments as well. Certainly a white policeman wouldn’t consider racist or insulting a so-called joke about the Roma, who have suffered their share of social exclusion for five centuries in Finland. The point is that Forss should have known better and understood if his joke was offensive to others.

Some advice for Forss: Don’t make any ethnic jokes because you’ll end up in hot water.

No disciplinary action will be taken against Forss.

Migrant Tales believes that Forss should be replaced since the tweet was a blow to his credibility.

If you disagree, why not ask the Romany minority what they think about Forss’ “joke” and if it fueled greater trust, or suspicion of the police.

* Thanks to Justice Demon for the translation.

Magneettimedia spreads anti-Semitism in Finland

Posted on August 1, 2013 by Migrant Tales

Should we be surprised if anti-Semitism raises its head in Finland alongside anti-Islam, anti-immigration and anti-gay sentiment? Using the same argument as those who spread hate speech against minorities in this country, Magneettimedia, a publication owned by J. Kärkkäinen, claims that an article by anti-Semitic Ted Pike was published to promote public debate.

J. Kärkkäinen is a company based in Ylivieska that develops and owns shopping centers. It is owned by Juha Kärkkäinen, who is editor of Magneettimedia, which advertises the company’s products and has a circulation of 366,500.

Read full story (in Finnish) here.

The latest anti-Semitic opinion piece published on Magneettimedia by Pike is headlined, The Great ”Raping Rabbis” Cover-Up (Suuri “raiskaavien rabbien” salailu).

He writes: “One of the reasons Jewish control of big media is wrong is that it protects the sins of evil Jews, from Hollywood to New York to Tel Aviv, from being openly subjected to the cleansing effect of truthful analysis and criticism. This morally ghettoizes Jews, shielding them from the oxygen of constructive criticism, a force that functions to bless and mature everyone else.”

Using the same arguments as some Perussuomalaiset (PS) politicians, who have been convicted for ethnic agitation, Kärkkäinen claims no wrongdoing and defends Pike’s right to express his anti-Semitic views.

”We don’t have anything against Jews,” he was quoted as saying on YLE. ”The aim of these writings is to promote [public] debate in society [about Jews].”

The deputy state prosecutor has filed ethnic agitation charges against J Kärkkäinen’s Magneettimediaa for anti-Semitic writings that have appeared in previous issue of the publication.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center, which hunts former Nazi war criminals and confronts anti-Semitism globally, sent a letter to President Sauli Niinistö expressing its concern over the anti-Semitic writings on Magneettimedia, reports Oulu-based daily Kaleva.

According to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), Pike is an extremist who has been engaged for years in an anti-Semitic campaign that denigrates the Jewish religion.

Go to original webpage.

Writes ADL: ”To promote his virulent anti-Semitic ideology, Pike often works under the guise of opposing federal hate crimes legislation and upholding free speech and Christian values. He gives interviews to extremist cable TV and Internet radio shows to further disseminate his anti-Semitic views and also links from his organization’s Website to various anti-Semitic sites.”

While it is clear that anti-Semitism is raising its head in Finland and is directly linked to anti-immigration, anti-Islam and anti-gay sentiment, it’s surprising that PS MPs like Jussi Halla-aho, Olli Immonen, Juho Eerola, James Hirvisaari and others are so quiet about the Magneettimedia affair.

Why aren’t they defending the publication’s anti-Semitic writings as “free speech?”

How tabloids like Ilta-Sanomat reinforce our prejudices against immigrants and refugees

Posted on July 31, 2013 by Migrant Tales

Tabloids like Ilta-Sanomat have a lot to learn about fairness, which is the cornerstone of all good news reporting. But tabloids aren’t interested in fairness but in sensationalism. A story by Ilta-Sanomat is headlined: ”Two Somalis use [fake] Yemeni passports to travel to Finland.”

Even if the story suggests that these Somalis are committing a crime because they travel with false passports, there is much more to the case than meets the eye. If the reporters would have bothered to read a related story on 4 News in the UK, the angle of their story would have probably been different.

According to 4 News, hundreds of asylum seekers who used false passports to travel to the UK in the past ten years were abused and wrongly convicted. As a result, the court of appeal quashed the convictions of five victims because they were denied a justifiable defense of the charge.

None of the lawyers told one of the victims like “Jonathan,” who appears on the program, any chance of defending himself. The lawyers advised Jonathan to plead guilty to the charges, which landed him a conviction and a six-month prison sentence.

Apart from having a criminal record, which worsened his chances of finding employment, he was denied for seven years the right to see his wife and child in the U.S. His conviction denied him a visa.

Go here to see the 4 News report.

Read full story here.

Migrant Tales has published numerous Ilta-Sanomat’s racist billboard ads from the 1990s, when Finland’s foreign population started to grow rapidly.

Here’s a tabloid ad from 1992 where then MP Liisa Kulhia wants to put the Russian mafia and Somalis in their places.

The Finnish media reports near-constantly stories that reinforce intolerance of certain ethnic groups. But what can you expect if they don’t know better? If they don’t know better, any self-respecting reporter would get the facts right and rely as less as possible on his prejudices.

Anssi Honkanen’s and Renne Korppila’s Aamupoika radio program on NRJ, one of Finland’s most popular private radio stations, is one recent example of how hostility and intolerance of immigrants is promoted in Finland. The radio commentators claimed that there was a direct link to between crime rates/human trafficking and the Bulgarian and Romanian Roma who come to Finland to beg.

I sent an email to the program challenging their urban tales but never got a reply from either Honkanen or Korppila never mind NRJ.

I wonder if NRJ paid any attention to an official police report in mid-July that Roma beggars aren’t victims of human trafficking or linked to organized crime?

As long as people like Honkanen and Korppila can get away with such racist statements, very little can change.

Will anti-immigration rhetoric boost the PS in the upcoming Finnish elections?

Posted on July 30, 2013 by Migrant Tales

Two important questions arise in light of the upcoming Euro MP and parliamentary elections in Finland in 2014 and 2015, respectively: How many parties will use immigration as an election issue, and will the next two elections reveal the ugly face of intolerance of other political parties in Finland?

If we look at the United Kingdom, there are clear signs that the Conservatives are using the anti-immigration message to boost their standing in the polls.

If the Tories have been able to gain on Labor and Ukip thanks to their anti-immigration message, will political parties jump on the same bandwagon as elections near?

We saw clearly how intolerance made its way into Finnish politics especially since 2008. As the right-wing populist Perussuomalaiset (PS) were becoming a political sensation, the reaction of other parties was shameful to say the least. Instead of challenging the PS’ anti-EU and anti-immigration message, they approved it with their silence and patronizing.

We all remember SDP chairwoman Jutta Urplilainen’s infamous maassa maan tavalla (in Rome do as the Romans do) statement and National Coalition Party head Jyrki Katainen’s affirmation, “debating immigrant issues didn’t make you a racist.”

Even today, Urpilainen’s statement is still used with gusto by some Finns. Some teachers use it to justify their ignorance and their own discriminatory behavior against other ethnic groups.

Politicians and the media must learn to lead and not cave in to pernicious ideologies that promote intolerance. We must look further than 2014 and 2015 if we want to keep Finland a successful society based on social equality for all.

PS chairman Timo Soini has claimed that the April 2011 historic election victory was mainly due to anti-EU and to a lesser degree on anti-immigration sentiment. The affirmation, in my opinion, is a good example of how racism is defended and protected in Finland.

Our intolerance is like having a gun hidden under our pillow. We can use it whenever we need to but we won’t tell anyone that we have such a firearm hidden in our bed.

There are already some clear signs that the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party is investing in the anti-immigration campaign message to lure voters. Riikka Slunga-Poutsalo of the PS “demanded” right after she was elected as the party’s new secretary that Finland should tighten immigration policy.

If the anti-immigration message picks up in the next two years, and there is no reason to believe otherwise, the biggest loser will be Finland.

Our society will not only lose demographically, but economically, socially and politically as well. Anti-immigration means being anti-foreign. Being anti-foreign in a globalized world is like shooting oneself in the leg and curing your wound with populist mumbo jumbo incantations.

It is like putting a noose around our necks as a society.

Darling Baba (Dad): You no longer need a visa to Finland

Posted on July 25, 2013 by Migrant Tales

MT comment: I was sorry to hear from Dana that her father passed away. Two months ago her mother left her. She had been waiting for three years to bring her parents to her side under Finland’s strict family reunification law, which was tightened in 2011. Finland shows its human face by accepting refugees but then it reveals a darker side, where minors and relatives are forced to live separated indefinitely from their loved ones.

In Dana’s case, it’s over for her to reunite with her parents in Finland.

We wish our heartfelt condolences to her and her family.

____________

By Dana

I’m full of tears

But

I can believe it, i can, even if i am able to… i am strong that’s why i can

Everything can happen in a nightmare…Finland is a nightmare.

It is a nightmare …but it can’t be real …so i do not need to be sad… soon, yes, soon, someone will call me and i will wake up from this nightmare with my family.

My father, my Baba, is now gone, too.. he could not wait even two months after my mother passed away to join her,

Oh Baba u were so sad u couldn’t wait even 2 months… do u know that u made the Finnish law so happy??? Oh yes, u made them all happy… they all hate me, Baba, ur case is still in court… Can u believe it, Baba?????

Sigh.

My Baba Love:

Today is 25.7.2013 and it is the 21st century… but Finland doesn’t know in which century its nightmare is.

Who knows that?

Last night he left this life in the hands of my young brother…oh sooooo sad…my Mama left 28.5.2013, and now my Dad, on 24.7.2013

Am i in shock??? I still don’t know… now i am standing up for my rights that’s the only thing that i’m aware of.

He met my Mama last night, what a pleasure, oh sure… i’d love to see them.

I’m going through difficult times, a hard situation.

My family reunification case is gathering dust in a Finnish immigration court… so is this how mean the law is?

Who can exactly explain what is the aim of Finnish law, not to me but to her/him?

My body is in Helsinki and my spirit is in Iran… my brother is alone there…

Oh darling cute brother how much i miss u… be strong, be strong.

I should be there with u now… but i cant even move at this moment from my chair.

I am certain of my nightmare, how is it possible that i have so many problems, suffering such hard times??? Who am i? How can I carry this heavy load? What am I made of??? Am i flesh and bones??? I can’t believe it… i need to wake up from this nightmare and suffering.

I so much need to see my Dad again…. i need him..

Why isn’t there anyone in Finland who takes responsibility for what happened to my parents and my tragedy?

Why doesn’t anyone answer me???

I told you all this because my life is a nightmare.

Finland is a nightmare.

Finland…Nightland

Hey, can somebody tell me in what century i’m living in in Finland?

Death threats and the PS threat to our Nordic way of life

Posted on July 25, 2013 by Migrant Tales

Perussuomalaiset (PS) chairman, Timo Soini, reveals in a recent blog that he got four death threats recently. Interior Minister Päivi Räsänen’s Christian Democratic party received a bomb threat as well, which was reported by tabloid Iltalehti. The death threats are similar to what Swedish-language journalists received a while back. Migrant Tales has been a victim of death threats as well.

The question that we should ask in light of the latter is what these threats say about Finland and where we’re heading today as a country.

One matter it says loud and clearly is that our response to intolerance is far from satisfactory. Those that fuel ethnic hatred, racism and make it their business to polarize society between “us” and “them,” believe opportunistically that hate speech can be their political servant.

How wrong they are! Mass murderer Anders Breivik of Norway is one recent example of how you cannot keep xenophobia and racism on a short leash because it can bite back at its owner, and hard.

Ali Esbati, a survivor of 22/7,* when Breivik murdered 77 innocent victims on his Islamophobic rampage in Norway in 2011, was quoted as saying on The Local, which cites an op-ed on Aftonbladet, that Norway had learned little from the massacre. He claimed that the “undergrowth of hateful rhetoric” had recovered from the attacks by Breivik.

Read story here.

While anti-immigration parties in the Nordic region suffered election losses due to Breivik, the approval rating of the anti-immigration Progress Party (FrP) of Norway has swelled today to 20% in the polls.

An editorial on Oulu-based daily Kaleva writes about the death threats against Soini.

”Hate speech has been raging for a long time, and there are among Perussuomalaiset MPs people who have been sentenced for ethnic agitation. From the mouthes of the Perussuomalaiset we’ve read uncensored text that is written off as humor.

Death threats show that the hate speech can travel the other way. The party’s figurehead Soini is the victim of such a situation.”

To use a recent example of how the PS fuels hatred in Finland, one of its MPs, James Hirvisaari, published on Facebook the wonderful time he spent with Seppo Lehto, a far right agitator who was imprisoned for inciting ethnic hatred.

On the same weekend, he said in a tweet that a reporter working for tabloid Iltalehti ”masturbated wildly” when he was interviewed by him on the phone.

Add to the latter the near-constant hate speech against gays, elites, immigrants, and groups like Muslims from parties like the PS and a broader worrisome picture emerges of the problem.

Intolerance breeds more intolerance until it snaps like on 22/7 or turns into something more sinister like Germany 1933.

*I was surprised to see The Local use 22/7 to describe the mass murders that took place in Norway in 2011. Using a date for a tragedy is a way to honor and respect the victims.