The vandalism that took place on Sunday against the Turku Synagogue did not come as a surprise, said Harry Serlo, a spokesperson of the Jewish Community of Turku.
“What happened is a general trend [in Finland] and should be seen in such a light,” he said. “I don’t like to talk just about anti-Semitism but how all minorities are targets of such hatred [these days].”
Serlo said he was especially happy with President Sauli Niinistö’s reaction and condemnation of what occurred.
The spokesperson of the Jewish Community of Turku said that the best way to counter anti-Semitism and other forms of hatred against minorities is not only political leadership but respect for diversity, which should be taught at an early stage at schools.
“This is a long process [to root out hatred] and will take a very long time before matters start to change for the better,” he said.
The Turku Synagogue was built in 1912 and is one of two synagogues in Finland today. The size of the Jewish community of Finland numbers over a thousand members.
National Coalition Party chairperson Petteri Orpo tweets that “I condemn the vandalism against the Turku Synagog and I’m satisfied that the Turku city council signed a motion [condemning] what happened.”
Orpo’s support is important, but the question that arises from what happened is if there are different scales of importance when it comes to vandalism motivated by hate.
When the Resalat Shia mosque in Eastern Helsinki was in March when it was vandalized with hate graffiti a day before the Christchurch mosque shootings, no politician expressed outrage.
Petteri Orpo tweets:“I condemn the vandalism against the Turku Synagog and I’m satisfied that the Turku city council signed a motion [condemning] what happened.”
This is a sad example of political hypocrisy even if both cases are equally alarming.
On the left is the Turku Synagogue and on the right, the Resalat Shia Mosque in Eastern Helsinki. Sources: Yle and Facebook.
Another matter that does not seem right in Orpo’s condemnation is his anti-immigration track record when he was interior minister and later finance minister.
Below are some of the questionable matters that Orpo and the previous government (2015-2019) of Prime Minister Juha Sipilä “had to be reviewed” in the face of an “unseen wave” of asylum seekers that came in 2015:
Free legal representation restricted to applicants who required exceptional grounds for assistance;
Deadline for appeals was lowered from 30 to 21 days after a second rejection and to 14 days after the third rejection;
The government tightened appeal times in the hope of ejecting asylum seekers faster from Finland;
There were further administrative restrictions and practical difficulties making the application process more complicated;
Tightened family reunification laws;
No time limit on detaining families with children in immigration removal centers like Joutseno and Metsälä;
Lack of government leadership in tackling Islamophobia and racism contributed to Finland’s hostile environment affecting migrants and inhumane immigration policy.
Finnish politicians like Orpo condemn racist acts with one hand but with another encourage them.
Migrant Tales insight:A few days ago, I got an email from Mehdi Ghasemi, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Tampere and Suomalaisen Kirjallisuuden Seura (SKS). He says that he’s working on a project that aims to increase the “visibility, readability, and research on immigrant authors in Finland.”
His latest book, Opening Boundaries: “Toward Finnish Heterolinational Literatures,” is an anthology by twenty-four immigrant authors living in Finland from sixteen different nationalities in ten different languages.
Opening Boundaries: Toward Finnish Heterolinational Literatures is a part of our project, entitled “Toward a More Inclusive and Comprehensive Finnish Literature,” conducted at the Finnish Literature Society (SKS) and the University of Tampere during 2018-2019. The anthology includes some literary outputs by twenty-four immigrant authors, living in Finland from sixteen different nationalities, and their works in ten different languages make this collection multilingual. However, for the sake of readability, the translation of some of their works in Finnish or English has been offered.
This cross-cultural collection of texts demonstrates the emergence and growth of new heterogeneous, multicultural and multilingual literatures within the Finnish literary canon. This anthology is also an indication of our cultural and literary activities, which, if appreciated, can further grow and enrich the Finnish literary canon. In that case, the literary works produced by immigrant authors in Finland not only diversify the narratives, languages, themes and genres of Finnish literature, but also add to the literary credits of their host society. This would pave the way for the celebration of ethnorelativism and recognition of all authors, regardless of their races and languages, involved actively to promote Finnish literature. Since immigrant authors reside in Finland, they usually take their subjects from the Finnish society, history, culture, language and literature, mix them with their transnational and transcultural experiences and eventually offer a body of literature, which proffers different insights and transforms Finnish literature in both form and content.
Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce to you the Soldiers of Odin, a far-right group with close ties with neo-Nazis. When they appeared, the media seemed to be amazed and swept off its feet, while the police played down the problem, just like the previous government did.
Just like in the Oulu sexual assault cases, the police asked white Finns to avoid contact with foreigners (see below). Even so, the most surprising matter is how the police played down the real threat: far-right vigilante gangs like the Soldiers of Odin.
Detective Chief Inspector Markku Tuominen is quoted as warning Finns to avoid taking routes that are risky. He states: “If a foreigner attempts to make close contact with you, you should leave rapidly and, if needed, call the emergency response center. It would be advisable to save the 112 number as a shortcut number on your phone. You should not begin talking with a foreigner because he may get the wrong signal.” Source: Helsingin Sanomat.
Apart from Tuominen’s example, the police in Häme, which welcomed Asikkala-Turva vigilante gang despite some of its members have criminal records.
The police service of Häme is an unfortunate, disappointing example of how biased the Finnish police service is when it welcomed Asikkala-Turva’s vigilante gang activity even though one of its members has a criminal record. Criticized by then-Interior Minister Petteri Orpo for being too lenient, according to Helsingin Sanomat.
Soldiers of Odin founder Mika Ranta, who promises to pay 1,000 euros to anyone who knock a woman’s teeth down her throat. Source: Twitter.
National Police Commissioner Seppo Kolehmainen didn’t shine either in the face of these far-right groups. He stated in 2016 that vigilante gangs are fine as long as they didn’t break the law. “It’s a positive matter that [Finnish] citizens [note: not migrants] are interested in their neighborhood’s security and take part and debate in such matters,” he was quoted as saying in Helsingin Sanomat.
Apart from having a reputation for one of the best education systems in the world, Finland has the dubious honor of exporting far-right ideology.
The Anti-Defamation League warned about the presence of the vigilante gang in the United States.
It says in a statement: “Moreover, Soldiers of Odin USA is attracting adherents from both of the two largest segments of the American extreme right—white supremacists and the antigovernment extremist “Patriot” movement—and may be the most significant coalition of such extremists in the U.S. since the early 1990s.”
The Soldiers of Odin are a group that glorifies violence and Nazi ideology. In Migrant Tales, we have written a number of stories exposing their violent ideology like taking over a border checkpoint in Tornio.
“Part of the problem seems to lie with Finnish politicians who truly believe that having a dialogue – any dialogue, regardless of who is on the opposite side of the table – is better than having no dialogue at all. So you can easily end up with the equivalent of a businessman trying to reach an agreement with Al Capone.”
Talking to the likes of Jussi Halla-aho and his political cronies, who have built their careers on racism won’t work because those who try will be exploited and crushed.
And why should I talk to a racist? A racist is a racist who is set on his idea. The racist has to make the first move and renounce his hateful ideology.
PS MP Juha Mäenpää is the latest example of an Islamophobic politician who is afraid to stand by what he said in June, when he compared during a session of parliament asylum seekers, who are mostly Muslim, as an “invasive species.”
Mäenpää hates Muslims. He is the same person who in 2015 said that god had answered his prayers when an asylum reception center, which going to be used to house refugees, was razed to the ground. Mäenpää is a member of the Nazi-spirited Suomen Sisu association as well.
Juha Mäenpää is an Islamophobe who is member of a Nazi-spirited association, Suomen Sisu. Source: Yle News.
After over a half a year, Prosecutor General Raija Toiviainen announced Thursdaythat she plans to charge Mäenpää for ethnic agitation. This may be better said than done since for an MP to be charged, it requires the approval of five-sixths of parliament, or of 167 out of 200 MPs.
The PS, which has said that they will vote against such a proposal, has 39 MPs, which would be enough to force the proposal to be voted down.
The defiant attitude of Mäenpää was clearly seen when the police questioned him. He refused to answer some of the police questions and stated that it wasn’t his fault for how people interpret what he said.
What a bully! What a coward! Chicken!
Should we be surprised by Mäenpää’s reaction to the ethnic agitation charges? Not at all. Those who bully and use their power to push around others are usually cowards when challenged.
Calling Muslim asylum seekers an “invasive species” is 1930 déjà vu, when the Nazi regime victimized and systematically murdered Jews and other minorities.
Andrew Stroehlein is a spokesperson for Human Rights Watch.Entrance to the Auschwitz death camp where it mockingly reads: “Work will set you free.” On January 27,1945 the camp was liberated. Photo: Enrique Tessieri.
In many schools where there are people from different cultural and ethnic backgrounds, they may be asked to participate in “cultural events” where the pupils are obliged to represent their perceived country and or culture.
Is this ok? Is the problem too much emphasis on “us” and “them?”
One matter that gets lost or forgotten in these types of cultural events is if the non-white pupil considers Finland his or her home country.
Certainly, the pupil does not aim to be white but be himself a fully-fledged member of this society under his or her own cultural and ethnic terms.
By emphasizing “us” versus “them” we are excluding and reinforcing that these people are of “foreign background” and belong to some abstract culture they have only experienced through their parents.
In some cases, these cultural events may turn out to be forums to reinforce our stereotypes of our culture and of others.
These cultural events arranged at schools are a reflection of the prejudices and the place non-white people have in our society.
Let’s stop with this racist nonsense and ask non-white pupils to tell about their home country, which is Finland.
When I came to live permanently in Finland over 40 years ago, people like me were seen as an ethnic anomaly. Sometimes having a different skin color or looking “foreign” meant receiving microaggressions like people shoving your child with a lighted cigarette that burns them, or hearing a perfect stranger saying something racist to you in public.
I know children who aren’t white Finns of hiding from the sun because it darkens their skin. What kind of a society do we live in where children see the sun as something negative because it tans their beautiful brown skins?
The more culturally diverse Finland becomes more racism. The only reason why some Finns believed that there was no racism in the country was that there weren’t enough foreigners or “foreign-looking people” to load off or test how racist they are.
Matters will get worse before they improve.
The hostile environment, political cowardice and the rise of a hostile Islamophobic party are just a few signs on the wayward journey.
Migrant Tales insight:A couple of days ago with got a message from Yaseen Ghaleb, who wants to share his poetry with us. He published a novel, which will be in the Cairo book fair in January and called +15, which highlights how migrants and Finns can find common ground. The book will be present at the Cairo Book Fair. “In the collection of my poems,” he stated, “I mention the homelessness, [two] homelands, being an outsider, my fears and worries in Finland since I came here in 2015. The poems help me to confront and challenge the many issues I have suffered and still do.”
Ghaleb is a member of Finnish Pen, an organization that promotes freedom of expression in Finland and globally.
Yassen Ghaleb
Execution celebration
An hour ago garden´s locusts
chirped blood to the grass.
It was a playground for little kids.
Later three men,
were there to arrange
their slounched shoulders in line,
Such as breast of slumped dog,
their names alphabetically
in disorder.
It was a coincidence,
that death had no options.
How weak he was ?
despite of his strength.
The hand of life was better
if it protected from bullets.
But in the garden was an event
with grasshoppers.
They played the party of blood,
their skinny legs as violin and bow.
It was no coincidence
that with men
came lumps of flesh
that had died even before
swallowing all the bullets…
at once, without respect of
the doctor/God.
“Emigrant” by Fadhel Dabbagh.
Teloitusjuhla
Runo Yassen
Ghaleb
Suom. Lauri
Vanhala
Tunti sitten puutarhan heinäsirkat
sirittivät verta nurmikolle.
Se oli pienten lasten leikkipaikka.
Myöhemmin kolme miestä
oli siellä järjestelemässä
retkottavia olkapäitään linjaan
romahtaneen koiran rinnalle, nimensä
aakkostamattomina epäjärjestyksessä.
Oli sattuma, ettei kuolemalla
ollut vaihtoehtoja.
Kuinka heikko hän olikaan
huolimatta vahvuudestaan.
Elämän käsi oli parempi
jos se suojasi luoteilta.
Mutta puutarhassa oli tapahtuma
heinäsirkkojen kanssa.
Ne soittivat veren juhlan,
laihat jalkansa viuluna ja jousena.
Ei ollut sattuma,
että miesten mukana
tuli lihan riekaleita,
jotka olivat kuolleet jo aiemmin,
nielaisten kaikki luodit…
kerralla, kunnioittamatta
Jumalten lääkäriä.
I told them once:
I sweared by my honor,
I
didn´t betrayed my homeland.
I
sweared by the dough of dust
and sweat on my military uniform,
with I waived bloody and folded.
Over my smoke and armor-oil
tainted khaki-shirt,
which formed a drawn map
and lost it´s prestige in defeats,
I
assured.
I
sweared by the Lord of wars,
the president, the Prophet,
the Messenger, the guardian,
through deity and Mars.
And through the one,
who used to perform
with his mustaches with Berry…
loaded with heavy medals
like thugs I sweared that;
but bullets were gone.
Sanoin heille kerran:
Vannoin kunniani kautta,
etten pettänyt kotimaatani.
Vannoin savipölytahtaan kautta,
ja hikisen sotilasuniformuni kautta,
jonka luovutin verisenä ja viikattuna.
Yli savun ja panssariöljyn
tahraaman khaki-paitani,
joka muodosti piirretyn kartan
ja menetti arvonsa tappioissa,
minä vakuutin.
Vannoin sotien Herran nimeen,
presidentin, profeetan,
lähettilään, suojelijan,
kautta jumaluuden ja Marsin.
Ja sen yhden kautta,
jolla oli tapana esiintyä
viiksiensä kera Berryn kanssa…
varustautuneena raskailla mitaleilla kuten
roistot, minä vannoin sen;
A total of 31 ethnic agitation cases were placed on the desk of the public prosecutor in 2019, which is a 59.2% drop from 76 cases in the previous year, according to Yle.
The number of ethnic agitation cases looks even more somber if we compare them with the cases that ended up in court. In 2016, only 11.9% ended up in court; the corresponding figure for 2017 and 2018 was 16.7% and 58.1%, respectively.
Ethnic agitation cases that ended up in district court in 2018. Even if such cases rose by 138.5% last year to 31, it is still only the microscopic tip of the iceberg. Source: Justice Ministry. The number of ethnic agitation cases brought to the public prosecutor during 2016-2018.
Like hate crime and ethnic agitation cases, reporting sexual assault cases face the same challenges.
If Green League MP Iris Suomela is to be believed, she said in parliament in September that there are “hundreds of thousands” rape cases in Finland, of which 50,000 are reported annually to Victim Support Finland (RIKU). Of these, the police record about 1,200 cases of which around 200 get sentences.
Yle blames the lack of funding for the sharp drop in ethnic agitation cases investigated by the police.
“One reason is that the police don’t investigate online hate speech as actively as before,” Yle reports. In 2017, funds were earmarked to the police to recruit more police to investigate, among other matters, online hate speech.”
The number of online police officers has been scaled back. Police inspector Måns Enqvist of the National Board of Police of Finland said that there at the most 10 online police officers monitoring hate speech.
In the face of rising hate speech and ethnic friction, it is bad news for migrants and minorities in Finland.
Apart from funding, an important question we could ask is if the police prioritize hate crime cases and if they care. Sure, we can hear all the lip service about how the police have zero tolerance for racism, but in many cases, some of their actions speak louder than words.
Below are some incidents that eat away at police credibility and their standing in our culturally diverse community:
The national police commissioner, Seppo Kolehmainen, said in 2018 that wants more funds for future “no-go zones” in Finland;
A 2016 poll showed that close to 80% of the police in a survey considered the asylum seeker crisis as the most serious* threat to Finnish security;
The same poll above revealed that 25.1% of those polled voted for the National Coalition Party (NCP) and 24.4% for the Perussuomalaiset (PS) [1]. The PS and NCP parties are the most anti-immigration parties in parliament;
Ethnic profiling by the police is more widespread than believed. A comprehensive ethnic profiling study in 2018 confirmed the latter;
In the light of a drop in funds to investigate online hate crime and the questionable record of the police concerning racism among its ranks, there is only one conclusion: Online hate crime isn’t a high-priority issue for the police that exposes society’s exceptionalism.
Muhaned Durubi. is an Iraqi refugee who finds meaning and peace in poetry. His latest book, Rusty Sketches Book, attempts to look at his otherness and being exiled.
Correction: The poet’s correct first name is Muhaned, not Muhamed.
