Tag: Islamophobia

PS’ Jyrki Åland wishes Corona to kill migrants in Varisuo, Turku

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TOPLINE

Jyrki Åland, the chairperson of the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* chapter of Turku, was quoted as saying that it would be a positive matter if Covid-19 deaths would “would do a lot of good” to Varisuo, a neighborhood of Turku where 48% of its inhabitants don’t speak Finnish or Swedish as their mother tongue.

The statement by Åland was criticized by the party. PS party secretary, Simo Grönroos, who said such statements have no place in the party.

CRITICAL QUOTE

“Yes, I would place an order for some [Covid-19 deaths like in Sweden] here for Turku’s Varisuo [neighborhood]. It is a neighborhood where migrants live and possibly a small Corona cleansing job would do a lot of good there.”

Jyrki Åland’s quote in the interview where he wishes that migrants living in Turku’s Varisuo neighborhood would die from Covid-19. Source: Twitter

The following day, Åland is contacted by tabloid Iltalehti about his statement, which was not supposed to be taken seriously.

Iltalehti: Do you really wish that people will die of Corona in Varisuo?

Åland: No, no, no. It wasn’t said seriously. It was only meant for the audience [listening to the interview] as a joke, a sort of a bad joke, but anyway.

Iltalehti: Is it a joke if you say something like that in such a straightforward manner?

Åland: Well, it depends on the person and how he interprets what I said. You should not take it too seriously.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR

Åland did admit that using hindsight, his statement was a bad idea. He said he plans to apologize.

Even if Åland appears to regret what he said, this is not the first time that the PS has made racist and hostile statements against migrants and minorities.

Piia Kattelus-Kilpeläinen: Put another fascist feather in my PS cap

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Piia Kattelus-Kilpeläinen is the latest example of the bedfellows of the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party. The councilperson from Seinäjoki, where she works as a police officer, offers an odd New Year’s greeting, all with a fascist Lapua Movement, Lapua like, (1928-1932) pullover, an ax, and a chain.

A publicity stunt of a media-hungry person craving for attention. Yes, true. Moreover, a person who would care less about the police’s image.

The PS has had several politicians who are from the police force. How could we forget Olli Sademies, convicted of ethnic agitation, Leena Meri, Tom Packalén, Mika Raatikainen, and others?

Former Helsinki substitute councilperson Sademies played dumb in court about his racist comments.

“I haven’t done anything wrong,” he was quoted as saying in 2017 by Demokraatti . “What is that ethnic group anyway that I have agitated? Charging me is absurd, and it’s a racist opinion.”

So what did Sademies actually say about Africans and Muslims?

Sademies’ post in May 2015 on Facebook suggested that since Africans threaten to destroy Finland’s social welfare system because they have so many babies. Therefore it “would require forced sterilization of African men [after three children], which would stop such a flood [of people coming to Finland] from obtaining a better living standard by shagging.”

Writes Kattelus-Kilpeläinen: “During the following year [2021], the Perussuomalaiset will become trendy and will be able to walk on Bulevardi street [in Helsinki] with a coffee with the colors of the Lapua Movement [a fascist group that was dissolved in 1932 after attempting a coup] [in Helsinki] without creating a commotion.”

All of the above-mentioned police officers who are PS politicians are known for their anti-Islam stances, which are so blatant at times that one wonders if it forms part of their police training.

Continue reading “Piia Kattelus-Kilpeläinen: Put another fascist feather in my PS cap”

Hall of Shame: Finland’s 2020 Islamophobic and Afrophobic network

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Choosing the key figures in the Islamophobic and Afrophobic Hall of Shame wasn’t difficult even during a year ravaged by Covid-19. The task was to choose the most obvious culprits and other ones in the media that fuel and maintain such a toxic environment.

In putting together this year’s Hall of Shame, I was quickly overwhelmed by many politicians and other players of Finland’s Islamophobic and Afrophobic network.

We are looking at Islamophobia and Afrophobia because it is the most common and vile form of racism found in Finland. This has been well documented by The European Islamophobia Report 2019 and The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), and others.

One matter that Islamophobia, Afrophobia, and other forms of racism seek is to exclude others from enjoying their equal rights. Their narrative and actions are based on reinforcing prejudices and placing all types of obstacles.

Source: Islamophobia-definition.com. See also European Islamophobia Report 2019, which states: “When talking about Islamophobia, we mean anti-Muslim racism. […] Islamophobia is about a dominant group of people aiming at seizing, stabilizing and
widening their power by means of defining a scapegoat – real or invented – and
excluding this scapegoat from the resources/rights/definition of a constructed ‘we’
Source: European Network Against Racism.

Thus politicians, political parties, and the media build their racism and stereotypes on the wings of lies, those that cause harm to not only its victims but to society in the erosion of human rights and democracy. The list of the central figures of Finland’s Islamophobic and Afrophobic network is published to challenge their toxic narrative and to never forget who they are.

Central Figures

Political Parties and Politicians

The most Islamophobic and Afrophobic political grouping in Finland is the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party, with the National Coalition Party (Kokoomus) and Christian Democrats getting close honorable mentions.

Key parties in Finland’s Islamophobic and Afrophobic network are the PS, National Coalition Party, and Christian Democrats.

Under its former leader, Timo Soini, the PS discovered that there is a lot of potential for growth by capitalizing on racism targeting Muslims and Somalis. It is the only modern party in Finland that has exploited this social ill to gain political power. Their moment came in 2011 when the party gained in the parliamentary election 39 seats from 5 previously.

Even if it would be challenging to find a PS MP who did not use the Islamophobia card to get elected, the same applies to the whole party. The PS gets part of its hate fuel from its ties with far-right and neo-Nazi groups. The few that aren’t Islamophobes in the party are the pins in a haystack.

Some of the most “notable” PS politicians who made it to the Hall of Shame list are Juho Mäenpää, Riikka Purra, Ano Turtiainen (former parliamentary member) Veikko Villen. The two PS members that are the dark forces or the enablers behind Finland’s toxic racist environment are Jussi Halla-aho and Matias Turkkila.

Continue reading “Hall of Shame: Finland’s 2020 Islamophobic and Afrophobic network”

Finland’s Hall of Shame of its Islamophobic and Afrophobic network will be published on December 30

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Migrant Tales will publish on Wednesday, December 30, people, politicians, the media, and political parties that spread Islamophobia and Afrophobia during 2020.

If you would like to participate in the making of this list, please send your suggestions to [email protected].

Who made it to Finland’s Islamophobic and Afrophobic Hall of Shame in 2020.

We believe that social ills like Islamophobia, Afrophobia, and all forms of racism should be a source of scorn and not a feather in one’s cap as MP Ano Turtiainen infamously said in 2019.

The PS appears desperate as their source for alternative news dims with the end of US President Trump’s administration

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The Perussuoalaiset (PS)* party’s tactics are in a desperate mode as the days in office of their US political mentor, President Donald Trump, ends on January 20.

PS MEP Laura Huhtasaari, a staunch Trump supporter who nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize, is one of Finland’s most representative white supremacist politicians.

Her aide, Olli Kotro, is also well known for his absurd statements and views. The latest one was seen on Saturday when he claimed that the words “Finland Suomi” did not appear on passports issued in Finland.

Kotro, who commonly uses fake news to drive home his extremist views, claimed that the source was a post on Instagram, whose identity he could not reveal for fear that the person would suffer attacks on social media.

Olli Kotro claims that the picture on the left is authentic. When asked (right picture) if it is authentic, he states that the picture is of a private person whose identity he wants to keep a secret. Source: Twitter

Kotro’s narrative is a copy-and-paste job of his boss, Huhtasaari, who in term constantly copy and pastes Islamophobic and alt-right diatribes. The strategy of far-right politicians like Kotro and Huhtasaari is not truth but raising the absurdity level to get attention. Their followers are like chronic fast-food consumers.

Their followers don’t mind since they are gullible if the fake news reinforces their prejudices.

Huhtasaari is such an avid white supremacist that she must spend hours shining her whiteness with the help of hair dye and makeup.

Pictures of showing the distinct phases of Huhtasaari’s “whiteness.”
Laura Huhtasaari in “good” company together (left) with far-right politicians like Marine Le Pen and Matteo Salvini. With US Vice President Mike Pence and the “nice” members that comprise (right) the EU’s far-right Identity and Democracy (ID) parliamentary bloc. Surprisingly, the Finnish media forgets to mention the PS’ membership in the ID bloc. Source: Facebook

Mayday, Mayday! Two women and six children entering Finland

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Following on and off news about the repatriation of Finnish citizens from the al-Hol refugee camp raises a lot of questions about our society. The opposition, namely the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* and National Coalition Party (NCP), are working overtime to score brownie points with the voters and fearmongering.

The commotion is now stirred by the repatriation of two women and six children. Considering that Finland is a country that claims to abide by social justice and the rule of law, some politicians’ behavior is shameful, self-centered, and cowardly.

Even if the path to repatriating the women and their children is a winding and difficult road for the government of Prime Minister Sanna Marin, the best matter that could be done is to repatriate all the Finnish citizens.

Why?

According to a statement by the ministry of foreign affairs, “Under section 22 of the Constitution of Finland, Finnish public authorities are obligated to safeguard the basic rights of the Finnish children interned in the camps insofar as this is possible.  The basic rights of the children interned in the al-Hol camps can be safeguarded only by repatriating them to Finland.”

Forgetting that in our society, a person is considered innocent before proven guilty, politicians from the PS, NCP, and Supo, the Finnish Security and Intelligence Service are busily in lynch-mob mode.

The tweet below by Orpo on Sunday reads: “The repatriated adults [two women] are, according to Supo, a security risk to Finland. The government has the responsibility to ensure that those who committed crimes and involved in terrorist activities face justice and that the safety of the Finns isn’t endangered.”

Has anyone noticed how National Coalition Party head Petteri Orpo changed his look using different glasses and haircut? Orpo before (left), with less hair, and on the right with more har and thicker glasses. What kind of image do the two pictures evoke? Despite these image stunts, the National Coalition Party continues to do poorly in opinion polls. Sources: Yle and Helsingin Sanomat.
Continue reading “Mayday, Mayday! Two women and six children entering Finland”

Another reason that reinforces Denmark as one of the most Islamophobic countries in the EU

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Who could forget the former minister of immigration and integration, Inger Stojberg? Apart from her Islamophobic rhetoric, she is also remembered with a cake celebrating in 2017 the 50th tightening of Danish immigration laws.

There seems to be no shortages of Islamophobic politicians in Denmark.

The former minister is in a lot of hot water today for misleading parliament on the illegal order of separating certain married couples at asylum reception centers, reports The Local.

Writes The Local: “A further conclusion of the report is that the former minister, during the parliamentary hearings, ‘gave a different impression of the directive as it was communicated to the (immigration) service than was the case (in reality).’”

Bashy Quraishy, an anti-racism activist, wrote on Facebook: “Shouldn’t Inger Stjoberg be disqualified from her political position, and the law should punish her as Erik Ninn Hansen was after the Tamil Case?”

When he was minister of justice, Hansen tried to hinder Tamil refugees’ family reunification despite their legal rights as stipulated in Danish law.

The scandal led to the resignation of Poul Schlüter’s government in 1993.

Cartoon (left): Former minister of immigration and integration, Inger Stojberg tells the little girl if she does not have arms, she cannot have any cake.

The PS and its obsession with migrants

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If you had the opportunity to listen inside the brain of a Perussuomalaiset (PS)* politician, you’d probably hear the following word: migrants, maahanmuuttajat, migrants, maahanmuuttajat…

The head of the PS parliamentary group, Ville Tavio, regurgetates that obsessive word in countless tweets and statements.

Tavio tweets: “Finnish human rights are threatened as a result of massive asylum-seeker policies. Such migration should be kept in check, so it isn’t a threat to the country’s economy, security, and national culture.”

Source: Twitter.

Tavio, who has before mentioned his admiration of France’s National Rally far-right head Marine Le Pen, claims that some conspiracy permits “massive” asylum seekers to enter Finland.

I understand that Tavio does not wake up in the morning and looks in the mirror, whispering to himself that I am such a racist.

Or does an Islamophobic mindset make people delusional? They attract voters with their exaggerations and lies and get hooked to power like junkies.

According to the Finnish Immigration Service (Migri), there were 4,550 asylum seekers in 2019, of which 2,467 were granted residence permits. Where is the massive amount of asylum seekers you speak of Tavio?

The PS believe that they can get away by lambasting migrants, especially Muslims and people of color, without any consequences.

A party like the PS that bases 90% of its politics on Islamophobia and Afrophobia cannot tap from the well of hatred and discord forever. One day that well will dry out.

No matter how much politicians like Tavio and his band of Islamophobes kick and bitch, we are here to stay.

Two PS Youth members convicted of ethnic agitation

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Former Perussuomalaiset (PS)* Youth deputy chairperson Toni Jalonen and Johannes Sipola, the former chairperson Johannes Sipola were sentenced by a Pirkanmaa District Court fines for ethnic agitation, according to YLE News.

Jalonen, who announced in February that he is “an ethnonationalist, traditionalist, and a fascist,” was slapped with a 50-day fine (300 euros) for ethnic agitation. Likewise, Sipola, who blamed the Christchurch, New Zealand killings of Muslims in March 2019 on multiculturalism, was given a 40-day fine (240 euros) for ethnic agitation.

The convictions came after images were published on social media. One of them had a picture of a black couple looking at their baby lovingly, with the text: “Vote for the Perussuomalaiset so that Finland’s future won’t look like this.”

The other racist ad was a picture of two women wearing niqabs with a warning: “Do you want our country to look like this? Don’t stay sleeping. Vote.”

The tweet and Facebook postings cost the PS Youth dearly. They first lost 115,000 euros of funding from the ministry of education and then saw their association dissolved.

Toni Jalonen living in his fascist alternate reality world.

Sensational stories about youth crime by brown Finns: Tom Packalén in 2014, Helsingin Sanomat in 2020

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What does Lari Malmgerg’s column on youth crime remind us of? In 2014, Perussuomalaiset (PS)* Tom Packalén wrote a similar story about how brown Finns were terrorizing white Finns in East Helsinki.

At the end of the day, Packalén could not prove his claims, and the whole issue was forgotten even if he succeeded at labeling and reinforcing prejudices about brown Finns.

Wrote Packalén in Uusi Suomi: “The youngest member of the gang is 10 years old. Publically about 70 have been abused [by these gangs]. After twenty years as a police officer, I believe that the real number of attacks and robberies are many times bigger [than officially cited].”

THE COLUMN BELOW IS UNSUBSTANTIATED AND MISLEADING

Read the original story (in Finnish) here. WARNING: THE COLUMN IS UNSUBSTANTIATED AND MISLEADING.

Six years later, Kuokkanen’s headline in Helsingin Sanomissa reads: “Over one hundred possibly dangerous youths with migrant backgrounds roam about downtown Helsinki – according to experts, this is a new migrant phenomenon.”

What do these two stories have in common? They are both incomplete and based on personal opinion.

Even if Packalén and lately Kuokkanen labeled in a hostile manner so-called “youths of migrant background,” Police Commissioner Jari Taponen shot down what the reporter claimed.

Writes Yle: “According to Taponen, suspects apprehended by the police come from broken homes. The media have labeled them as persons of migrant origin. Even so, the police emphasize that all of them were born in Finland. Part of them have parents who are of foreign origin.”

While it is a positive sign that the police refuted with facts the careless and even judgemental writing of some reporters, the damage caused by Kuokkanen was done. Prejudices have been reinforced, and the story is still out there, even if it has been proven false and misleading.

Helsingin Sanomat’s Lari Malmberg claims that the fuss the article raised was that we have problems debating a difficult topic like cultural diversity. He also states that the media must bring these topics to the public light.

True, but I would not want Malmberg to lead the discussion.

The column he wrote sounds more like a flimsy excuse for publishing an opinionated and poorly researched story by Katja Kuokkanen.

Malmberg revealed in the same column two days later how the original story should have been read.

  • He stated that the original story did not imply that all youths with migrant backgrounds, or brown Finns, are criminals;
  • Such youths are not in special danger of becoming criminals;
  • Even if some youths break the law, it does not mean that the absolute number of crimes has grown;
  • Youth crime in Helsinki has gone down;
  • Finland is not in danger of having the same problems as Sweden with migrants;
  • A very small number of these groups appear to act aggressively.

Which groups did Helsingin Sanomat’s story serve?

The answer is clear: It gave ammunition to populists, their xenophobic narrative, and reinforced our prejudices.