Tag: Islamophobia

Turtiainen suffers another blow to his business as the International Powerlifting Federation terminates cooperation

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Ano, or Año Turtiainen, the former Perussuomalaiset MP who mocked George Floyd’s death at the hands of a Minneapolis policeman, boasts that he is “the best known Finnish powerlifter in the world.” CORRECTION: He is also known for being the most racist Finnish powerlifter in the world.

After Elitefts and the Canadian Powerlifting Union terminated last month their cooperation with Turtiainen, the International Powerlifting Federation (IPF) announced that it too is terminating its cooperation agreement with Turtiainen’s firm Metal Sports.

IPF announced that the termination of the agreement with Metal Sports was due to a “non fulfilling the agreement terms.”

Turtiainen’s tweet was even noticed by George Floyd’s family in the US.

“The message glorifies police violence and criminal behavior,” said Goerge Floyd’s family lawyer in Teller Report. “It seems that this, not the first time MP Turiainen has published racist messages on social media. We believe that Turtiainen’s colleagues in parliament should be held accountable.”

See original statement here.

Migrant Tales wrote in June that Turtiainen’s career as a “dark comedian” and political career came down in flames with the Goerge Floyd tweet.

Turtiainen got his fingers burned to a crisp when he tried to show off his racism in a long list of tweets, inc including George Floyd.

See also:

See ogirinal posting here.
See original CPU statement here.

The outrage that Turtiainen has awoken from abroad and the consequences of his racist postings offer hope and some direction. For too many years, the MP from the small town of Juva (pop. 6,121) has made racist statements and shown off his “dark humor” with few if any consequences.

What does it say about Juva and our society as a whole?

Perussuomalaiset: The shameful a**hole party of Finland

Posted on by Migrant Tales

THIS STORY WAS UPDATED

“What are you without racism? Are you any good? Are you still strong? Still smart? Do you still like yourself?”

Toni Morrison (1931-2019)

Perussuomalaiset (PS)* MP Mauri Peltokangas, a far-right politician and member of the Nazi-spirited Suomen Sisu association, labeled government ministers “a**holes” for not expressing concern about the attack against the party’s campaign manager Pekka Kataja.

Those who have followed the Kataja incident will note that it is a pretty mixed up story. First, Kataja pins the blame on “Arab-looking” attackers, then changes it to far right even if he adheres to the same Islamophobic mindset.

The post on Peltokangas’ Facebook page was removed, which is yet proof that he is a loudmouth opportunist who takes racist, Islamophobic, and misogynist potshots at his rivals. Peltokangas can’t stand the heat so he is the first to exit the kitchen.

If you are surprised that the PS parliamentary group will not take any action against Peltokangas, this Islamophobe has a long history of rants and racist statements.

Writes Peltokangas: “Each of our ministers are sorrowful a**holes. Eveyone is silent even if the victim works for parliament.”

If a recent (22.2.2020) rant below, which lasts 2:36 minutes, Peltokangas utters around every 20 seconds the following swear words:

Continue reading “Perussuomalaiset: The shameful a**hole party of Finland”

The Norwegian mass murderer, 22/7, and Jussi Halla-aho

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Hateful and racist words can turn into bullets.

THE STORY WAS UPDATED

Two days and nine years had gone by when Norway and Europe witnessed the horrific events of 22/7 that left 77 people dead and many others with physical and psychological injuries for the rest of their lives.

One of the matters that we can learn from the far-right terrorist is that words can turn into bullets.

The far-right terrorist and “the end of an era of multiculturlaism.” Source: Springer

In his manifesto, “2083 a European Declaration of Independence,” he cites the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* and its chairperson Jussi Halla-aho as a credible (sic!) source on the takeover of Europe by Muslims.

Continue reading “The Norwegian mass murderer, 22/7, and Jussi Halla-aho”

Two ways of weighing crime: one is a white Finn and another a Pakistani migrant

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We read about the brutal assault against a Perussuomalaiset (PS)* campaign manager Pekka Kataja. There was great interest in what happened when he mentioned that the suspect(s) were probably “Arab-looking.” Silence befell the PS after Kataja changed his story by claiming that the attackers were probably from the far-right.

One question that arises here is why is Kataja so keen on telling us what ethnic or political grouping they were?

In February 2018, a Pakistani was brutally assaulted in Vantaa by three white Finnish youths. Apart from being stabbed up to thirty times, suffering a fractured skull and other injuries, interest in the story ended after the police said four days after the assault that the attack was not a hate crime.

The assaulted Pakistani recovering in hospital in March 2018. Photo: Enrique Tessieri

The police announced Tuesday that charges against the suspects changed from attempted manslaughter to attempted murder after five days that the crime took place. With the case of the Pakistani victim, the police changed the charges weeks later in April to attempted murder from attempted manslaughter.

While both stories have race or ethnicity as underlying factors, in the beginning, this changed and this forced interest to die down. What emerged after that was hypocrisy.

PS chairperson Jussi Halla-aho and party secretary Simo Grönroos were quoted in Kainuun Sanomat as saying after the attack that it was politically motivated.

“Everything suggests that this was not an isolated crime, but specifically an attack against Kataja, the party’s political activities and an attempt at homicide,” Halla-aho and Grönroos were quoted as saying in Kainuun Sanomat.

One PS member, MEP Laura Huhtasaari’s aide, went as far as to suggest the conspiracy theory that the hit job against Kataja came from the EU elite and EU secret services.

“I wonder if the murder attempt against Pekka Kataja was an attempt and ordered by the EU elite or the EU intelligence services?” Olli Kotro is MEP Laura Huhtasaari’s aide. Source: Twitter

Attempting to picture Kataja as a political martyr, the speaker of parliament, Anu Vehviläinen, stated in the tweet below that those responsible for what happened must be brought before justice.

But let’s go back to the original question: What type of violence captures the interest of the media, social media, politicians, and the general public?

As mentioned, when Kataja stated that he suspected the far right of attacking him, the PS fell silent. The same matter happened in the case of the Pakistani: Interest by the media fell after the police mentioned that what happened was not a hate crime.

It appears that the Kataja incident, which is dreadful and we should strongly condemn, may surprise us yet again. The PS has an issue with far-right ideology, and it is no secret that Kataja has made Islamophobic statements in the past.

What far-right groups did he not get along becasue there are a lot of them in the PS. Is he talking about Suomen Sisu?

Kataja is also the aide of PS MP Jouni Kotiaho, who wrote in an OP-ED piece in Jyväskylä-based Keskisuomalainen that the radical right is “insignificant group” in Finland even if some have accused the PS, the second biggest party in parliament, of being radical right.

Moreover, Kataja’s boss claims in the Keskisuomalainen column that “[e]ven, if you can count the number of Nazi supporters with one’s fingers and racism does not happen in practice in Finland at all.”

As we are trying to figure out if Kataja’s story holds water or if what happened was something personal as some suspect. Let’s stop all this hypocrisy about how much we are against political violence and violence in general, which is targetted by the PS against Muslims and people of color.

But let’s agree on one matter: condemn all types of violence irrespective of the victim’s background. The ethnic background of the victim should not be a factor in how much media attention a victim gets.

Condemn the attack, but don’t blame “Arab-looking” people

Posted on by Migrant Tales

THE STORY WAS UPDATED

Pekka Kataja, a Perussuomalaiset (PS)* campaign manager from Jämsänkoski, was brutally attacked Friday at his home by what he called two “Arabian-looking” men. He claims that the attack was political because, as an ardent Islamophobe, he was in favor of shutting down the Jämsä asylum reception center.

While all forms of violence should be condemned, what happened to Kataja is unacceptable and an affront to the rule of law. We hope that Kataja’s recovery will be swift.

Here is the flip side of the story: Of all the parties in Finland, the PS knows how to label and exploit Islamophobia for its political means.

Moreover, there may be something fishy or missing from the big picture when members of the PS start to spread conspiracy theories like the Tweet below by Olli Kotro.

“I wonder if the murder attempt against Pekka Kataja was an attempt and ordered by the EU elite or the EU intelligence services?” Olli Kotro is MEP Laura Huhtasaari’s aide. Source: Twitter

There are a number of questions that the Kataja incident raises:

Continue reading “Condemn the attack, but don’t blame “Arab-looking” people”

Is PS’ Tynkkynen aiming to be the top MP with the most ethnic agitation convictions?

Posted on by Migrant Tales

What are we to make of Perussuomalaiset (PS)* MP Sebastian Tynkkynen’s hate speech convictions? An Oulu appeals court upheld the PS MP’s second conviction for ethnic agitation. The first one was handed in 2017.

Two convictions are a pretty dark stain in an ordinary party, but for the PS, it may be a feather in one’s cap.

Tynkkynen may face further charges in a third hate speech case.

Is he planning to be the top MP with the most hate speech convictions?

It sure looks that way.

One of the most distasteful matters to read about ethnic agitation convictions are the excuses.

Read the full story here.

Writes Yle News: “He had argued that the post was political expression that was protected by freedom of speech. Tynkkynen also claimed that the text only referred to certain individuals, and did not imply that terrorism is unique to Islam.”

Tynkkynen plans to appeal the ruling to the supreme court and to the European Court of Human Rights.

The announcement by the PS MP clearly shows how little he understands what freedom of speech is. They act in such a hostile way for two reasons: they are bullies and political opportunists.

If politicians like Tynkkynen had their way, vulnerable minorities like Muslims would be put in a shooting gallery and attacked in the most hostile way possible.

It would be naive to think that words don’t have consequences.

The appearance of an Islamophobic party during this decade that spreads white supremacy and hate speech wholesale should concern us all.

Hate speech is a toxic fruit.

The self-destruction of Trump and the future of global populism and racism

Posted on by Migrant Tales

As the gap between Joe Biden and US President Donald Trump widens in the opinion polls, populist-far right parties like the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* are feeling the pressure.

Much of the hate fuel that PS and other like-minded politicians feed on from Trump is starting to run out if the US president loses on November 3.

The 1 + 1 = 2 campaign strategy is to speak in code, attack vulnerable groups like asylum seekers, and spread white Finnish supremacist mumbo-jumbo that is hostile against migrants and minorities.

All of the 39 (now 39) PS MPs got elected to parliament with one message: We hate Islam.

The PS’ waning popularity is not only based on their anti-Muslim rhetoric but on the support they draw from Trump, Vladimir Putin, Victor Orbán, Xi Jinping, Kim Jung-un, and others.

All of the politicians mentioned above base their rule on human rights violations, disrespect for diversity, and their autocratic instincts.

Trump’s biggest fans in Finland are Jussi Halla-aho and the PS. In the tweet above, he states that he digs Trump and believes that the US president is the best thing that happened to the United States and the Western World. Source: Twitter.
To put the racist icing on the Halla-aho cake, he tweets that no PS wants to see Finland turn into a multiethnic or multicultural society, which is present in our program and in everything we do.

I predict that after Trump is ejected from the White House, populist and racist parties may have their hate fuel reduced significantly.

The US is going through a revolution that is shaking its racist foundations. There is no return to the past when whites ruled.

The same is happening in Europe as well. We, too, will have to confront our colonial and racist past in a way we never expected.

Ano Turtiainen: the PS doesn’t love me, I love the PS – watch me now eat my words

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Expelled from the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* parliamentary group for mocking George Floyd’s death in a tweet, he now said that he would want to return to his former parliamentary group.

A day after he was expelled from the parliamentary group earlier this month, Turtiainen was adamant: “I am not going to request joining [the parliamentary group] again, but they can come to ask me with cap in hand,” he said according to Yle.

But things are now different since Turtiainen has had a change of heart. He wants to join again the parliamentary group that ejected him.

Eating his words, Turtiainen appears like a mouse pulling petals and singing a familiar tune: The PS loves me, I don’t love the PS, the PS loves me…

Read the full story (in Finnish) here.

The PS asked Turtiainen if he wanted to join the parliamentary group. If he didn’t, the PS was ready to expell him from the party.

Tough-looking persons like Turtiainen aren’t as tough as they seem, even if they try to show off their macho-man persona with racist posts.

STATEMENT: European Islamophobia Report 2019

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You can follow the panel and publishing of the European Islamophobia Report 2019 here.

European Islamophobia Report 2019 – Press Release

SETA will publish 2019 European Islamophobia Report on 20th June Saturday after the opening panel of the Report. Edited by Enes Bayrakl? and Farid Hafez European Islamophobia Report (EIR) published annually since 2015. The EIR 2019 includes a general assessment of Islamophobia in Europe in the year 2019 and 32 country reports that include almost all EU member states and additional countries such as Russia, Albania, Bosnia Herzegovina, Serbia, Kosovo, North Macedonia, and Montenegro. The EIR 2019 brought together 32 scholars, experts, and civil society activists from various European countries who are specialized on racism and Islamophobia studies. They cover various issues from media, politics, and the justice system to the Internet, and offer concrete policy recommendations for civil society and politics. As our audience grows to include practitioners, scholars, and the general public, our website has acquired an audience from 165 countries, and the EIR and its findings have been cited frequently by international organizations, politicians, NGOs, scholars, and local and international media outlets.

In 2019, while the Islamophobic terror attack in Christchurch in New Zealand made the headlines, mosques have also been targeted in Germany, UK, France and Norway resulting to dozens of deaths and injured persons. Facing this rising threat, European states show an ambiguous stance. On the one hand, European governments work hard to track far-right terror groups and dismantle them. On the other, they participate in the normalization of Islamophobic discourses in Europe through discriminative declarations, bills and security policies targeting Muslim people. As the result of this normalization, not only far-right but also democrat and liberal majority governments started to put the life of Muslims into jeopardy and to undermine their fundamental rights.

In Austria for instance, the FPÖ submitted an amendment to change to School Teaching Act to include a hijab ban for pupils up to the age of 14 as well as for teachers; in Belgium, Halal slaughter ban was introduced; in Denmark, it became mandatory to shake public officials’ hands during citizenship ceremonies; in France, a bill to ensure so-called religious neutrality of persons contributing to the public service of education (i.e. banning headscarf in those services) was drafted by the Senate.

Besides the attempts of governments and political parties to implement legislations that directly target Muslims as religious subjects, mainstream media and private institutions are also responsible of spreading anti-Muslim feelings. In fact, one of the most striking examples of the normalization of Islamophobia in 2019 in Europe was the scandal around the Nobel Committee’s decision to award Peter Handke the Nobel Prize in Literature. During the Kosovo War, Handke expressed his wish to be “a Serbian-Orthodox monk fighting for Kosovo.” In 2006, Handke gave a eulogy at the funeral of Slobodan Miloševi?, the Serbian dictator responsible for the genocides against Albanians and Bosnians in the 1990s.

The European Islamophobia Report 2019 constitutes a precious source of knowledge for everybody – whether scholars or ordinary readers – interested in the development of racism and Islamophobia in Europe. Well-organized, complete and accessible, the EIR 2019 also represents a useful and valuable tool for any activist or policymaker who aims to tackle Islamophobia in a decisive manner. Indeed, all 32 country reports included in this book do not only analyse the Islamophobia phenomena but also explore pro-active solutions from the civil society.

We hope this compendium of useful insights and data will provide European policy-makers and institutions valuable tools to tackle anti-Muslim racism in Europe seriously.

The 2019 European Islamophobia Report and previous years reports can be downloaded  from www.islamophobiaeurope.com

For further information contact:

Enrique Tessieri, European Islamophobia Report Finland chapter researcher

+358 40 8400773

[email protected]

* Anti-Hate Crime Organisation Finland was founded in September 2018 and registered as an NGO the following month. 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.