Tag: Islamophobia

About A2’s debate on Islam tonight…

Posted on by Migrant Tales

The A2 islam-ilta television debate Tuesday will reveal once again white Finnish ethnocentrism, how poorly we know our laws and, what’s important, how poorly we accept people who are different from us. Is the Finnish media giving once again racists inflated respectability and importance?

Will the A2 debate improve or undermine the situation of Muslims in Finland?

How many immigrants, or Finnish Muslims, won’t get hired tomorrow because of the program? How many will be attacked physically and psychologically? How many viewers’ Islamophobia and bravado will the program reinforce? How much self-esteem will it chip away from a child or adolescent who goes to school tomorrow and gets bullied because of his or her ethnic or religious background?

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Why should anyone justify his or her religion and right to live in Finland? Why should we give a forum to those who demand such justifications? It’s absurd.

Would we want to have a debate on television why women should go back to the kitchen and serve men?

What can you expect from YLE if the nature of the beast is what it is? How does Interior Minister Päivi Räsänen give a sense of security to minorities in Finland when she openly victimizes and labels non-Christians, plays down ethnic profiling by the police, considers homosexuality to be an illness and drags her feet on family reunification?

Sometimes you wonder about Räsänen’s and that of other Finns’ statements. But mark my words, it’s the face of intolerance staring right back at us loud and clear.

Our problem is acknowledge it as such.

 

 

Jussi Halla-aho gets cold feet – another lie exposed

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP Jussi Halla-aho announced that he will not take part in a live A2 televised debate on Islam, reports YLE. The MP, who has been convicted for ethnic agitation, said that the debate doesn’t serve the issue. He would, however, be ready to take part in a debate with fewer people.

Kuvankaappaus 2013-10-15 kello 11.08.00Read full story (in Finnish) here.

Just like Helsingin Sanomat helped senior lecturer Kyösti Tarvainen to spread fear about Muslim birth rates, another important fabricated story of the far right and anti-immigration groups is that they are not allowed to speak openly about Islam.

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The A2 program gave Halla-aho an opportunity to speak his heart out if he wished about Islam but he turned it down.

Why?

Because the arguments used by anti-immigration groups and personalities like Halla-aho hinge on prejudice and gross exaggerations. There’s very little truth in them.

Politicians like Halla-aho and anti-immigration groups live in bubbles.  Their biggest fear is that their constantly changing arguments, which say the same thing, hate group x and y, will be exposed.

National Coalition Party city councilman, Mohammad Azizi, wasn’t surprised by Halla-aho’s decision.

”It’s easy to speak behind [the vail] of a blog and screen about anything, but he doesn’t dare to take part in a face-to-face debate,” he said. ”I am ready to talk about everything related to Islam, including the most difficult issues like circumcision.”

Even if it will take some time for Finland and Europe to wake up from its present far-right anti-immigration menace, it’s unlikely that Halla-aho’s arguments will be revered 20-30 years from now. 

These code words of hate used to attack immigrants and visible minorities will be remembered with shame. They will look just like the arguments used by white racists in Southern United States to justify Jim Crow Laws during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s.

 

 

Pressiklubi exposes MP James Hirvisaari’s fabricated lies and ignorance of immigrants and minorities

Posted on by Migrant Tales

MP James Hirvisaari, who got expelled from the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party last week, appeared on Ruben Stiller’s Pressiklubi Friday. Compared with his appearance on Enbuske & Linnanahde Crew’s talk show the previous day, the new Muutos 2011 MP’s fabricated lies and ignorance were exposed in the raw.

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See full program (in Finnish) here.

Just like the many urban tales spread by anti-immigration politicians like Hirvisaari, one of their favorite deceptions is to portray themselves as champions of free speech. In the case of Hirvisaari, it’s the state prosecutor and hazy ethnic agitation laws that attempt to limit his freedom of expression.

If we look at what Hirvisaari has written before about immigrants and Muslims, we’d notice that the MP has had a lot of freedom to insult and victimize other minorities in order to further his political career.

The fact that racist Islamophobic diatribe has found a home in Finland through the writings of people like Hirvisaari, reveals that this country has serious intolerance issues to deal with.

Before the historic 2011 elections, in which the PS won 39 seats versus  5 in the previous election, far-right voices like Hirvisaari were elected to parliament thanks to their fear-mongering and lynch-mob style writings, which spread like wildfire thanks to the social media and national media.

Pressiklubi did a good job at exposing Hirvisaari’s exaggerations and outright lies. Johanna Korhonen asked the MP if he could give one concrete example how his right to express himself about Islam was limited.

Hirvisaari didn’t answer the question because it would have exposed the secret of his fabricated lies and exaggerations.

Another fast one pulled by Hirvisaari on the show was claiming that criticizing multiculturalism was forbidden in this country. If this is true, why is their so much intolerance and criticism of cultural diversity on many social media websites and forums in Finland?  

When the media and the general public understand that intolerance, racism and victimization of immigrants and minorities have nothing to do with our national interests but are harmful to our society, it will be easier to nip characters like Hirvisaari in the bud before they sprout into political Frankensteins.

How the Finnish media flirts with disgraced former PS MP James Hirvisaari

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Why would a Finnish talk show like Enbuske & Linnanahde Crew want to interview a disgraced MP like James Hirvisaari, who got kicked out of the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party last week for taking a picture of a person making a Nazi salute in parliament? One of the guests of the show, actress Krista Kosonen, wrapped up Hirvisaari’s thoughts and writings in one word: Crap!

Even if Tuomas Enbuske tries to make smart questions to understand the mind of Hirvisaari, it is another sad example of the how the media continues to flirt with far-right politicians whose only merits are spreading hatred.

Is the interview with Hirvisaari another sad example of how the Finnish media gives racists inflated respectability and importance?

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Read full story here.

What’s the point of interviewing a convicted MP for ethnic agitation? What value does he bring the debate? Does his presence in the program reveal something about Tuomas Enbuske’s and Aki Linnanahde? Thanks to Kosonen, however, and contrary to Enbuske, who tried to understand Hirvisaari’s worldview, the Muutos2011 MP got a taste of her medicine. 

“Hirvisaari says that he doesn’t fear anything,” Kosonen said on the show and was quoted on Ilta-Snomat. “But that is what it actually is: fear. Living in a small bubble…We have to think how immigrants should adapt to society not fear, how clitorises are slashed fifteen years from now.”

This is the second time Tuomas Enbuske has invited Hirvisaari to his show. 

 

 

PS MP Jussi Halla-aho put on the hot chair after his ridiculous arguments against Syrian refugees are exposed

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP Jussi Halla-aho was put on the hot chair on A-Studio, when he was asked about his and PS MP Vesa-Matti Saarakkala’s written question to parliament opposing government plans to give asylum to 500 refugees from Syria. 

A good question to ask is why accepting 500 refugees from Syria is in the national spotlight? Sweden plans to accept around 16,000 Syrian refugees. Moreover, why do we give airtime to an MP who has been convicted for ethnic agitation? Why are Halla-aho’s anti-immigration views important?

If we had answers to these questions, we’d understand the nature of the xenophobic beast that has inflicted Finland.

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Halla-aho and his band of PS anti-immigration followers have gotten this far in their political careers thanks to journalists and officials who have done little to nothing to question their inflated exaggerations and outright xenophobia.

Finnish Red Cross manager Kalle Löövi showed that we don’t need to sit back in silence and can question and expose Halla-aho’s ideas.  He calmly but firmly told Halla-aho that his stance was wrong and said that Finland was accepting 500 needy refugees that are in danger of dying.

And  what’s wrong with helping people fleeing war? We should be proud that our country has the opportunity to help others who may repay us one day in kind.

Arguing that accepting a few hundred refugees doesn’t mean anything is probably the most outrageous statement made by Halla-aho and Saarakkala. Saving one person from a terrible conflict like in Syria is valuable and important.

Why then does Halla-aho oppose bringing Syrian refugees to Finland?

If we uncover the red herrings, the real reason lies in the fact that Halla-aho loathes Muslims, is vehemently against cultural diversity and is running for Euro MP.

 

Turku Islamic Center suffers attack over the weekend

Posted on by Migrant Tales

The Turku Islamic Center, which has served the Muslim community of the southwestern city for over twenty years, was attacked over the weekend, according to YLE. Apart form destroying furniture, spreading salt and flour on the ground, a number of Korans were torn. Some 200 Muslims attend the Turku Islamic Center. 

The police have been notified and are investigating the attack.

This is not the first time that a non-protestant church has been attacked in Turku. Three years ago, a Buddhist temple suffered an arson attack in September 2010.

The attacks against the Buddhist temple and now to the Turku Islamic Center reveals the ugly face of intolerance that has lifted its head in Finland. When politicians in parliament base their political support on spreading hatred and racism, only a naive person would believe that such attitudes have no consequences.

Another matter that surprises Migrant Tales is why was such a serious incident reported on Monday by Turun Sanomat? This act, which should outrage sensible people because it reveals that some will take the law into their own hands to make their point, appears to suffer from the silence of politicians and civic leaders.

Migrant Tales strongly condemns such attacks.

Kuvankaappaus 2013-9-18 kello 0.12.31 Read full story (in Finnish) here.

”On Saturday we brought our children here to study the Arabic language and religion,” said Yari Adbulkarim. ”This was in terrible shape. We were really surprised and shocked from what we saw. The children were shocked as were all of the parents.”

Abbdulkarim said that the center had been attacked on other occasions but nothing compares to what happened over the weekend.

”It is a deep insult when the Holy Book is torn,” said Abdulkarim, ”It’s really a big thing. The Holy Book is the Holy Book.”

 

Government talks in Norway are a preview of what may happen in Finland in 2015 with the PS

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Take a close look at Norway if you want to see what may happen in Finland after the 2015 parliamentary elections, when the right-wing populist Perussuomalaiset (PS) may be in government.The populist anti-immigration Progress party (FrP) of Norway will form part of a coalition government with the Conservative Party (Høyre), Christian Democrats and Liberals.

If the Conservative Party can accept to govern with a party that used to have mass killer Anders Breivik as a member, certainly the Center Party of Finland, if it wins the next parliamentary elections, won’t have any problems governing with the PS, even if some of its members have been sentenced for ethnic agitation.

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Read full story here.

Parties like the FrP, PS, Danish People’s Party, Sweden Democrats and other of the Nordic region, which are anti-EU, anti-immigration and especially anti-Islam, are a good example of the intolerance and racism that has creeped into Nordic politics.

How do these parties work and what is their role in strengthening intolerance and institutional racism in their respective countries? They function as watchdogs gaining our attention, even our sympathies, with the help of fear-mongering and spreading intolerance thanks to our prejudices.

Their strategy is simple: The best way of maintaing things as they are is not to challenge or question anything. If in doubt, blame the immigrant or minority x.

Eyeing power, it’s natural that parties like the FrP want to sound sensible just before the formation of a new government.

A good way of finding out the real issues and cut through the snow job is to watch closely what politicians deny and, most importantly, what they don’t say.

The new incoming Norwegian prime minister, Erna Solberg, claims in an interview with The Local that the FrP ”is not a xenophobic party.”

She continues: ”…Parts of the immigration policy they [FrP] are pushing for have already been implemented elsewhere in the Nordic region.”

Solberg doesn’t elaborate but let’s get it straight from the FrP party leader’s mouth, Siv Jensen.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWkIL41HQ40&feature=player_embedded#t=0

Apart from playing down the FrP’s anti-immigration and anti-Islam stances, one of the most incredible things I hears Jensen say in another interview with The Local  was that she was against Norwegian immigration policy, not immigrants.

According to political editor Martine Aurdal of the daily Dagbldet, who is Jensen’s biographer, claimed that after 22/7, when Breivik killed   77 people, the leader of the FrP has left out more extreme rhetoric from her speech.

Why?

Because it sounds awkward especially after what Breivik did and certainly doesn’t win you over votes.

So what’s the lesson we can learn from all this?

Attitudes and xenophobia remain intact. The only matter that changes is the message.

The shadow of Anders Breivik’s mass killings hang over coalition talks after Norway elections

Posted on by Migrant Tales

The landslide victory of Norway’s opposition Conservatives  (Høyre) on Monday was short-lived after the country’s next prime minister, Erna Solberg, faced tough coalition talks with the anti-immigration and populist Progress party (Fremskrittspartiet) of which Anders Breivik was a member and whose cold-blooded killings continue to haunt the country, reports Reuters.

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Outgoing Labor Party Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg and his allies were able to win 72 seats compared with the 96 that Solberg and its allies won, which is 11 more needed for a majority.

Høyre won 48 seats, Progress party (29), Christian Democratic Party (10) and the Liberals (9).

Even if the Progress party has tried to distance itself from the xenophobic Sweden Democrats and Danish People’s Party, Breivik’s shadow continues to haunt the party as well as the country.

After 22/7, when Breivik gunned down in cold blood 69 Labor Party youths on the island of Utøya (69 dead) and eight more from a bomb explosion in Oslo, life has not changed in Norway but in the Nordic region as well.

The election result of the Progress party lags behind pre-22/7 results. In September 2011, it lost 6.1% percentage points in the municipal elections and on Monday it lost 12 seats.

Even if some believe that Norway has forgotten what happened on 22/7, it’s unlikely that anti-immigration rhetoric and populism can make something so horrific disappear.

 

 

 

Supreme Court upholds PS city councilman’s conviction for ethnic agitation

Posted on by Migrant Tales

The Supreme Court announced Tuesday that it will not grant Perussuomalaiset (PS) Kotka City Councilman Freddy van Wonterghem the right to appeal a conviction for ethnic agitation in February by the Kouvola appeals court, reports YLE. The ruling is similar to a lower court ruling on PS MP James Hirvisaari’s hate speech conviction in June 2012. 

Van Wonterghem said he would appeal the decision to the European Court of Human Rights.

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Read full story here.

The city councilman commented on a blog entry written by Migrant Tales that he had no regrets about what he wrote in the summer of 2011. He wrote back then that it was a good matter that a Muslim woman would die since it would be one less person giving birth to a member of that religious group. 

While it’s clear what van Wonterghem wrote is something he would most likely never say to a woman from his own national or ethnic group, his defiance and support from the PS is more than revealing. The excuses are an insult to any sensible person’s intelligence.

The PS of the region of Kymi played down the whole affair by stating that the councilman didn’t know how to express himself adequately in Finnish.

The Belgian-born naturalized Finn has lived in Finland for over 30 years.

Van Wonterghem knew exactly what he said and did it get national attention, which he succeeded.

The councilman, who is a Holocaust denier, played down the whole affair by stating that it was “only a sentence” and that he didn’t consider it offensive and/or racist, which it was.

A common excuse used by racists in Finland is that their comment was either taken out of context or that it was humor.

Van Wonterghem claims that his statement about killing a Muslim woman was “irony.”   

The whole case is another example of how PS chairman Timo Soini has been forced to eat his words and promises on racism.

He said that any PS candidate that was convicted for ethnic agitation would be kicked out of the party.

First Soini claimed there were no racists, later “one, two or three,” and now his totally silent.

 

 

 

Let’s play fill in the blanks with far-right Finnish MP Teuvo Hakkarainen

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP Teuvo Hakkarainen attacked immigrants and Muslims in a latest blog entry, where he accuses them of living off social welfare and Muslims of taking over Europe. In order to understand how ludicrous and racist the PS MP’s arguments are, Migrant Tales will play “fill in the blanks.”

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Migrant Tales has “played” fill in the blanks with PS MP James Hirvisaari’s rants.

Hakkarainen is, unfortunately, an example of how some politicians in Finland can get away with anything as long as what they state is racist or prejudiced.

But let’s play fill in the banks with Hakkarainen.

The PS MP claims that immigrants who move to this country live off social welfare and are “increasingly guilty of crimes, which were previously rare, among others, like gang rape.”

Some may believe the latter is true. All immigrants immediately become gang rapists as soon as they cross the border.

How would a white Finn feel and react if a fanatic claimed the following: “Finns are no good alcoholics, increasingly guilty of crimes, which are rare elsewhere, like pedophilia, shooting classmates in cold blood at schools, killing their children and wife before taking their own life.”

While the latter statement isn’t true because it generalizes and reveals extreme prejudice about the Finns, Hakkarainen does the same thing when he blames immigrants and Muslims for everything under the sun.

In another part of the PS MP’s blog entry, he claims that it is every “Muslim’s honor and responsibility to kill and annihilate every religion and Jews, according to the Koran.”  And continues: “The West is being flooded by millions of Muslims in a wooden Trojan horse…”

Citing a story on Turun Sanomat, he claims that there are Muslim extremists concentrated in Turku ready to declare jihad.

If we play fill in the blanks with the latter affirmations, it could look like the following:  “It’s a Christian and atheist’s honor as well as responsibility to control and kill and invade other countries, according to the Bible.” And continues: “The South and East are being flooded by military intervention and multinational companies in a wooden Trojan horse…”

If you want to continue playing fill in the blanks, just substitute words like immigrant, migrant, gay, Muslim, refugee and replace them with the group and/or ethnicity that is doing the victimizing.