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.
There is one matter that is clear about Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP Juha Mäenpää: he hates Muslims so much that last year he compared them to an “an invasive species.” He is also close ideologically with Ano Turtiainen, who mocked George Floyd’s death.
According to the National Geographic, “An invasive species is an organism that is not indigenous, or native, to a particular area. Invasive species can cause great economic and environmental harm to the new area.”
Mäenpää, are Muslims and migrants organisms?
In the interview below with MTV, Mäenpää appears to regret the negative publicity but not what he said. He stated that in his “invasive species” speech in parliament he did not mean any ethnic or religious group.
“Immigration is one factor that affects the economy and taxes,” he said. “I plan to be critical about these matters but choose my words more carefully.”
For those who have followed how Islamophobic parties like the PS speak of Muslims and asylum seekers, will note that much of it is in code. Rarely do they use the term “Muslim” but do refer to asylum seekers, which is code for Muslims.
On Wednesday, the constitutional law committee voted 12-5 to lift MP Mäenpää’s immunity from prosecution.
Three of the committee’s PS members (Olli Immonen, Sakari Puisto, Jukka Mäkynen) and two of the National Coalition Party (Wille Rydman, Heikki Vestman) voted against the measure.
The fact that an MP can label Muslims and migrants as “invasive species” speaks volumes about how disenfranchised these groups are in Finland. For the Mäenpää affair to take a year shows how slowly justice works in this country.
One of the first to criticize the measure was PS chairperson Jussi Halla-aho, who considered the constitutional law committee vote “shameful.” He said that the PS would vote against the measure in parliament.
To take away Mäenpää immunity, 167 our of 200 MPs would have to back the proposal. In theory, the PS could block the proposal with its 38 MPs.
What did other PS MPs comment about the committee vote?
MP Mauri “Perkele” Peltokangas, who appears close to exploding when giving monologue rants, slammed the decision as an example of the left-green and communist rot in parliament.
Source: Facebook
MP Sebastian Tynkkynen, who was convicted twice for ethnic agitation, wasn’t very imaginative. He stated that lifting Mäenpää’s immunity was another step in the degradation of free speech.
As the dust settles over this tumultuous week for the far-right Perussuomalaiset (PS) party, the question to ask if business will be back to “normal” in the PS?
The first scandal was MP Ano Turtiainen’s tweet that mocked George Floyd’s death at the hands of a Minneapolis police.
Apart from ending Turtianen’s short-lived career as a dark humor comedian, the MP got expelled from the PS parliamentary group until the end of the year, his racist tweet made him “famous” outside of Finland, and two weightlifting groups in the United States and Canada terminated their business relationship with his company.
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.”
Moreover, Prosecutor General Raija Toiviainen is planning to carry out an investigation concerning Turtiainen’s tweet, according to Demokraatti. The police announced earlier that it would not carry out an inquiry about the former PS MP’s tweet.
Equally disturbing but not surprising was PS chairperson Jussi Halla-aho’s excuses. He stated that spreading controversial opinions is “a team sport that requires certain table manners.”
I suspect that “table manners” in Halla-aho’s vocabulary means being racist without sounding racist, speaking in code so your followers can decipher your message’s racism, and avoid ethnic agitation charges.
Halla-aho’s and the PS’ hand has been exposed many times in the racist and misogynist cookie jar.
This week, Suomen Perusta, a PS-funded think tank, published a racist and misogynist book called “Truth incites” authored by Jukka Hankamäki. The book, which claims to be a serious philosophical study “of the information and truth crisis of the left-wing populist mainstream media,” is an embarrassment and insulting joke.
Hankamäki’s book was taken down from the Internet after two days of its publication leaving a lot of red faces and the PS pointing the finger at each other. One of the questions was who was responsible for the book’s publication? It appears that nobody or very few read the book before it was published.
Even Halla-aho had to step in and take responsibility even if the party attempted to distance itself from Hankamäki’s work. “This was our mistake, period,” he said. “We did not know that the book contained the kind of material that it did.”
Apart from its racist-eugenicist views on racial purity, Hankamäki did not spare any nice words for Finnish women. One of the claims he made was that Finnish women choose foreign men as partners because they are rejected by Finnish men.
Minister of Science and Culture Hanna Kosonen described Hankamäki’s views of women as “cruel and disturbing.”
The ministry had granted 120,000 euros to Suomen Perusta for the publication of Hankamäki’s book. It is presently reviewing whether to ask the think tank to return the money because of the book’s contents and views on gender and social equality.
Perussuomalaisten puheenjohtaja Jussi Halla-aho on luonut poliittinen ura solvamalla helppoja maaleja kuten Muslimeja ja muita vähemmistöjä. Hän ei ole vielä sanoutunut irti vanhoista ja loukkaavista kirjoituksista, vaikka myönsi viime vuonna, että osa (emme tiedä mitkä) ovat “tyhmiä ja harkitsemattomia.”
Vaikka Halla-aho käyttää eri ilmaisuja tänään kun puhuu maahanmuutosta ja islamista, hänen kannanotot ja maailmankuva on yhtä rasistista kun ennen.
“Koska suurin osaa hänen vanhoista kirejoituksista ei enää löydy netistä, se paljastaa hänen pelkurimaisuuden. Tämä ei yllättää ja se on ymmärrettävä, koska Halla-aho on opportunisti.”
Halla-ahon kannanotot ovat täynnä salakoodeja. Yksi niistä on pyrkimys lopettaa kokonaan humanitäärinen maahanmuutto. Vaikka hän ei kertoo enempään, tämä oikeasti tarkoittaa, että Suomi vetäytyisi kokona kansainvälisistä pakolais- ja ihmisoikeus sopimuksista.
Seuraavat twiitit alhalla ovat esimerkkeja minkälainen politiik hän on. Ne puhuvat runkkaamisesta, paskan syomistä ja Trumpin diggamisesta.
Jussi Halla-ahon kauheimmat sitaatit 2003-2020:
AFROFOBIA
“Valkoiset maksavat kalliisti mustien rikollisuudesta ja työttömyydestä, niin menetetyn turvallisuuden, valtavien sosiaalisten tulonsiirtojen kuin kaikenlaisten suvaitsevaisuusohjelmien muodossa, joilla pyritään vakuuttamaan niin valkoiset kuin mustat siitä, että valkoiset ovat jollain mystisellä tavalla syyllisiä mustien ahdinkoon.”(8.4.2005 Scriptassa)
CHRISTCHURCHJA IHMISOIKEUDET
”Merkillepantavaa: lehtien mukaan on tapahtunut terrori-isku [maaliskuussa Christchurch Uudessa Seelannissa], joka ei ole yksittäistapaus eikä liity mielenterveyteen tai syrjäytymiseen. Myös yhteyksiä ja kytköksiä löytyy maailman toiselle puolelle asti.” (15.3.2019 Twitterissa)
“Aiemmin ihmisoikeuksilla on tarkoitettu ihmisen oikeutta toteuttaa itseään ja elää omalla tavallaan, ilman että siihen puututaan ilman perustavaa laatua olevia syitä. Sittemmin ihmisoikeuksilla on ruvettu lähinnä tarkoittamaan jonkun ihmisryhmän oikeutta jonkun toisen ihmisryhmän rahoihin.” (20.5.2011 Helsingin Sanomissa, jossa vuoden 2001 tekstiään hän kertoo vihaavansa ihmisoikeuksia).
ETNISTÄ PROFILOINTIA
Ennakoivat turvallisuustoimenpiteet terrorismin ehkäisyssä henkilö- ja ajoneuvotarkastusten, salakuuntelun, kotietsintöjen ja pidätysten muodossa olisikin näin syytä kohdistaa etenkin niihin ihmisiin, joiden etninen alkuperä on Lähi-Idässä, Pohjois-Afrikassa tai Keski-Aasiassa.(11.5.2016 Suomen Uutisissa)
HOLOKAUSTI
“Holokaustin takautuva vastustaminen on tietysti kivempaa ja helpompaa kuin mihinkään käynnissä olevaan puuttuminen. Saksalaisia on kiva syytellä, koska cosi fan tutti. Armenialaiset eivät kiinnosta ketään, koska armenialaiset eivät omista Hollywoodia ja Yhdysvaltain mediaa.” (28.1.2004 Scriptassa)
HOMOFOBIA
”Tehtaanpuiston homon kanssa mietin hetken, että jospa hakisin yläkerrasta pyssyn ja ampuisin päähän. Olisiko siitä seuraava hekuma niin suuri, että se ylittäisi vankilareissusta seuraavan harmituksen? Väkivalta on nykyään aliarvostettu ongelmanratkaisukeino.” (17.10.2003 Scriptassa katuhäirintää käsittelevässä kirjoituksessaan jouduttuaan itse seksuaalisen häirinnän uhriksi)
ISLAM
”Vastustan kaikkea sellaista maahanmuuttoa, jonka vaikutus vastaanottavalle yhteiskunnalle ja siinä asuville ihmisille on kielteinen. Islamilaista maahanmuuttoa vastustan erityisesti, koska islam, sellaisena kuin se todellisessa elämässä (ei siis Jaakko Hämeen-Anttilan teorioissa) eksistoi, on paitsi taantumuksellinen uskonto myös sotaisa poliittinen ideologia.” (23.10.2006 Scriptassa)
“Kaikki muslimit eivät ole terroristeja, mutta tämä ei ole Euroopan kannalta oleellista. Euroopan kannalta oleellista on, että kaikki terroristit ovat muslimeja.” (21.9.2006 Scriptassa)
“Olen toistuvasti tuonut esille, että mielestäni islam on tuhoisa, vaarallinen ja erityisesti primitiivinen uskonto ja kulttuurikompleksi.” (Scriptassa 19.5.2005)
MAAHANMUUTTO JA TURVANPAIKKAHAKIJAT
“Teen tätä vain, koska haluan olla mukana muuttamassa suomalaisen maahanmuuttopolitiikan ajattelu- ja toimintatapoja.” (13.4.2019 Iltalehdessä)
“Koko turvapaikkaprosessi pitäisi keskittää sellaiseen paikkaan, josta nämä ihmiset eivät pääse uhkaamaan suomalaisten turvallisuutta varsinkaan kielteisen päätöksen jälkeen.” (7.12.2018 MTV:ssa)
“Me haluamme lopettaa humanitäärisen maahanmuuton kokonaan.” (11.8.2018 Helsingin Sanomissa)
“Vaikkapa Suomelle kuuluvat saaret sopisivat hyvin tähän tarkoitukseen [palautuskeskus sijoitetaan saareen, ettei pääse pois].” (22.8.2017 Ylellä)
“Somalit ovat perineet suomalaisessa tajunnassa sen position, joka vuosisatojen ajan kuului romaneille. On vaikea nimetä röyhkeämpää, kiittämättömämpää, vaateliaampaa, aggressiivisempaa ja kaikkinaisesta itsekriittisyydestä vapaampaa vähemmistöä kuin somalit. Kaikista muista, haasteellisistakin, ryhmistä nousee niitä, jotka kehottavat omiaan lopettamaan rasismiruikutuksen ja katsomaan peiliin. Vaan ei somaleista.” (10.1.2007 Scriptassa)
“Todellinen vikapää ei ole afro, joka toteuttaa itseään juuri niin kauan ja paljon kuin koneisto antaa hänen toteuttaa. Todellinen syyllinen, ja legitiimi vihan kohde, on se utopiassa elävä poliittinen eliitti, jolle n-sana [poistettu oikea sana] on hoivattava reppana ja kiva halinalle ja joka vähät välittää yhteiskuntarauhasta.” (30.9.2005 Scriptassa)
NAISVIHA
”Kollektiivisessa närkästyksessäni huomaan välillä, että minun on vaikea tuntea aitoa sympatiaa näiden rikosten uhreja kohtaan. Tunnen houkutusta ajatella, että naiset saavat sitä, mitä pyytävät. Yritän kuitenkin olla ajattelematta näin. Koska kaikki naiset eivät ole sellaisia kuin Virtanen, Biaudet ja Filatov. Raiskaukset tulevat joka tapauksessa lisääntymään. Koska näin ollen yhä useampi nainen tulee joka tapauksessa raiskatuksi, toivon hartaasti, että uhrinsa sattumanvaraisesti valitsevien saalistajien kynsiin jäisivät oikeat naisihmiset. Vihervasemmistolaiset maailmanparantajat ja heidän äänestäjänsä. Mieluummin he kuin joku muu. Heihin ei tehoa mikään muu kuin se, että monikulttuuri osuu omaan nilkkaan.” (20.12.2006 Scriptassa).
SOSIAALITURVA
“Vertasin Rinteen puheita nigerialaiskirjeisiin. Kaikki tietävät, että sosiaalidemokraatit ei vaalien jälkeen nosta eläkkeitä.” (19.5.2018 Ylellä)
“Yhteiskunnalla on perustehtävät, kuten turvata kansalaistensa ulkoinen ja sisäinen turvallisuus. Sen lisäksi on luksustoimintoja, kuten työttömyysturva ja sosiaaliturva. Sitten on sellaisia tehtäviä, jotka minun mielestäni eivät lainkaan kuulu valtion ja veronmaksajien toimialueeseen, kuten esimerkiksi rahan siirto Etelä-Eurooppaan tai vielä kauemmaksi maailmaan.” (13.3.2017 Iltalehdessä)
UNKARI JA SOTILASJUNTTA
”…asiallisesti ottaen, mediasta saamieni tietojen perusteella, mitään vallankaappausta ei Unkarissa ole tapahtunut…Unkarin todellinen synti ei ole demokratiavaje, sananvapausvaje tai oikeusvaltiovaje vaan kansallismielisyys ja konservatiivisuus.” (1.4.2020 Kansan Uutisessa)
“Juuri nyt Kreikkaan tarvittaisiin sotilasjuntta, jonka ei tarvitsisi välittää suosiostaan, ja joka voisi panna lakkoilijat ja mellakoijat kuriin panssarivaunuilla.” (14.9.2011 Savon Sanomassa)
VIHAPUHEETTA
“Mielivaltisena sensuurina” Halla-aho pitää lakia kansanrynään vastaan kiihottamisesta. (7.11.2019 Ilta-Sanomissa)
“Täytyy ryhtyä tykittämään tuota [oikeusministeri Tuija] Braxin [vihr.] ennakkosensuurijuttua myös ulkomaisiin blogeihin ja tiedotusvälineisiin. Gates of Vienna on ehkä hyvä paikka aloittaa.” (2008 Uudessa Suomessa)
Here are some symptoms of the coronavirus: fever, dry cough, sore throat, tiredness, headaches, loss of taste, and smell. Here are some symptoms of the PS virus: racism, Islamophobia, bigotry, climate denial, conspiracy theories, mediocracy, pro-Putin, and incompetence.
Like Covid-19, which fools and infects healthy cells, the PS virus also enters and infects institutions like parliament. The PS got a foothold in the Finnish political system by pulling fast ones on voters, spreading hate, and giving overly simplistic answers to complex questions.
We need a vaccine for the Covid-19 and PS viruses.
For the latter, the antibodies to kill the PS virus are empathy, caring, and anti-racism education based on social equality for all.
Perussuomalaiset MPs (upper row lefrt to right): Jussi Halla-aho, Jani Mäkelä, Mauri Peltokangas, (lower row left to right) Riikka Purra, Ano Turtiainen, Ville Tavio and Veikko Vallin. Cartoon by Hamid H. Alsammarraee.
The PS virus cannot be compared with a temporary hiccup. It is more lethal than that. If we are not careful, it can mutate Finland into Hungary and Poland, or worse.
Below are some more examples of the PS virus and what it has infected our democracy from MAGA caps to adulations to Trump.
Two PS MPs, Vilhelm Junnila and Veikko Vallin giving the thumbs up to former President Urho Kekkonen (1956-82). With or without disinfectant and beams of light, the PS is Finland’s most pro-Trump party. Source: FacebookOn June 4, 2019, Halla-aho tweets: “I dig him. Trump is the best thing that has happened in a long time to the United States and to the Western world.”
It is surprising how much political mileage one gets from bullshit.
In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic that has exposed the leadership vacuum left by US President Donald Trump and his vice president, Mike Pence. If we go back to 2015, when, Finland saw a record number of asylum seekers entering the government, the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party, which was in government, offered no leadership except for the usual anti-immigration rhetoric.
For this reason, Trump and Pence resemble closely Halla-aho and Purra, who base their politics on racism – like the Trump administration – and generous quantities of BS.
Ideologically, US President Donald Trump and Jussi Halla-aho are soul mates. They hate Muslims and other people of color. Both also hate the state and are ready to unleash neoliberal economic policies on the population, thus aggravating social inequality. Sources: US Government and Etelä-Suomen Sanomat.US Vice President Mike Pence is known as a dry rubber stamp at the service of his boss, Donald Trump. PS First Vice President Riikka Purra is also a rubber stamp parroting Halla-aho’s anti-Muslim and people of color racism. Sources: US Government and Ilatlehti.
A good word that describes all of these four politicians is bravado, or fake bravery and being foolhardy. All four are spinners of fake news as well.
Another matter that these four politicians have in common is that they bully the most vulnerable groups of society. Usually, those who don’t have the power or the means to stand up to their racism.
As I mentioned in an earlier posting, the COVID-19 pandemic is wreaking havoc but also offering us an opportunity. One of its opportunities was to expose the lack of leadership, corruption, and greed of the Trump administration.
The only matter protecting Halla-aho and his cronies is being the opposition. Faced with a crisis and a need to lead, he and the PS party would be cut from the knees due to a vacuum left by no leadership.
Like Tump and Pence, it is only a question of time when the real Halla-aho, Purra and the PS will be unmasked.
Not obtaining the two-thirds majority needed to change the bylaws, the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* Youth turned down a motion from the party to change its bylaws 56 votes in favor to 45 against. The vote was a definite setback to PS chairperson Jussi Halla-aho.
Even if the party will make a decision in early March on how to proceed after the vote, it means that PS Youth will split from the parent party.
The only ones who appear surprised by the result is the PS leadership. Under Halla-aho, the party has promoted, even encouraged, ethnonationalism and fear-mongered about how white Finns will become a minority in their own country thanks to Muslim migrants.
PS party secretary Simo Grönroos, who is a declared ethnonationalist and a member of the fascist-spirited Suomen Sisu, confirmed after the vote that the party would establish a new youth association.
“Of course it is important that the party has its own youth organization,” he was quoted saying in Yle News, “so yes the party will found its own youth wing.”
Halla-aho is in the same quandary as former PS leader Timo Soini when internal power struggles were waged between him and the far-right Islamophobes led by Halla-aho.
Thanks to a media that is normally toothless in confronting PS politicians with tough questions, and other politicians who fear that opposing the PS’ racist policies may be counterproductive, Halla-aho and his cronies have had an easy ride in Finland.
Former PS Youth second vice president Toni Jalonen, changed that momentarily when he admitted over the weekend at a conference in Estonia that he is “an ethnonationalist, traditionalist, and a fascist.”
Some may believe that the big news from the weekend is that the former second vice president of the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* Youth, Toni Jalonen, admitted publicly to being “an ethnonationalist, traditionalist, and a fascist.”
Reaction to what Jalonen affirmed came fast and hard after it hit social media. National Coalition Party (Kokoomus) leader Petteri Orpo stated that “Halla-aho’s circus is mixed up,” and all of the parties’ youth leagues pledged not to work with PS Youth only after they renounced ethnonationalism and fascism.
Jalonen fascist affirmation was followed over the weened by other PS outbursts from MP Ano Turtainen, who wrote that civil war was inevitable if Christian Democrat MP Päivi Räsänen is charged and convicted of ethnic agitation. European MP Laura Huhtasaari sent us to the twilight zone as well when she said in an interview that Kokoomus is a Communist Party.
Jalonen and the PS Youth’s third vice president, Tomer Souranto, resigned as well on Tuesday due to the scandal. Even if the PS tries to wash its hands of what happened, there are some unanswered questions lingering: Did Jalonen represent only himself or PS Youth) Did PS Youth pay for his and Souranto’s trip to the Etnofutur IV event in Tallinn?
If you look at the Etnofutur IV program below, Jalonen is listed as a Nazi-spirited Suomen Sisu and PS Youth representative.
Former PS Youth second vice president Toni Jalonen speaking on behalf of Suomen Sisu and Perussuomalaiset Youth. Source: Facebook. Top picture and in “good” company: Toni Jalonen (left) at the Etnofutur IV conference posing with the Estonian Minister of Finance Martin Helm of the far-right EKRE party, former PS Youth third vice president Tomer Souranto and EKRE party member Ruuben Kaalep. Bottom left photo: Kaalep and far-right French leader Marine Le Pen giving the white power sign. Bottom right: Helm and father, interior minister Mart Helm giving the white power sign in parliament. Source: Yle, ERR News, and Migrant Tales.Toni Jalonen and some PS Youth members from Satakunta showing the white power sign in a February 15, 2020 posting. Writes the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) about the white power sign: “In 2017, the ‘okay’ hand gesture acquired a new and different significance thanks to a hoax by members of the website 4chan to falsely promote the gesture as a hate symbol, claiming that the gesture represented the letters ‘wp,’ for ‘white power.’ The ‘okay’ gesture hoax was merely the latest in a series of similar 4chan hoaxes using various innocuous symbols; in each case, the hoaxers hoped that the media and liberals would overreact by condemning a common image as white supremacist.”Source: Facebook.
If we are fair, PS chairperson Halla-aho’s irritation with what happened isn’t what Jalonen said, but that he sees such statements by his followers as a challenge to his leadership.
We saw a lot of this when Timo Soni, the former chairperson of PS, led the party. The Halla-aho faction that made racism in the cornerstone of its political message finally succeeded at ousting Soini in disgrace.
There is one sentence in Tuesday’s Yle A-studio that reveals the latter when Halla-aho admitted that he was “surprised” by Jalonen’s statement and saw it as “a provocation.”
Where has Halla-aho’s stuck his head during the past years? How can he forget what he’s written and where he has published his far-right racist writings? Let’s not kid ourselves, fascism and other far-right nonsense are an integral part of the party’s message.
Usually, the message comes out in code, but now Jalonen decided to open up and spill the beans dressed with the colors of the 1930s Finnish fascist Patriotic People’s Movement (Isänmaalinen kansanliike): “Today I am an ethnonationalist, traditionalist, and a fascist [clapping].”
Jalonen’s scandalous statement isn’t the only matter that points to the PS’ liking of fascism. Check out the PS Youth logo. It also flirts with ethnonationalism and fascism. Risto Laakkonen once said that when you start to talk about Finns as a tribe, you start to flirt with racism.
What does this PS Youth logo evoke? White Finnish traditions, ethnonationalism, and racism under the guise of fascism.
If Finland is so much against racism and fascism as mainstream politicians and policy-makers want us to believe, how do you explain the popularity of the PS?
There are two explanations, in my opinion:
About 20% of Finland’s population are hardcore racists who like or agree with fascism;
We deny what the PS is because acknowledging it would be saying something ugly about ourselves. It’s like the story of the alcoholic who has a difficult time admitting that he has a drinking problem and must go to Alcoholics Anonymous.
There is no doubt in my mind that the PS is a threat to Finnish society and our way of life. Flirting with it or being a bedfellow will not change or tame the party.
If the PS had their way, Muslims and people of color would be treated worse than in the United States at the expense of neoliberal economic policies. The borders would be shut to non-EU asylum seekers. It would mean that Finland would ditch its international agreements and become a copy of Viktor Orbán’s Hungary. Welcome gross human rights abuses.
The PS is a nightmare that would become real if ever in government.
It is justified to consider the Nürnberg trials a farce. Guilt was decided in advance, and the justifications for the sentences were absurd.[1]
Perussuomalaiset* (PS) chairperson Jussi Halla-aho (2010)
Isn’t it incredible how PS Youth second vice president Toni Jalonen put himself in the eye of a political storm when he admitted over the weekend that he is “an ethnonationalist, traditionalist, and a fascist?”
Not only admitted these words in public is one matter but doing it with his Finnish fascist black shirt and blue tie adds more light to the hypocrisy of the Finnish political system and specifically on the PS.
Halla-aho was quoted as saying in Helsingin Sanomat that the PS doesn’t tolerate nazism or fascism. These assurances are as empty as Halla-aho admitting that the PS isn’t a racist party.
A 2011 campaign ad of Wille Rydman of the National Coalition Party. In some ads like this one he appears for some strange reason with photoshopped dark skin and in others with white skin. Rydman believes that his party should work closer with the PS. It is for this reason, and many others, why he is known as the Halla-aho of the National Coalition Party.
Jalonen used MP Juha Mäenpää, who is suspected for ethnic agitation over his invasive species remark of asylum seekers, as an example of why it would be injust to sack him from the party.
“I understand that if the party sacks me, but I do not see it as just if you look at what others have said [publicly] in the party,” he was quoted as saying in Helsingin Sanomat, pointing the finger at Mäenpää.
What makes the whole we’re-going-to-possibly-sack Jalonen farce by the PS leadership is itself and its track record. Jalonen’s case shows that it is fine being a fascist in the party as long as you don’t say it too loudly in public.
Halla-aho was, for example, convicted in 2012 for ethnic agitation and breaching the sanctity of religion. He was also suspended a year earlier from the party for two weeks for supporting a military regime in Greece.
“What is needed in Greece right now is a military junta, which would not need public approval and could use tanks against strikers and demonstrators,” he wrote on Facebook.[2]
The PS has, under the leadership of Halla-aho, become more radicalized. Racist concepts like ethnonationalism, ethnic replacement, fascism, and other ones are today the norm.
The same challenges former PS leader Timo Soini had with the racists in the party, which was nothing more than a power fight between him and Halla-aho, is now taking place in the party but with fascists and ethnonationalists.
Let’s not fall for the hypocrisy of the PS, but continue to focus on challenging a party that wants to turn Finland into a country like Victor Orbán’s Hungary.
[1] For an example Alber Speer (an architect) got a long sentence since he knew about the holocaust but didn’t try to prevent it. As if a person living in a dictatorship should fight against the dictatorship even if it costs his life. Source: Wikiquote (Hommaforum).
One matter is for certain: You don’t need to prove somebody is a racist because that person does it for you. Racists also think people are stupid and can’t see through them.
While I am not suggesting that Turkkila is a racist, he’s had a big role in helping the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* and its politicians to spread the party’s Islamophobic message and their brand of hatred of people of color.
Matias Turkkila “feels angry” because he name was mentioned onpage 315 of the report: “As in previous years, Laura Huhtasaari, PS vice president and MP, ranks high on the Islamophobic network together with the president of the party, Jussi Halla aho, who was convicted in 2012 of ethnic agitation and breaching the sanctity of religion. Others include: Teuvo Hakkarainen, Sebastian Tynkkynen, Atte Kaleva, Matias Turkkila, Marco de Wit, Marko Mäki, Junes Lokka, and Tiina Wiik. Even if Muslims account for an estimated 1.8% of the total population and nonEU migrants from Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, and Africa amount to 16.9% (63,362 in 2017) of Finland’s foreign-born residents, Halla-aho, Huhtasaari, and other Islamophobes like the neo-Nazi PVL make a big deal about Muslims being a threat to society. Huhtasaari, who supports U.S. President Donald Trump and Hungary’s strongman Viktor Orbán, is worried about the “Islamization” of Europe. In a recent post on social media, she expressed her three greatest concerns: “no substitution for Finland’s population and culture; we don’t want Finland taken over by Islam; and we don’t want people in our streets to be substituted for women and girls wearing veils.” Source: European Islamophobia Report 2018.
Some facts about how Turkkila and how he has furthered racism with the help of the Islamophobic network:
He’s was PS Jussi Halla-aho’s campaign manager. Halla-aho was convicted in 2012 for ethnic agitation and breaching the sanctity of religion;
Founding with Halla-aho or by himself Hommaforum, an Islamophobic platform to frame and attack antiracists and other people they don’t like;
He is editor os Suomen Uutiset, a PS publication that regularly spews hatred and misinformation about people of color and Muslims.
The question: Does Matias Turkkila belong to the Islamophobic network of Finland?
