Tag: Perussuomalaiset

Dedicated to the “let them drown” MEP candidates of Finland

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Islamophobes and other racists believe that those they victimize have short memories. Wrong. We remember and will do everything for our children and grandchildren to remember their viciousness.

Migrant Tales published a shameful list of Finnish MEP candidates who answered an Alma Media election compass question: “Is it the obligation of the EU to save all those migrants who attempt to come to Europe and who are at risk of drowning in the Mediterranean?”

Believe it or not, 36% of the candidates (85/234) answered that the EU had no obligation or had no opinion in saving people drowning in the Mediterranean.

The child asks where is Europe and the mother replies, at the bottom of the sea. Source: Facebook. Thank you Xur Piñera Alonso for the heads-up.

The party where 100% of the candidates agreed that people should be allowed to drown in the Mediterranean were from the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party.

Even so, Henna Virkkunen of the National Coalition Party, a party that claims to uphold human rights, “disagreed” that the EU should save people from drowning in the Mediterranean.

The first vice president, Riikka Purra, reiterated this recently at a session of parliament stating that the EU should not save people from drowning because otherwise, it would be a pull factor.

MEP candidates:

Perussuomalaiset

TOTALLY DISAGREE (LET THEM DROWN, IT’S THEIR PROBLEM)

SIMO GRÖNROOS
TEUVO HAKKARAINEN
ILPO HELTOMOINEN 
LAURA HUHTASAARI
ASSERI KINNUNEN
LAURA KORPINEN
OLLI KOTRO

MAURI PELTOKANGAS
MIKA RAATIKAINEN
MIRA NIEMINEN
SAMULI SIBAKOFF
SEBASTIAN TYNKKYNEN
TANJA VAHVELAINEN 
MATTI VIREN 

DISAGREE (LET THEM DROWN)

ARTO LUUKKANEN
MINNA REIJONEN
PIRKKO RUOHONEN-LERNER

NO OPINION (I DON’T HAVE AN OPINION IF PEOPLE DROWN IN THE MEDITERRANEAN)

KARRI OLLILA
MINNA PARTANEN

National Coalition Party

TOTALLY DISAGREE (LET THEM DROWN, IT’S THEIR PROBLEM)

PIIA KURKI

I DISAGREE (LET THEM DROWN)

HENNA VIRKKUNEN
LEENA ZITTLING
JYRKI KOIVIKKO
KIMMO SASI
SAMI YLI-RAHNASTO

NO OPINION (I DON’T HAVE AN OPINION IF PEOPLE DROWN IN THE MEDITERRANEAN)

EIJA-RIITA KORHOLA
JANIKA TAKATALO
MATILDA AF HÄLLSTRÖM

Center Party

TOTALLY DISAGREE (LET THEM DROWN, IT’S THEIR PROBLEM)

NONE

DISAGREE (LET THEM DROWN)

JANNE KAISANLAHTI
ANNINA RUOTTU
PETRA SCHULZE STEINEN
ANNA SIRKIÄ

NO OPINION (I DON’T HAVE AN OPINION IF PEOPLE DROWN IN THE MEDITERRANEAN)

MIIKKAEL AZAIZE
RAUL KAJAK
OLLI NYBERG

Christian Democrats

TOTALLY DISAGREE (LET THEM DROWN, IT’S THEIR PROBLEM)

None

DISAGREE (LET THEM DROWN)

MIKA EBELING
ESA ERÄVALO
KITTI KUMPULAINEN

NO OPINION (I DON’T HAVE AN OPINION IF PEOPLE DROWN IN THE MEDITERRANEAN)

SARI ESSAYAH

Social Democratic Party

TOTALLY DISAGREE (LET THEM DROWN, IT’S THEIR PROBLEM)

None

DISAGREE (LET THEM DROWN)

NIKO ESKELINEN

NO OPINION (I DON’T HAVE AN OPINION IF PEOPLE DROWN IN THE MEDITERRANEAN)

None

Swedish People’s Party

TOTALLY DISAGREE (LET THEM DROWN, IT’S THEIR PROBLEM)

None

DISAGREE (LET THEM DROWN)

FILIP HAMO-DROTZ

NO OPINION (I DON’T HAVE AN OPINION IF PEOPLE DROWN IN THE MEDITERRANEAN)

FILIP BJÖRKLÖF
MARTIN NORRGÅRD
MAX SCHULMAN

Left Alliance and Green League

TOTALLY DISAGREE (LET THEM DROWN, IT’S THEIR PROBLEM)

None

DISAGREE (LET THEM DROWN)

None

NO OPINION (I DON’T HAVE AN OPINION IF PEOPLE DROWN IN THE MEDITERRANEAN)

None

*A direct translation of Perussuomalaiset in English would be something like “basic” or “fundamental Finn.” Official translations of the Finnish name of the party, such as Finns Party or True Finns, promote in our opinion nativist nationalism and racism. We, therefore, at Migrant Tales prefer to use in our postings the Finnish name of the party once and after that the acronym PS.

PS MP Ville Tavio is a good example of how hazardous Islamophobia is to one’s perception

Posted on by Migrant Tales

I once had the opportunity to write a rebuttal in the Helsinki Times to Perussuomalaiset (PS)* parliamentary group leader Ville Tavio. In his usual far-right fiery language, he suggested outright that Finland must treat migrants as second-class members of society.

He suggested in an op-ed piece in  Uusi Suomi that the Finnish Constitution should be amended to give Finns priority over foreigners.

Tavio has had many racist outbursts before. His most recent one was a parliamentary question asking why Muslim women should be allowed to use burkinis at public swimming halls. He now sounds the alarm that millions of asylum seekers will soon stream to Europe as a result of Turkey’s military action in Syria.

He tweets: “Turkey is threatening to spark a new immigration crisis. If the [mass] migration of people begins, is the Finnish army ready this time to stop foreign hordes at the border? What does defense minister @anttikaikkonen say? The fate of the nation rests on this question.”

Excuse me, Tavio, are you suggesting that we should start to deploy the army at our border because you are apparently hallucinating asylum seekers coming from the Middle East?

Are you ok?

Has the poison of Islamophobia kicked in?

Preview(opens in a new tab)

Ville Tavio’s Facebook wall: “Be a brave Finn.” Be brave and hate Muslims and asylum seekers is what he is really saying.

Tavio is a lawyer and he should supposedly know better and how to choose his words.

Believe it or not, he is a product of Finland’s world-class education system.

*A direct translation of Perussuomalaiset in English would be something like “basic” or “fundamental Finn.” Official translations of the Finnish name of the party, such as Finns Party or True Finns, promote in our opinion nativist nationalism and racism. We, therefore, at Migrant Tales prefer to use in our postings the Finnish name of the party once and after that the acronym PS.

Halla-aho’s anti-immigration soundbites and why we should not relax hate speech laws

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Perussuomalaiset (PS)* chairperson Jussi Halla-aho gave us on Yle Ykkösaamu his usual anti-immigration blah blah and why Finland should relax its hate speech laws.

In the interview, Halla-aho, who was convicted of ethnic agitation and breaching the sanctity of religion in 2012, defended the Nazi-spirited Suomen Sisu association and played down PS MP Juha Mäenpää’s description in parliament that asylum seekers are a non-human “invasive species.”

Mäenpää is the same politician who stated in 2015 that “God had answered his prayers” after an asylum reception center was razed by fire.

Read the full story here.

While these types of counterarguments by Halla-aho, who has steered the party in into the far-right ideological lap of leaders like Lega’s Matteo Salvini and Hungary’s Viktor Orbán, have no significance because the PS leader would even find arguments to justify the rise to power of the Nazis and Adolf Hitler in 1933.

Helsinki University criminal law professor Kimmo Nuotio threw some cold water on Halla-aho’s claim that hate speech laws have no place in an open society. Apart from pointing out that the PS’ proposal is political, he did not consider the ongoing debate healthy for democracy.

Moreover, the number of ethnic agitation cases that reach the courts are still modest as the table below shows.

Ethnic agitation cases that were taken to court in 2018. Even if such cases rose by 138.5% last year to 31, it is still a tiny amount. Source: Justice Ministry.

“Personally, I find this type of discussion harmful,” Nuotio said, “it’s an attempt to undercut the basis for these laws.”

One matter that the Ykkösaamu journalist should have asked is why do we have laws against hate speech? The answer is obvious. Without them, it would be open season for racists and parties like the PS openly harass, attack, label and socially exclude vulnerable groups like Muslims for their political gain.

The argument used by Halla-aho to not open Finland’s labor markets to outside the EU is equally deceiving. Adding the usual fear-mongering that outside the EU there are half a billion people who could come to work, he claimed that such workers would drive down salaries.

Possibly valid to some extent, such people in our labor market like now would force our authorities to do a much better job in regulating markets and ensuring that exploitation does not become the norm.

* The far-right Perussuomalaiset (PS) party imploded on June 13, 2017, into two factions, the PS and New Alternative, which is now called Blue Reform. In the last parliamentary election, Blue Reform has wiped off the Finnish political map when they saw their numbers in parliament plummet from 18 MPs to none. A direct translation of Perussuomalaiset in English would be something like “basic” or “fundamental Finn.” Official translations of the Finnish name of the party, such as Finns Party or True Finns, promote in our opinion nativist nationalism and racism. We, therefore, at Migrant Tales prefer to use in our postings the Finnish name of the party once and after that the acronym PS.

The real MP Jani Mäkelä and how the PS also waters the poisonous fruit of anti-Semitism in Finland

Posted on by Migrant Tales

THIS STORY WAS UPDATED

A tweet, which alleges Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP Jani Mäkelä, stating that “without SS troops, Finlan would have lost the Continuation War (1941-44), is from a fake account. If this is true, we apologize for the mix-up.

I wrote a comment to PS MP Mäkelä below after he asked me to “Stop spreading fake news and remove this post and related web article, before I need to take further action!”



Do you believe that PS MP Mäkelä will answer my question?

I’m not holding my breath.

What Mäkelä thinks about the SS and its role in the Continuation War (1941-44) would be of interest, considering that the PS is a far-right radical right party that has links with neo-Nazi and fascist groups like Suomen Sisu.

One of PS MP Mäkelä’s campaign platform was, like all of the candidates who got elected, anti-immigration. The tweet below and his reaction to it show what he thinks about Muslims and cultural diversity in Finland.

If it were for him, minorities like Muslims would be at the total mercy of the PS’ hostile Islamophobia.

Mäkelä did not like at all Police Chief Inspector Jari Taponen’s tweet: “Even in Islandic politics hate speech has become more common. The rhetoric follows the same European formula, where the targets of this rhetoric are arriving East European migrants and Muslims. Politicians insist on their hate speech banning Sharia Law, banning mosques and banning the Burka, among others.”

Irrespective of the fake tweet, we all know that the PS is an Islamophobic, xenophobic, homophobic, and far-right radical right party. We should not be surprised that their anti-immigration populist rhetoric has fueled the hostile environment most likely fueled hate speech against Finland’s small Jewish community.

Migrant Tales reported in 2017 how the Jewish community of Helsinki felt threatened by rising hate speech.

“I will not say that it is only the extreme right that is directing this [online] hate speech against the Jewish community,” said Yaron Nadbornik, the president of the Jewish Community of Helsinki. ”Let’s just say that they are people from different ideologies that write online thousands of hate comments against Jews.”

All those who defend the SS role in Finland are blind to the atrocities committed and such group’s complicity in the extermination of the Jews.

We have heard of the SS death squads, the Einsatzgruppen, who are responsible for murdering three million Jews.

If there is a good example of why anti-Semitism has flourished in Finland like other forms of racism, it is Mäkelä’s tweet above.

See also:

The City of Ylivieska in Finland awards anti-Semite with distinction (September 24, 2014)

The Jews of Finland (August 27, 2013)

* The far-right Perussuomalaiset (PS) party imploded on June 13, 2017, into two factions, the PS and New Alternative, which is now called Blue Reform. In the last parliamentary election, Blue Reform has wiped off the Finnish political map when they saw their numbers in parliament plummet from 18 MPs to none. A direct translation of Perussuomalaiset in English would be something like “basic” or “fundamental Finn.” Official translations of the Finnish name of the party, such as Finns Party or True Finns, promote in our opinion nativist nationalism and racism. We, therefore, at Migrant Tales prefer to use in our postings the Finnish name of the party once and after that the acronym PS.

Council of Europe: Mayday, Mayday, Finland must get a grip on rising hate speech, racism, and implement trans rights

Posted on by Migrant Tales

THIS STORY WAS UPDATED

In the face of rising hate speech, racism and the lack of trans rights, the Council of Europe Commission Against Racism and Intolerance (ECRI) called today on Finland to tackle such social issues.

ECRI added: “[t]o tackle growing racist and intolerant hate speech, better coordinate integration activities for immigrants and review the law requiring transgender people to be sterilized before they can have their new gender legally recognized.”

Finland’s hostile environment against migrants and minorities is a Mayday call to do something.

Read the full ECRI statement here.

But how can anything effective be done if Finland’s second-largest political party in parliament, the Perussuomalaiset (PS)*, are spreading ethnic hatred and demanding to do away with hate speech laws?

How much harm and fuel to the fire of racism is spread when politicians like PS First Vice-President Riikka Purra near-constantly attacks people of color by labeling them “human scum.”

Adding to the problem are mainstream parties like the National Coalition Party and Center Party that give mixed messages on accepting the PS as a future partner in government.

You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to understand that one of the big problems in Finland is enforcement of hate speech laws. For some, the police are seen as part of the problem.

Even so, ECRI said that “it welcomes the adoption of a new anti-discrimination law and the prohibition of ethnic profiling, as well as measures taken to combat hate speech, including the setting-up of Hate Speech Investigation Teams in every Police Department.”

Some 900 Finnish police officers have received training on preventing and combating hate crimes.

* The far-right Perussuomalaiset (PS) party imploded on June 13, 2017, into two factions, the PS and New Alternative, which is now called Blue Reform. In the last parliamentary election, Blue Reform has wiped off the Finnish political map when they saw their numbers in parliament plummet from 18 MPs to none. A direct translation of Perussuomalaiset in English would be something like “basic” or “fundamental Finn.” Official translations of the Finnish name of the party, such as Finns Party or True Finns, promote in our opinion nativist nationalism and racism. We, therefore, at Migrant Tales prefer to use in our postings the Finnish name of the party once and after that the acronym PS.

The dark racist side of Finland, the Nordic country with the best education system, home of equal rights and all that blah blah

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Helsinki City Councillor Abdirahim Husu Hussein, who is now giving racists and parties like the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* a taste of their own medicine proves a point: There is too much racism in Finland, and too little is done to counter it.

Disagree? How many hate speech, hate crime, and cases involving racism ever reach the courts? How long does it take to reach the courts? How many get convictions?

After receiving countless racist insults and recently a letter with a death threat and a piece of rope tied as a noose, the insults, death threats, and racist harassment against Hussein continue.

Hussein’s case is a sad reminder that even if we have good laws against racism and hate speech, too little is done to enforce them.

Attacks against Hussein continue and show that Finland does too little to counter hate speech and racism.

Racism and hate are like a rabid dog that some politicians walk to impress and lure their voters. They forget, however, that that dog knows no master and can bite back hard, very hard.

* The far-right Perussuomalaiset (PS) party imploded on June 13, 2017, into two factions, the PS and New Alternative, which is now called Blue Reform. In the last parliamentary election, Blue Reform has wiped off the Finnish political map when they saw their numbers in parliament plummet from 18 MPs to none. A direct translation of Perussuomalaiset in English would be something like “basic” or “fundamental Finn.” Official translations of the Finnish name of the party, such as Finns Party or True Finns, promote in our opinion nativist nationalism and racism. We, therefore, at Migrant Tales prefer to use in our postings the Finnish name of the party once and after that the acronym PS.

QUOTE OF THE DAY (Riikka Purra): Human scum and racism

Posted on by Migrant Tales

THIS STORY WAS UPDATED

Perussuomalaiset (PS)* First Vice- President Riikka Purra asked in a tweet: “In your opinion, is it racist to call an African rapist human scum?”

Indeed, it is racist! It is especially racist if you are a white politician who is a member of an Islamophobic and Afrophobic party.

Can a human, irrespective of the crime, be referred to as subhuman?

Her question is a bit similar to what former UK Prime Minister David Cameron called migrants trying to enter Britain as a “swarm,” which is a term applied for fish and insects.

It is not appropriate for anyone, especially politicians, to refer to people as “scum” or a “swarm.”

Purra, who hates asylum seekers and is near-constantly spreading conspiracy theories tweets: “In your opinion, is it racist to call an African rapist human scum?”

In the interview with Susanne Päivärinta on Wednesday, the chair of the parliamentary administration committee, which oversees immigration policy, Purra could not name the three biggest national groups in Finland.

She told Päivärinta that they were the Russians, Estonians, and Somalis. Wrong. The three biggest groups are Estonians, Russians, and Iraqis.

Purra talks big and spreads Islamophobic fear but has problems with her facts like what percentage of foreign nationals live in Finland.

She didn’t even know.

Purra is a disingenuous politician whose anti-immigration rhetoric is a sham.

* The far-right Perussuomalaiset (PS) party imploded on June 13, 2017, into two factions, the PS and New Alternative, which is now called Blue Reform. In the last parliamentary election, Blue Reform has wiped off the Finnish political map when they saw their numbers in parliament plummet from 18 MPs to none. A direct translation of Perussuomalaiset in English would be something like “basic” or “fundamental Finn.” Official translations of the Finnish name of the party, such as Finns Party or True Finns, promote in our opinion nativist nationalism and racism. We, therefore, at Migrant Tales prefer to use in our postings the Finnish name of the party once and after that the acronym PS.

Yle opinion poll: PS support surges, about 20% of Finns suffer from social ills like racism

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Migrant Tales does not usually publish opinion polls. However, the latest one published by Yle warrants a quick response.

White Finnish newspapers headlined the news as, “Support for the Perussuomalaiset* party surpasses 20%.” I and many of my friends see it differently: “Support for the PS shows that Finland has a serious untreated racism problem. Watch out brothers and sisters and get ready for more hostility and violence.”

Read the full story in Finnish here.

Politicians like PS Vice-President Riikka Purra may ask how can one insinuate that half a million voters could be racist.

My answer: How many millions of Nazi Germany were indirect or direct complices in the Holocaust? How many millions of white Europeans and USAmericans were involved in slavery and the slave trade?

Yes, the PS is a racist party that exposes Finland’s untreated social ills like racism.

* The Perussuomalaiset (PS) party imploded on June 13, 2017, into two factions, the PS and New Alternative, which is now called Blue Reform. In the last parliamentary election, Blue Reform was wiped off the Finnish political map when they saw their numbers in parliament plummet from 18 MPs to none. A direct translation of Perussuomalaiset in English would be something like “basic” or “fundamental Finn.” Official translations of the Finnish name of the party, such as Finns Party or True Finns, promote in our opinion nativist nationalism and racism. We, therefore, at Migrant Tales prefer to use in our postings the Finnish name of the party once and after that the acronym PS.

The term “harmful immigration” is just as bad a word as using the n-word

Posted on by Migrant Tales

THIS STORY WAS UPDATED

Racists, xenophobes and populist opportunists from parties like the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* like to be intentionally mean to Muslim and African asylum seekers by labelling them “harmful” immigration.

Using the term harmful immigration to describe non-EU migrants by especially politicians of the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party is as bad as using the n-word.

Ville Manner did not understand in a tweet what was wrong with calling certain migrant groups harmful.

When Helsinki councilperson Abdirahim Husu Hussein tweeted that the PS, its voters, and follower are racist, it’s clear that the party got a generous taste of its own medicine.

PS vice-chairperson Riikka Purra is now on a rampage to prove that Europe’s whitest country will look like Mexico City in 2100. In her far-right conspiracy theories about “The Great Replacement,” she wants to keep out Muslims and Africans from coming to Finland.

A paper by Frank Ndukwe about the experiences of Africans in the Helsinki area states: “When immigrants migrate, especially to such a culturally homogenous country, there is often the tendency of fear from the natives in the mainstream and the political circles, about the ‘cultural disruption’ immigrants could bring to the society.”

Whenever the PS uses the term “harmful immigration” when speaking of Africans and Middle Easterners, we can also ask if there is such a thing like harmful native, or Finn?

Who is a harmful native? A vulnerable member of society who is probably unemployed and living on the fringes of society.

Either way, the term is insulting and should not be tolerated.

Ethnonationalism and ethnic replacement pseudotheories are fuel for white supremacist terrorists. Politicians are accountable.

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Racism is a rabid dog that racists walk using a short leash to get attention and votes. The dog, which knows no master except for hatred, can bite its master hard.

The tragic terrorist attack in a Wal-Mart in El Paso, Texas, by a white supremacist terrorist, tells us loudly why the lethal brew of racism and ultranationalism can rip society in two. What happened on Saturday in El Paso will, unfortunately, happen again.

The terrorist, Patrick Crusius, 21, published a manifesto expressing anxiety about his future in the face of the Hispanic invasion of Texas.

Just like far-right parties in Europe talk about how white Christian Europe is being taken over by Muslims, Crusius expressed in his manifesto how Hispanics will take control of the local and state government and pass laws to suit their needs.

Far-right parties like the National Rally of France, Germany’s AfD, FPÖ of Austria, Finland’s Perussuomalaiset (PS)*, Hungary’s Viktor Orbán and others express the same concern as the El Paso killer: Being taken over and becoming a minority in their country.

PS politicians like Jussi Halla-aho, Riikka Purra, Laura Huhtasaari, and a long list of others like Olli Immonen of Suomen Sisu, PS Youth are spreading the same fear among Finns about being taken over by Muslims and people of color.

Spreading such lies in one of Europe’s whitest countries is not only irresponsible but reckless. It offers ammo to future terrorists.

The recent killings in El Paso and future ones tell us of the vital importance of building an inclusive society that is serious about tackling social ills like racism. Building a country based on social justice and respect for diversity is our best insurance for peace.

We can build such a society if we pull together.

* The Perussuomalaiset (PS) party imploded on June 13, 2017, into two factions, the PS and New Alternative, which is now called Blue Reform. In the last parliamentary election, Blue Reform has wiped off the Finnish political map when they saw their numbers in parliament plummet from 18 MPs to none. A direct translation of Perussuomalaiset in English would be something like “basic” or “fundamental Finn.” Official translations of the Finnish name of the party, such as Finns Party or True Finns, promote in our opinion nativist nationalism and racism. We, therefore, at Migrant Tales prefer to use in our postings the Finnish name of the party once and after that the acronym PS.