Racism Archives - Page 117 of 208

Migrant Tales insight on EU elections: Win some, lose some

Posted on May 31, 2014 by Migrant Tales

As the political dust settles after the Euro elections last Sunday, can we claim like the media that the hard right made important gains? How did anti-EU, anti-immigration and especially anti-Islam parties like the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* of Finland fare compared with the previous elections in 2009?

Apart from the UKIP and National Front of France’s impressive election victories, there were some setbacks as well. The most notable of these were the defeat of Geert Wilders Freedom Party (PVV), which gained 16.97% of the vote in 2009 with 4 MEPs but saw its support plummet to 13.2% (4 MEPs). Other big losers were Vlaams Belang of Belgium (4.14%/1 MEP from 10.88%/2 MEPs) and Italy’s Lega Nord (6.15%/5 MEPs from 10.21%/9 MEPs).

See original posting here.

If I were the PS’ chairperson, Timo Soini, I’d be concerned about the poor showing of the party despite the fact that the party got two MEPs elected.

Ever since the impressive victory of the Finnish anti-EU, anti-immigration, homophobic and especially anti-Islam party in the 2011 parliamentary elections, when it raised the number of MPs to 39 from 5 previously, it has been downhill ever since. In all of the elections after 2011, the PS has remained a low-teens party and not been able to match its 2011 election victory (see table below).

While 70% of the EU MEPs elected throughout Europe on Sunday are pro-EU, parties like the PS with MEPs like Jussi Halla-aho are finding out rapidly that the European media has a better memory than the Finnish media.

After bashing migrants and victimizing other minorities in Finland, the PS wants greater respectability by leaving the anti-EU and anti-immigration Europe for Freedom and Democracy (EFD) for the European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) bloc. The Financial Times reported this week that the PS’ membership in the ECR would be a liability because of Halla-aho’s sentence for ethnic agitation.

Even if Halla-aho tallied about a third (80,772) of the PS vote, he did so mainly on an anti-immigration message, traveling as far as Lieksa, where a PS councilman demanded a “Somali-free” meeting room, to spread his diatribes against Muslims and cultural diversity.

Taking into account the disappointing results of the PS in the past three elections, the big question is if the party will ratchet up its anti-immigration and anti-Islam rhetoric as the April 2015 parliamentary elections near. If the PS loses half of its half-a-million votes next year, it means that it will send the party back to the minor political leagues.

Of the anti-EU and anti-immigration parties that were clear victors in the EU elections, two emerge: UKIP and the National Front.

The most impressive of the two is Marine Le Pen’s National Front, which won the election with 24.95% (24 MEPs) from 6.3% (3 MEPs) previously. Nigel Farage’s UKIP became the first party since the early twentieth century to beat the Conservatives and Labor in an election. It gained 26.77% (24 MEPs) of the vote versus 16.09% (13 MEPs).

Other anti-immigration parties that did well in the elections were the Danish Folk Party (26.6%/4 MEPs from 14.8%/2 MEPs), Freedom Party of Austria (19.7%/4 MEPs from 14.8%/2 MEPs), Sweden Democrats (9.7%/2 MEPs from 3.27%/-), and neo-Nazi and anti-Semitic parties like the Golden Dawn of Greece (9.38%/3 MEPs), Hungary’s Jobbik (14.68%/3 MEPs from 14.77%/3 MEPs), NPD of Germany (1.00%/1 MEP).

HOPE not hate European Editor Graeme Atkinson put the EU elections in the following words:

So just where is this generalized, much talked-about, media-hyped rise of fascism, rise of right-wing extremism etc [except in France]? Because even with the huge increase in FN [National Front] support, the overall far right vote in the EU grew only by 1.57 million over the 2009 score with an additional country Croatia in the mix. Indeed, apart from in the UK [if we include UKIP], Denmark, Hungary and France, the far right lost votes everywhere and only won 34 seats.

It’s unlikely that the two largest anti-EU and anti-immigration parties in the European parliament, UKIP and the National Front, will form an alliance.

As far as the far right, anti-EU and anti-immigration MEPs are concerned in the new European parliament, they continue to be a small minority but with a louder voice.

* The Finnish name for the Finns Party is the Perussuomalaiset (PS). The names adopted by the PS, like True Finns or Finns Party, promote in our opinion nativist nationalism and xenophobia. We therefore prefer to use the Finnish name of the party on our postings.

The PS of Finland is named again on a list with other far-right and neo-Nazi European parties

Posted on May 30, 2014 by Migrant Tales

On Monday the Huffington Post listed the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* as one of the nine scariest parties to be elected to the European parliament in the “good” company of xenophobic and neo-Nazi parties like the National Front of France and Golden Dawn of Greece, respectively. On Tuesday, PolicyMic listed the PS as “one of the reasons we should be terrified about the people who just took power in Europe.”

Read full story on PolicyMic here.

On Wednesday, the PS’ name popped up again when the Simon Wiesenthal Center named it as one of ten parties it will monitor closely for spreading xenophobia, nativist nationalism, anti-immigration rhetoric and anti-Semitism.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center listed the PS with neo-Nazi parties like the NPD of Germany, Golden Dawn and Hungary’s Jobbik.

Helsingin Sanomat, Finland’s largest daily, published on Wednesday citing the Huffington Post’s story on the nine scariest parties elected to the European parliament.

The PS has members who are Holocaust deniers and who play down the atrocities committed by Nazi Germany.

One of these is newly elected PS MEP Halla.aho.

This picture by one of Halla-aho’s close allies in parliament, James Hirvisaari, caused the MP to be sacked from the party in October. Read full story here.

* The Finnish name for the Finns Party is the Perussuomalaiset (PS). The names adopted by the PS promote nativist nationalism and xenophobia. We therefore prefer to use the Finnish name of the party on our postings.

Simon Wiesenthal Center will monitor the PS as one of ten parties for spreading xenophobia and anti-Semitism

Posted on May 29, 2014 by Migrant Tales

After being named one of the nine scariest parties to be elected to the European parliament by Huffington Post, the Simon Wiesenthal Center, the global Jewish human rights organization that challenges anti-Semitism, issued a statement where it names the Perussuomalaiset (PS) as one of ten parties it will monitor closely for spreading xenophobia, nativist nationalism, anti-immigration rhetoric and anti-Semitism.

Placing the PS in the political company of France’s National Front, the neo-Nazi and far-right NPD of Germany, Greece’s Golden Dawn and Jobbik of Hungary, shouldn’t come to a surprise. What is, however, surprising how uncritically the Finnish media has treated the PS, especially when it comes to its anti-immigration and anti-Islam views.

Concerned by the rise of xenophobia and anti-Semitism in Europe, the Simon Wiesenthal Center called on in early May EU Vice President Catherine Ashton to condemn the entry of “hatemongers into the European Parliament, launch an investigation into their source of funding” and “urge the parliamentary faction blocs to ostracize them.”

Read full statement here.

The interesting question we should be asking is why have publications like the Huffington Post and now the Simon Wiesenthal Center listed the PS? Why has the Finnish media been more “understanding” and commonly let off the anti-EU, anti-immigration, homophobic and especially anti-Islam party easily off the hook for its hostility against migrants and visible minorities?

The answer is pretty clear since the Finnish media is part of the problem. It gives too often racists inflated respectability and importance.

Opposition to the PS and politicians who spread racism and hatred, and who have been sentenced on top of it for ethnic agitation, should never be considered “normal” politicians but outright extremists that are a threat to our way of life.

The PS has members who are Holocaust deniers and who play down the atrocities committed by Nazi Germany.

One of these is newly elected PS MEP Halla.aho.

In October, PS MP James Hirvisaari got sacked from the party after he took a picture of a friend making a Nazi salute in parliament.

Zuzeeko’s blog: Racist vandalism is costly for Helsinki city

Posted on May 28, 2014 by Migrant Tales

Perpetrators of racism (racists) give all sorts of reasons in an attempt to justify or explain their twisted perception or treatment of fellow human beings who happen to look different. Sometimes economic reasons are evoked. Some in Finland argue, for instance, that migrants from Africa and elsewhere are “welfare shoppers” who move to the country to tap welfare benefits and deplete state funds. Despite their concerns, many racists go around vandalizing public spaces with racist writings and graffiti — forgetting that cleaning up the mess will be financially costly for the state and the city they seek to “protect” from “invaders”.

Read full blog entry here.

The City of Helsinki has cleaned up a bus stop (see pictures) that was vandalized with racist writings and drawings.

In a 2011 blog post, I wrote about the ugly face of racism at a bus stop in east Helsinki. The bus stop, which is next to Edupoli — an adult education centre in Hertoniemi, was vandalized with a scary, racist text and drawing of the swastika.

Driving past the bus stop in the spring of 2014 – about three years since the vandalism was first spotted – I noted that the bus stop had been condoned off and work was going on there. A few days later I stopped at the bus stop to see what was happening, and realized that the bus stop had been given a makeover. The vandalized glass at the back had been replaced and everything was looking nice, clean and welcoming to all.

In my mind, I wondered when driving off the bus stop how much the City of Helsinki spent cleaning up the mess left behind by a racist. Although unable to confirm how much was spent renewing the bus stop, I am confident the renovation was not free of charge. The city council must have allocated some money that could have been used for something else – if some disturbed individual hadn’t vandalized that bus stop.

Mindful of the fact that racist vandalism is not uncommon around Helsinki, it is plausible to conclude that the authorities spend lots of money cleaning up and making the city welcoming to all persons, irrespective of race, color, religion or gender.

Personally, I think the actions of racist vandals cost the city money and gives it a bad name. I welcome Helsinki city’s decision to do away with manifestations of racism at the bus stop in Hertoniemi. Although costly, cleaning up makes the city more welcoming and goes a long way to protect the image of Helsinki – World Design Capital 2012. The authorities should get rid of manifestations of racism in other parts of city. Vandals on their part should do their city (our city) a favor — stop messing up public spaces and forcing the city to use resources that could be put to better use.

If racists, who describe themselves these days as “patriots”, truly love their country and care about its economic situation they won’t vandalize public spaces and force city authorities to spend resources cleaning up racist writings and drawings in bus stops and other public spaces.

Read original blog entry here.

*Zuzeeko Tegha Abeng is an associate editor of Migrant Tales.

Disingenuous Finnish PS MEP-elect Jussi Halla-aho fears image would suffer with parties like far-right National Front

Posted on May 27, 2014 by Migrant Tales

In an interview on YLE, Perussuomalaiset (PS) newly elected MEP Jussi Halla-aho said that it was doubtful that the anti-immigration party would form part of a parliamentary group with far-right parties like the National Front of France “because the party’s image would suffer.”

What a disingenuous statement by a politician who has based his career together with the PS on spreading racism and hatred of Muslims and migrants. Moreover, hasn’t he considered that the only group where the PS will be accepted is the present one, or the Europe for Freedom and Democracy?

If put in the right context, Halla-aho is saying that the PS’ image would suffer ever-greater damage if it grouped with parties like the National Front.

The French xenophobic party’s leader, Marine Le Pen, has said that she would like the PS to form part of her new group in the European parliament.

Read full story here.

Without naming the National Front or Geert Wilders’ Party for Freedom, Halla-aho said that far-right anti-immigration parties in Europe were in the same ideological ballpark as the PS.

In the face of Halla-aho’s comments, what then is the difference between the Lega Nord of Italy, which praised Anders Breivik after he murdered 77 victims on 22/7, and parties like the National Front?

The PS can blame itself and its actions for its right-wing populist, far-right and nationalistic anti-immigration, homophobic and especially anti-Islam image.

The PS forms part to the same European parliament group as the Lega Nord, Danish People’s Party, UKIP and others in the Europe of Freedom and Democracy group.

Huffington Post: The PS of Finland is one of the nine scariest parties elected to the European parliament

Posted on May 26, 2014 by Migrant Tales

Is it surprising that The Huffington Post named the “True Finns,” or Perussuomalaiset (PS), in the same far-right league as the National Front of France, Danish People’s Party, Lega Nord, Geert Wilders’ Party for Freedom and neo-Nazi Golden Dawn? Nigel Farage’s UKIP is not on the dubious list.

Unfair? Not really if we look at PS MEP Jussi Halla-aho’s track record and his racist rambles about Muslims and migrants.

Finland’s other elected PS MEP, Sampo Terho, considers himself as a politician who is “critical of immigration.”

If you add both MEPs together, their message and rhetoric equal the following: We loathe cultural diversity and we are for social inequality.

Terho is chairman of the Suomalaisuuden Liito, a narrow-minded hate-mongering association that spreads hatred of cultural diversity because it believes the only “right” Finn is a white Finn.

Have any newspapers or journalists in Finland ever seriously questioned the PS’ strange bedfellows, starting from the anti-EU and anti-immigration Europe of Freedom and Democracy group in the European parliament? Why don’t they ask them how they can be part of the same parliamentary group as the Danish People’s Party and Lega Nord, of which one of its members stated that Anders Breivik’s ideas were “in defense of western civilization?”

Why would Europe, never mind Finland, vote for candidates who invest in spreading hatred and reinforcing racism against migrants and minorities? The answer to that question is pretty clear: Europe hasn’t done enough to challenge intolerance and its European “white” ethnic privilege issues.

Read full story here.

If we look at the Huffington Post list of Europe’s nine scariest parties that were elected to the European Parliament, then we can see that all of them have major racism issues dating back throughout their history to the present.

About half of the countries on the list had colonies in Africa and elsewhere and were directly responsible for the slave trade and pillaging their former colonies of their wealth and committing systematic genocide with the help of eugenics. None of them have ever apologized for the atrocities they committed as former colonial powers.

Should we be surprised, then, that a country like France, the United Kingdom, Italy or Germany has a party that openly hates migrants?

One important question that none of these parties will ever answer clearly is how they plan to roll back the hands of time and restore their countries to their imagined ethnic “purity” of fifty years ago.

Geert Wilders tried that in March and unleashed a political scandal when he said he would make sure that there would be fewer Moroccans in the Netherlands, according to The Guardian.

Are the PS a racist party? This cartoon was published by the PS and attempts to show that climate change is something that African medicine men predict.

For migrants and minorities, the EU elections on Sunday were a clear indication that matters will get much worse in Europe before they improve. Opportunistic politicians will target migrants and minorities to get elected and seek power.

They will speak and act like former colonial masters but in a twenty-first century context.

A racist cartoon by the PS, a Finnish anti-EU, anti-immigration, homophobic and especially anti-Islam party

Posted on May 19, 2014 by Migrant Tales

Does the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party have issues with racism? Many will agree that they do starting from MPs like Jussi Halla-aho, who were sentenced for ethnic agitation, to city of Kemi councilman, Harri Turtiainen, who shamefully posted racist slogans of the Ku Klux Klan and US American Nazi party on his Facebook page.

The intolerance of the PS is well known. Their anti-EU, anti-immigration, homophobic and especially anti-Islam message repeats itself over and over again like a broken record.

One of the many political stunts of the PS is attempted surrealism. They claim, for example, not to be racist but near-constantly post and make racist comments. They claim they are against the EU but we still don’t know if they want us to terminate membership or ditch the euro.

Below is another example of how the party drives home its anti-EU message. The cartoon, which tries to show that climate change is something that African medicine men predict is not only racist, but insulting.

Read original posting (in Finnish) here.

Anti-immigration Europe: The fruits you harvest depend on the seed you plant

Posted on May 18, 2014 by Migrant Tales

In many respects, Europe looks like a region that is running scared with a notable part of its population seeking to support populist, anti-immigration and even neo-Nazi parties that offer no credible solutions to issues like rising unemployment, poverty and estrangement from our political institutions.

If students from a small town in Eastern Finland did a poster advertising Finland, what push and pull factors would they highlight for migrants?

In Finland, some politicians are learning slowly but surely that it’s a very bad idea to flirt with these right-wing populist parties like the Perussuomalaiset (PS) that are anti-EU, anti-immigration, homophobic and especially anti-Islam.

In many respects, those right-wing populist political forces they flirted with not only paved the way for a new political landscape in Finland after 2011, but marked their eventual political demise. A case in point is former Social Democrat party chairman Jutta Urpilainen, who flirted with the PS in 2010 with her infamous maassa maan tavalla statement, or in Rome do as the Romans do.

Taking into account the avalanche of bigotry at the time especially after 2008 thanks to the PS and many of its politicians like Jussi Halla-aho, James Hirvisaari and others, Urpilainen’s quote was seen as offensive to migrants living in this country. Instead of promoting Social Democratic values like social equality and inclusion, Urpilainen’s statement singled out and victimized non-ethnic Finns.

Another politician the PS should thank for helping them become one of Finland’s four largest parties is National Coalition Party Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen, who said before the 2011 parliamentary elections that “debating immigrant issues in this country doesn’t mean you’re racist.”

If politicians like Katainen or Urpilainen think it was fair game to victimize migrants, is it then ok to be a bigot, sexist or homophobic in Finland? Shouldn’t human rights, Nordic welfare state values like social equality, non-discrimination be defended by politicians? Why do they give with their silence and lack of leadership the green light to others to bully migrants and minorities?

A part of the answer to the latter question lies in the fact that migrants and minorities are vulnerable and easy targets with little power in their respective countries. Anti-immigration politicians get their inspiration from apathetic migrants and the mood swings of society that they help create.

The same mistake that the Social Democrats and National Coalition Party committed in 2010 is happening in other parts of Europe like in the United Kingdom. Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron has become more anti-immigration and anti-EU in order to appease UKIP. He has helped the anti-EU, anti-immigration, homophobic and especially anti-Islam party to grow into a formidable political force that is now threatening his party in the Euro elections.

This video clip UKIP’s Farage when effectively cross-examined by James O’Brien on LBC. Finnish journalists could learn a lot from this interview.

What have we learned from the UKIP and PS cases? One important lesson is not to suck up to the arguments of populist parties that aim to polarize society. Instead of parroting their intolerance, politicians should take part in an open debate with them and expose them for what they are: a sham.

Politicians should answer simple questions like why are racism and prejudice hazardous to society?

One of the examples they could give is the stereotype that women don’t excel in math. How do you think a woman feels as a minority in an advanced math class with other males? Consider the pressure and stress she has to face daily to prove that she’s just as good, if not even better at math, than her male classmates. Think of the power and potential that would be released from that woman if she weren’t a target of prejudice.

Rubén Blades is a famous salsa singer from Panama, who said in one of his songs, Siembra (harvest), that Latin Americans everywhere shouldn’t allow their conscience to die and be careful with the seed they plant because the fruits they’ll harvest depend on that seed.

In the song, Blades states that the seed that needs to be planted are those of affection and humility. They are the ones that will give hope to future generations.

But with the rise of right-wing populist, anti-immigration and even far-right parties in Europe today, what kind of seed are we planting and what will be its fruits?

In the hands of white Finnish privilege, our ever-growing cultural and ethnic diversity is a pathway of good intentions and social exclusion

Posted on May 17, 2014 by Migrant Tales

Or is the saying: “The road to hell is paved with good intentions?”

One would think that the great amount of effort put into Finland’s educational system would help it to come to grips with social ills like racism and xenophobia. If we look at the political landscape of Finland, and how hostile this country has become for some migrants and visible minorities, it shows that something vital like tolerance and respect weren’t taught enough at school never mind at home.

The #I, too, am Finland! campaign was a very successful way of promoting inclusion.

It’s ironic that all those things that made Finland into a successful country today, even like its military victories of the Winter War (1939-49) against a vastly outnumbered Red Army, are threatening us today.

Take for instance the Winter War, when Finland was attacked by the former Soviet Union on November 30, 1939. Not only do we know of the military exploits of the Finnish army during that gruelling 105-day war, but how it helped to unite a country by healing the wounds of the 1918 Civil War.

If the Winter War did a lot to unify the country, it reinforced as well our suspicions of Russia, which still exist today, and of the outside world.

Certainly living next to an autocratic state like the USSR can bring out the worst or the best in any nation.

The worst that our relationship with out giant eastern neighbor has fuelled is xenophobia and hostility to cultural diversity. With the help of negative attitudes of foreigners, building of social constructs and laws like the Restricting Act of 1939, were easy to keep in force for decades. For one they helped us as well to “forget” the over 1.2 million Finns that emigrated from this land between 1860 and 1999 and what they contributed to our diverse Finnish identity.

For these reasons and others, Finland was never a breeding ground for cultural diversity but a hostile place for it.

Since white Finnish-speaking Finland has monopolized this “privilege,” which gives it near-total control of political, economic and social power, it’s clear why some Finns are today so uneasy about our ever-growing cultural and ethnic diversity.

I for one am an optimist about Finland’s bright future as a culturally and ethnically diverse nation. I’m optimistic because our diversity as a nation is a fact, not a social construct like white Finnish privilege.

If we don’t succeed at challenging matters like intolerance, we run the risk of impoverishing ourselves.

It’ll be like be on a road to impoverishment where we’ll smile cordially at each other with the best intentions to the road to hell.

Pew Research Center survey: Anti-immigration and anti-minority sentiment runs high before Euro elections

Posted on May 17, 2014 by Migrant Tales

Pew Research Center, a Washington-based “fact tank,” reveals in a survey just before the European parliamentary elections on May 22-25 that anti-immigration and anti-minority sentiment runs in countries like Poland, Germany, France, UK, Spain, Italy and Greece.

Euro MEP candidates like Jussi Halla-aho and Juho Eerola of the PS have used anti-immigration sentiment to attract voters. Halla-aho’s visit in February to Lieksa in eastern Finland is a good example of how he promotes anti-immigration sentiment by demonizing Muslims.

Some parties with strong anti-immigration campaigns include Britain’s UKIP, a close ideological ally of the Perussuomalaiset (PS) of Finland, France’s National Front, Greece’s neo-Nazi Golden Dawn.

The Pew Research Center survey revealed that an average of 55% of respondents in the seven EU countries said they want fewer migrants. The strongest anti-immigration sentiment was found in Greece (86%) followed by Italy (80%).

If views of migrants was negative, so were attitudes of minorities like the Roma, Muslims and to a lesser extent Jews.

The survey revealed that the Roma are viewed as the most unfavorable (50%) minority with the Muslims (46%) trailing closely behind. While attitude towards Jews weren’t as negative as those towards the Roma and Muslims, they were especially high in Greece (47%), Poland (26%) and Italy (24%).

Still confused about how racist parties like the UKIP are? Check out this video clip below where the head of the UKIP, Nigel Farage, answers some hard questions in the same way that PS chairman Timo Soini did when he was interviewed on BBC’s Hard Talk in 2013.

UKIP’s Farage political views are very similar to Soini’s. Listening to the interview by LBC’s James O’Brien of Farage shows close similarities of how Soini speaks to the Finnish media.