Tag: xenophobia

Just call them the New Perussuomalaiset and Old Perussuomalaiset

Posted on by Migrant Tales

As politicians like MP Simon Elo try to assure us of their questionable political credentials after he and nineteen others ditched the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party on June 13,  the new party’s name, which has changed three times in less than two months, is nothing more than a snow job. 

Let’s go back to see what happened in early June. Former chairperson Timo Soini, who chaired the party for twenty years, backed Sampo Terho to head the PS. Sampo loses against Jussi Halla-aho, and it caused the PS to implode three days later.

PS MPs that give the thumbs down to Halla-aho form a new parliamentary group called New Alternative, Uusi vaihtoehto, which is later called Blue Reform and on Monday it changes the name for a third time to Siniset.

Changing the name so many times is confusing to say the least. The public isn’t buying it as the latest polls show below for the New and Old PS.

Note that the Old PS (Finns) and New Alternative (N. Alt) see their standings in the latest poll by YLE plummet by 1.6 percentage points.

Instead of allowing a new party to make up its mind what it wants to call itself, just call both blocs the “Old” Perussuomalaiset and “New” Perussuomalsiet to avoid confusion.

What differentiates the Old from the New Perussuomalaiset from each other?

Apart from their common bigotry, hostility and Islamophobic views, the New Perussuomalaiset is no different from the Old Perussuomalaiset. The difference, however, is that the former look acceptable from the outside but inside their views of Finnish society is racist and hostile to cultural diversity.

 

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Finland’s culturally diverse community must point out and scorn our Uncle Toms

Posted on by Migrant Tales

What does it say about our society when second-generation children of migrants join far-right groups that spew racism? We have a few of them in Finland like Gleb Simanov and the even more notorious types like Junes Lokka, Marco de Wit, and Miki Sileoni. 

Of the above four names, Sileoni is the least known. He’s an active far-right Suomi ensi member and was a candidate in the municipal elections of April.

I know Sileoni’s Argentinean father and was quite surprised that his son is so spiteful of cultural diversity. His Argentinean grandparents or great grandparents were migrants that came from Europe to Argentina.

Simanov didn’t turn to his boss to address the problem of people not paying their bus fares but turned to the most extremist and racist publications in Finland. Here he’s interviewed by Junes Lokka, a Moroccan-born Finn who hates Muslims, and his girlfriend.

In the United States, minorities such as blacks protect themselves from people like Lokka, de Wit, Simanov, Sileoni and others by labeling them, Uncle Toms.

Continue reading “Finland’s culturally diverse community must point out and scorn our Uncle Toms”

The fired bus driver who seeks fame with his racist videos will end up forsaken, jobless

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Racism is a sickness, and as a disorder, it has consequences for the victim and the perpetrator. We learned about a bus driver and Peurssuomalaiset (PS)* politician called Gleb Simanov, who thought up the “bright” idea to videotape and insult Somalis while at work in three videos that he posted.  

On Thursday Simonov’s fortunes changed when he was fired from Nobina, a bus company.

His sacking reminds me of what happened in 2015 to a woman called Martta Petman, who worked at the Tikkurila congregation. She was fired after she wrote on Facebook that she spat in the porridge that she served asylum seekers.

Petman might have raised some attention with her questionable actions, but she was quickly forgotten. Nobody came to her rescue never mind helped her find a new job. Sakari Timonen, one of Finland’s best bloggers, said that racists are the last people to come to another racist’s rescue.

The same is happening to Simonov. He may have caught the attention of the anti-immigration Perussuomalaiset (PS)* and other xenophobic groups, but he too like Petman will be forgotten and left without a job.

In the Facebook posting below, Simanov thanks his supporters. He even thanks a person for giving him 10 euros.

For a single father with two children, ten euros isn’t going to take you very far.

One of the interesting questions to arise from what happened is Paavo Tajukangas’ role. Tajukangas is a far-right white supremacist and a member of Suomen Sisu, an association that wants to keep Finland white.  Continue reading “The fired bus driver who seeks fame with his racist videos will end up forsaken, jobless”

The Helsinki bus driver that videotaped, insulted his customers was fired Thursday

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Today we read about a bus driver of Russian origin, and a candidate of the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party ethnically profile Somalis, insulted, videotaped and published on YouTube got sacked today. The bus driver was so sure of himself that he even gave the numbers of his company’s managers to complain. 

The bus driver, Gleb Simanov, got fired for “inappropriate and racist” behavior.

Migrant Tales spoke to one of the managers at Nobina, the bus company where he works.

 

“Let me state that it’s not acceptable that a bus driver [of our firm] videotapes clients in our buses,” said Mårten Winqvist of Nobina. “Moreover, it was wrong for the bus driver to ask a woman to leave the bus even after she offered to pay the fare.”

Winqvist said that the actions of the bus driver were in conflict with company policy.

Gleb Simanov posts the following on his Facebook wall: “Nobina Finland has fired me because of inappropriate and racist behavior. “I’m now unemployed and Kela’s [The Social Service Institution] new customer,” he writes. His firing will take effect on September 14.


We won’t publish the videos because we don’t want to bring more suffering to the victims.

Even if Paavo Tajukangas, a far-right white supremacist, and a member of Suomen Sisu, has published Simanov’s videos, nobody will come to his rescue.

* After the Perussuomalaiset (PS) party imploded on June 13 into two factions, the PS and New Alternative, which is now called Blue Reform. Despite the name changes, we believe that it is the same party in different clothing. Both factions are hostile to cultural diversity.  One is more open about it while the other is more diplomatic. 

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.

Old or new Perussuomalaiset or new or old Perussuomlaiset – it’s a new Cadillac model!

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Racism is like a Cadillac. They bring a new model every year.

Malcolm X (1925-65)

We saw on Tuesday quite a political show in Finland with 22 MPs ditching the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* and forming a new party called the New Alternative. But don’t hold your breath because nothing has changed. It’s just a marketing of the same thing, a new Cadillac model as Malcolm X said, right-wing populist nationalism and all the toxicity that goes with it.

There is no such thing as a new and old Perussuomalaiset party because it is basically the same thing.

But why aren’t we told this by the media? Where are those visible minority reporters and our voice in this political row? Nowhere, because our opinions don’t count.

Between Sunday and Monday, when the newly elected PS chairperson Jussi Halla-aho was shown the door by Sipilä and Orpo, the government had a unique opportunity to step out of its harsh and hostile economic and immigration policies and put itself briefly on a moral pedestal.

Read the full story here.

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Nuiva manifesto – now you see it, now you don’t! We won’t, however, forget

Posted on by Migrant Tales

The Nuiva manifesto is a far right proposal on how to tighten immigration policy and make life more difficult for migrants and minorities in Finland. Those who signed the manifesto in 2010, all in all 13 people, cannot be found anymore on the net. 

Why do they apparently want us to forget what they endorsed seven years ago?

Six of the 13 were or are MPs. One of them, Maria Lohela, is speaker of parliament, while Jussi Halla-aho was elected chairman Saturday of the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party. All of the 13 persons below were or still are members of the PS. Two of them, Veli-Matti Saarakkala and Lohela are now members of Timo Soini’s new bloc, Uusi Vaihtoehto, or New Alternative.

Three, Halla-aho James Hirvisaari and Freddy Van Wonterghem, were convicted for ethnic agitation.

From left to right (standing): Freddy Van Wonterghem, James Hirvisaari, Juho Eerola, Olli Immonen, Pasi Salonen, Heikki Luoto and Maria Lohela. Sitting left to right: Veli-Matti Saarakkala, Teemu Lahtinen, Jussi Hallo-aho, Heta Lahteenaro, Johannes Nieminen and Riikka Slunga-Poutsalo.

If you go the the website and click on allekirjoittajat, or the thirteen that endorsed the manifesto, you’ll find a blank page like below.    Continue reading “Nuiva manifesto – now you see it, now you don’t! We won’t, however, forget”

Is there such a thing as a “new” and “old” Perussuomalaiset party?

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Is there such a thing as a “new” and “old” Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party? If you ask Prime Minister Juha Sipilä and Minister Petteri Orpo there is. But if you are a migrant, asylum seeker or minority in Finland, it’s doubtful that you would make such a difference. 

Here’s the question: Why was Sampo Terho, who holds the same ideas about migrants like Jussi Halla-aho, is more “acceptable?” Why Soini versus Halla-aho?

We have called this phenomenon at Migrant Tales the good-cop, bad-cop syndrome.

If we are candid with ourselves, Halla-aho, Soini and Terho are bonded by the same goal: To keep Finland white and Christian. Migration and cultural diversity, especially from non-EU countries, are seen as threats.

 

From left to right: Jussi Halla-aho, Timo Soini and Sampo Terho. Source: YLE.

If their brand of politics is toxic especially towards migrants and cultural diversity, does it come down to how you market yourself as a populist politician and how the media interprets and wants to see you?

It’s clear that one of the biggest challenges of countries like Finland is challenging its denial of racism, bigotry and discrimination. The fine balance of being an “acceptable” anti-immigration politician in Finland is by mastering code.

Continue reading “Is there such a thing as a “new” and “old” Perussuomalaiset party?”

Finland’s PM shows Halla-aho and his “new” far right Perussuomalaiset party the door

Posted on by Migrant Tales

It became clear in the afternoon that Halla-aho’s first day as the new chairman of the Perussuomalaiset (PS) ended with Center Party Prime Minister Juha Sipilä and National Coalition Party (NCP) chairperson Petteri Orpo showing the new chairperson the door.

Even if there was a question mark on Sunday if Prime Minister Sipilä and Orpo would continue to cooperate with the new chairperson of the PS, it became clear on Monday that such cooperation was impossible.

The trust that existed between the government and former PS chairperson Timo Soini had evaporated after Halla-aho’s election as chair of the PS.

Going to bed with Halla-aho would have been a roller-coaster ride that would have ended sooner or later.

A Somali who has lived in Finland as a child summed up what she thought about the “new” PS.

“[Timo] Soini’s departure from the PS clears up a lot of things,” said Nawal Mohamud of Helsinki. “For one, the party now shows its true colors and their attitude towards immigrants. Few Finns can say after Sunday that the PS isn’t a racist party.”

Juha Sipilä and Pettters Orpo announced in identical tweets that cooperation with the PS was over. “Talks are over. Our proposal to the parliamentary groups of the Center Party/National Coalition Party: there aren’t any conditions to continue cooperation with Halla-aho’s led PS.”

Some Finns have expressed fear that by excluding the PS from government will help prop up support for Halla-aho and his far right policies.

Continue reading “Finland’s PM shows Halla-aho and his “new” far right Perussuomalaiset party the door”

The Finnish media gives a lot of space to Halla-aho and the PS but none to us

Posted on by Migrant Tales

It’s clear that the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* is a different party after this weekend, when Jussi Halla-aho, Laura Huhtasaari, Teuvo Hakkarainen and Juho Eerola were elected to lead the anti-immigrant and anti-EU party. Halla-aho spoke of in his policy speech of “nationalistic forces,” which is code for anti-immigration, anti-cultural diversity and anti-EU policies. 

Halla-aho said that the PS should align itself with such forces in the Nordic region, which means Islamophobic parties like the Danish People’s Party, Sweden Democrats and the Progress Party of Norway.

Halla-aho will meet at 10am with Center Party Prime Minister Juha Sipilä and National Coalition Party head Petteri Orpo about whether the PS will continue to be in government.

Read the full story here.

Considering that Halla-aho and PS second vice president Hakkarainen have convictions for ethnic agitation, and that Huuhtasaari and Eerola have a dubious reputation because of their acceptance of fascism and hostility towards cultural diversity, it is surprising that no newspaper in Finland asked a single Somali Finn, Muslim or visible minority what they thought about the “new” PS.

Continue reading “The Finnish media gives a lot of space to Halla-aho and the PS but none to us”

The PS steers further right exposing its shameless Islamophobia, racism, bigotry and ultranationalism

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Like rubbing salt on Finland’s wound, Perussuomalaiset (PS)* newly elected chairman Jussi Halla-aho’s far-right anti-immigration policy got reinforcement after three Islamophobes were elected to lead the PS: Laura Huuhtasaari, Teuvo Hakkarainen and Juho Eerola were elected first, second and third vice-president, respectively.

Center Party Prime Minister Juha Sipilä stated Saturday that the election of Halla-aho meant that the PS is a different party when led by former chairman Timo Soini. ”The Perussuomalaiset is a completely new party with new policies now,” Sipilä was quoted as saying Saturday in YLE News.

 


The new chairman of the PS refusing to resign in 2012 because the sentence handed to him by the Supreme Court on ethnic agitation and breaching the sanctity of religion was “a personal interpretation.” Source: Migrant Tales.

 

The most interesting issue to watch isn’t what the next move of the newly elected board of the PS will be, but what will be the reaction of the party’s coalition partners, the Center Party and National Coalition Party. Will the PS exit or remain in government?

Will they let Halla-aho and his band of Islamophobes slide and will we see something politically toxic like in Denmark emerging? The PS has always had a semi-secret love affair with the Danish People’s Party (DPP). They have now come as close as ever to being that type of party in Finland.

The DPP thrives as we can see below on Islamophobia and spreading anti-immigration rhetoric in Denmark.

Source: Migrant Tales.

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