Tag: xenophobia

JSN exonerates Kirkko & Kaupunki cartoon that mocks PS MPs

Posted on by Migrant Tales

By Enrique Tessieri 

The Council for Mass Media in Finland (JSN) has exonerated  Kirkko&Kaupunki after a cartoon was published on December 14 mocking a group of Perussuomalaiset (PS) party MPs telling everyone who wasn’t a Finnish heterosexual and white conservative to leave Finland. The JSN said in a statement that Ville Ranta’s cartoon was neither degrading nor insulting.  

Kirkko&Kaupunki is a weekly published in Helsinki by the Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Finland.

The decision by Finland’s watchdog organization for journalistic ethics was no surprise except to the PS, which had filed the complaint.

PS MP Anssi Joutsenlahti, one person pictured in the cartoon telling foreigners they should leave the country, wasn’t happy about the ruling. “How could they ever publish this cartoon in a periodical?” he was quoted as saying on Uusi Suomi.

JSN said that politicians are public figures and therefore must stand heavy criticism.

The JSN-PS cartoon ruling reveals the sheer ignorance of Timo Soini’s party of the role of the media in our democratic society.  It is alarming that a political party in Finland wants to set limits and guidelines on what the media can publish.

 A Merry Christmas to you all Finnish heterosexuals and white conservatives! We wish the rest a shitty Christmas!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ethnic minorities now make up more than half of all births in the U.S.

Posted on by Migrant Tales

By Enrique Tessieri

How did some pocket-calculator demographers in Finland and Europe take the news that for the first time in U.S. history minority births surpassed over half of all births?  

A pocket-calculator demographer is anyone who uses birthrate and calculates it with years to warn us that group x will outnumber us in numbers and take us over.   

Kyösti Tarvainen, a senior lecturer at Aalto University, is one such pseudo-demographer who has warned us with his trusty pocket calculator about the Muslim population threat in Finland.

Similar predictions were made about the Jews of Finland in the 1880s. Today, however, our Jewish population totals a mere 2,000 souls. 

The whole assumption that membership in our society is based on ethnicity instead of  values and inclusion reveals what is terribly wrong in the ongoing debate. People are not a group per se, but are individuals with free will. They are not robots guided by an autocratic god called Culture as some would want us to believe.

The most important variable missing from the calculation of these pseudo-demographers is that cultures change constantly. Cultures takes in, rearrange, exchange and balance new ideas from their environment on a constant basis.   

It’s wrong to think that we are first and foremost an ethnicity.  The fact that we have been educated and brought up to think in this way reveals why racism, ethnocentrism and prejudice are so ingrained in our society.  

Martin Luther King Jr. said it well in his famous I have a dream speech of 1963:  “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”

 

 

 

Do we write too little or too much about a social ill like racism?

Posted on by Migrant Tales

By Enrique Tessieri

A friend of mine recently said that one of the reasons why some don’t like Migrant Tales (MT) is because we write too much about racism.  Do we treat a social issue like racism fairly on MT? Do we write too much or too little about it?

Certainly I would be happy if there were no reasons to write about such a social ill in this country. I even hope that what I write on this blog isn’t true.

Having written a lot about this topic, given talks and debated with many Finns for a number of years, there’s one matter that must be taken into account:  Some Finns feel offended if a foreigner tells them that there’s racism in their country.

Our aim on MT is certainly not to offend anyone but to debate an issue openly. If we can identify the problem, we can take  steps to challenge  and correct it.

Racism, xenophobia and hatred are greater threats to our values and society than some may believe.  Apart from ruining lives and holding back the  potential of a country, these social vices have been the smoking guns behind almost all the wars that have ever taken place in Europe.

Why do we still write about Nazi Germany if the fall of Berlin took place 67 years ago?  Why would we even want to bring to justice, never mind write about the crimes committed by Bosnian Serb wartime commander, Ratko Mladic, whose trial began Wednesday in The Hague?

Among the many war atrocities that Mladic is believed to have been responsible for are the deaths of up to 8,000 Muslim men and boys in Srebrenica in July 1995.

You may correctly ask why crimes like the Final Solution or ethnic cleansing in the former Yugoslavia took place?  Haven’t we learned from our past wars and mistakes?

Even if our collective memory is too short for comfort, those same phantoms of xenophobia, racism and hatred that spooked us into war in the past continue to roam those same streets inhabited by our fear and ignorance.

But let’s return to the original question: Do we write too little or too much about racism on MT?

There’s probably no consensus, but there are two answers:  Those who are most affected by racism believe too little attention is given to the issue, while those who are least affected by it claim the contrary.

Whatever the case, we should never give refuge to a social ill like racism through our silence.

 

 

 

 

 

Lieksa, Finland, continues to be a thorn in Pohjois-Karjala’s side

Posted on by Migrant Tales

By Enrique Tessieri

Lieksa is a troubled city in the eastern Finnish region of Pohjois-Karjala.  We have read too many stories on Migrant Tales and in the Finnish media about the racism that has struck the city after some 250 immigrants mostly from Somalia moved there. The Joensuu-based  Karjalainen reported Monday that an immigrant’s car had been vandalized on Sunday.  

The car, which had its rear and side windows smashed, had the following text written in lipstick: “I hate niggers.”

The police are investigating the matter.

Karjalainen reported that the owner of the car is concerned about his safety in the city of 12,800 inhabitants. “If they can do something like this to my car they could come to my home [as well],” he said.

While the situation in Lieksa is problematic to say the least, the consensus is that matters are improving, according to Alain Minguet, chairman of Joensuun seudun monikulttuurisuusyhdistys (Jomoni).

Ilta-Sanomat billboard (lööppi) from February 5, 1997

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Migrant Tales publishes on and off Finnish tabloid ads* (lööppi in Finnish) from the 1990s. Taking into account that Finland’s immigrant population started to grow during that decade, it is easy at least through some of the main stories of tabloids like Ilta-Sanomat and Iltalehti to see how some of them reflected our xenophobic, prejudiced, racist or anti-Russian views.

This particular tabloid ad reads in bold letters: A Finnish man’s leg broken by Russians at a brothel in Kotka.

Anti-Russian views were common expressed on tabloid billboards. If it wasn’t the Russian mafia that kidnapped you or robbed you in Russia, Finnish men were in danger of getting their legs broken at houses of ill repute operated by Russians in their country.

*Migration Institute archive.

Undermining the anti-immigration ideology of populist parties in the Nordic region

Posted on by Migrant Tales

By Enrique Tessieri

It is a tragedy that 77 people had to die at the hands of Anders Breivik on July 22. Ironically the mass killer did more than anyone to undermine the ideology of anti-immigration populist parties and hate groups in the Nordic region and Europe. 

The political fallout of Breivik’s deeds was clear: The first blow came to the Progress Party (FrP) of Norway, which saw its support plummet in the municipal election by 6.1 percentage points to 11.5%. That was followed by election setbacks in Denmark and Finland.

Not even the far-right Sverigedemocraterna of Sweden has been spared.

Norway’s Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg became an exemplary leader after the mass killings of Norway. His reaction was totally the opposite from what we saw in the United States after the September 11 attacks. Contrary to President George W. Bush, the Norwegian prime minister said that his country’s reponse to the mass killings will be more openness and more democracy.

The question that hounds us, however, is if Breivik were a Muslim instead of a white Norwegian, what kind of an anti-immigration backlash would we have seen in the Nordic region and Europe?

On a BBC documentary, Stoltenberg said that Norway had become after July 22 “more tolerant,[and] more careful not to judge people” by ethnic origin.

Wise words by a wise leader of a country that suffered one of its worst tragedies in recent history.

YLE’S Spotlight: Finland’s PS links to the Finnish Defense League

Posted on by Migrant Tales

By Enrique Tessieri

How are we supposed to react to the following news: A number of Perussuomalaiset (PS) party members have links to the far-right and anti-Islam Finnish Defense League (FDL)? The story, which was scooped by Yle’s Swedish-language program Spotlight,  claims that these PS members with ties to the FDL belong as well to the extremist Suomen Sisu association. 

Some PS members that Spotlight uncovered were: Klaus Elovaara, Jani Viinikainen, Ulla Pyysalo, Pasi Turunen, Jarmo Kyyrö, Heta Lähteenaro and Tommi Rautio, who suggested that a medal should be given to a white Finn after he killed in cold blood a Muslim pizzeria worker in Oulu.

Jussi Jalonen, a Tampere University war history researcher, was quoted as saying on Spotlight that “Islamophobia is rife among Finns Party [PS] members involved with the nationalistic Suomen Sisu association.”

PS MP Olli Immonen of Oulu did not see any problem with criticizing Islam since its spread is the biggest threat to Western culture.

Immonen, who had been silent about two deaths involving Muslims in Oulu at the end of January and February, believes that a war between white Christian Europe and Islam is inevitable.

Social inclusion is vital to a well-functioning society

Posted on by Migrant Tales

By Enrique Tessieri

Why are we so passionate at Migrant Tales about immigrant and minority rights? Because such groups are effective yardsticks that reveal the state of civil rights and democracy. The more social inclusion we succeed in promoting, the healthier our society is. 

There are clear examples in some recent elections in Europe that blaming immigrants and minorities for a country’s problems has become the trend.

We have even seen the rise of political parties that are keen on promoting social exclusion. Naturally they will not tell you this outright but may resemble the neo-Nazi Golden Eagle of Greece, which won 7% of the vote on Sunday.

This video clip of the party’s leader, Nikolaos Michaloliakos, is a good example of what a financial meltdown can bring. And it’s not at all pretty.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E4AXJx3IzdY

In a very common style, Michaloliakos pointed his guns at Greece’s undocmunented immigrants: “Out of my country, out of my home! How will we do it? Use your imagination.”

Do we have far-right groups in Finland? What does it say about the state of our society if a right-wing populist party like the Perussuomalaiset (PS) sees its support rise fivefold in last year’s election?

One thing that is clear about the PS is that it is anti-EU, anti-immigration and especially anti-Islam.

The way of thinking in anti-immigration parties, “this is our country so leave if you don’t like it,” is one of the reasons why integration isn’t working as effectively as it should.

One of the worst lies told about immigrants is that they do not want to adapt.

A Somali I met on Monday while interviewing the father of Abdisalam Mohamed Abdulahi revealed what we know but don’t want to admit. He speaks Finnish like a native. He’s lived in this country two thirds of his life.

“The worst thing in Finland is that if you have a different religion, culture and language, you are left on the  fringes of society,” he said. “No matter how much you try to integrate you are always left outside.”

Spreading an urban myth like “immigrants don’t want to integrate” is a very effective way to exclude whole groups and build high walls around them.

Why do we do this?

To control resources like wealth and jobs by excluding other groups.

It is no myth that excluding others and promoting social inequality is the costliest approach in social and financial terms.

Will the PS succeed at its vicious campaign against immigrants and visible minorities?

Posted on by Migrant Tales

By Enrique Tessieri

 Will Matias Turkkila, the new Perussuomalaiset (PS) editor-in-chief that aims to jump start the party’s website into a Hommaforum phenonmenon, succeed? In order to answer that question we’d have to rephrase the question in to the following way: Will Turkkila and the PS succeed at luring Finland’s biggest nationalist and multiculturally challenged crowd to the party’s cause whatever that may be?

You don’t need to be a brilliant analysts with a crystal ball to figure out that PS chairman Timo Soini is very concerned by the party’s waning popularity as the crucial municipal election nears in October.

In order to slow the PS’ demise as one of Finland’s four largest parties,  Soini has turned to his favorite weapons of choice that helped him last year: bigotry, prejudice, nationalism and anti-EU sentiment.

Soini will never admit that he wants to incite nationalist sentiment because “he is a Christian.” He will tell you this with a poker face as he has said repeatedly: There isn’t one racist in the PS or that racists will be baned from running for office in the municipal election.

The latest appointment of Turkkila by the PS is a last-ditch effort by the party to save its political hide and vie for a respectable result in the 2015 parliamentary election. The PS is looking at new ways to disguise its bigotry, prejudice and nationalism in order to lure voters. What better way than by appointing as their new editor-in-chief a person who made Hommaforum the most successful hate site in Finland?

This present period, 2011-15, is a wretched and dangerous stretch especially for immigrants, visible minorities and sensible thinking Finns.  It would be naive, even an exercise in self-deceit, to claim the contrary.

The big question that we should ask is if the PS will succeed at turning their poor poll showings into something that we saw before their impressive election victory last year.

I doubt it but at the end of the day that depends on each and everyone of us.

Be warned: Whatever argument the PS uses to inject nationalist sentiment and make bigotry acceptable in Finland  is part of a vicious campaign that will at the end of the day hit immigrants and visible minorities.

Anti-immigration Hommaforum editor to head PS’ party newspaper

Posted on by Migrant Tales

By Enrique Tessieri

What kind of message does the Perussuomalaiset (PS) give when it names Matias Turkkila as the new editor-in-chief of the party’s newspaper and web page?  It reinforces what Migrant Tales has been saying all along: the PS will step up their nationalistic and anti-immigration campaign up to the do-or-die municipal election in October.

Turkkila, who used to be a member of the far-right Suomen Sisu association, was PS MP Jussi Halla-aho’s campaign manager in the 2011 parliamentary elections. Halla-aho received 15,074 votes in Helsinki, which is the second-highest amount after Left Alliance chairman Paavo Arhimäki, who got 17,226.

The newly appointed editor-in-chief is editor of Hommaforum, an anti-immigration messageboard site where Migrant Tales has been mentioned on numerous occasions. Hommaforum is closely related to Scripta, Halla-aho’s blog.

Critics of the PS politicians who based their campaigns on anti-immigration and especially anti-Muslim rhetoric are naturally not surprised. Green Party Uusi Suomi blogger Pekka Siikala recently described PS Chairman Timo Soini as “Finland’s most immoral person” over this latest appointment and his sustained failure to deliver on a promise to throw racists out of the party.

Some political observers see Turkkila’s appointment as a last-ditch attempt to repair the PS’ image, which has been tarnished by numerous scandals. Whether he succeeds is a totally different question.

But Soini must succeed in the October municipal elections. If his party does as poorly as in the presidential election, it will mean a long and painful march to the 2015 parliamentary election.  The 39 seats won by the party last year are in serious jeopardy.

Turkkila’s appointment as editor-in-chief suggests that he may become the party’s unofficial spokesman after Matti Putkonen has burned all of the its bridges with the Finnish media.