Tag: xenophobia

True Finns’ Soini lashes out at the foreign media

Posted on by Migrant Tales

By Enrique Tessieri

While True Finns’ chairman Timo Soini tries to calm Finns and the outside world that “we’re not extremists, so you can sleep safely,” an eerie lull prevails over Finland as talks begin on forming a coalition government with Kokoomus, Social Democrats and the True Finns. Soini’s most recent outbreak was with the Swedish media, whom he branded on MTV3 as “unbelievable.”

One of the interesting debates going on between people in Finland is figuring out a suitable adjective to describe the True Finns.

Is it a racist party, xenophobic, protest, nationalistic, euroskeptic, ultra-conservative/conservative, populist, far-right or all or none of the above? Probably the answer to that question lies in the following query: What do the True Finns support, according to their election manifesto and blog writings of some of their newly elected MPs?

Would we call the True Finns a party that has spoken out against racism in Finland? Has it championed for women’s rights and gender equality? What about its views on pollution and its relationship with the outside world and Russia? Should Finland ditch the European Monetary Union and eventually the European Union? Do they approve and encourage cultural diversity? If so how is it realized? What about same-sex marriages? What do they think about Islam?

The BBC reports: “They (True Finns) believe that a low birth rate is not solved by immigration, as that results in problems and foreigners do not fit into Finnish culture. Instead, young women should study less and spend more time giving birth to pure Finnish children. That is like a faint echo of Nazi ideology.”

If Soini disagrees with these types of descriptions of his party, he should come out and condemn forcefully those in the True Finns who preach such things indirectly or directly.

If we look at Europe’s right-wing populist parties that have grown in recent years, their popularity is based on three contentions: hostility to Brussels, immigration and Islam. In many respects, the True Finns are no different in their “critical stance” of these three matters.

Some elected True Finns like Jussi Halla-aho, a member of the far-right Suomen Sisu association, said on election eve that the election victory was attributable to its anti-immigration and anti-EU stance.

In a cat-and-mouse game trying not to reveal the true face of the party, Soini has said that only 10% of the support that the True Finns got comes from anti-immigration. Whom do you believe?

I am certain that electing a party like the True Finns will not undermine xenophobia, racism and inequality in this country because the party indirectly gives its blessing to people who support these types of social illnesses.

Thanks to the independent media in Finland and abroad we can rest assured that politicians like Soini, True Finns and other parties won’t be able to mold their own comfortable image of themselves to the public.

There is a lot of concern in Finland as well as abroad about what the rise of a populist, anti-immigration and euroskeptic party implies for our country and Europe. That is why so much has been written about the True Finns as of late.

guardian.co.uk: Attack on ‘blasphemous’ art work fires debate on role of religion in France

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Comment: In the 1960s in the United States there was a TV show called To Tell the Truth where you were supposed to figure out during 20 minutes who was the correct person out of three guests with the same name. At the end of the show the commentator stated: “Will the real Mr. X please stand up.” Figuring out how secular countries like France are is a bit of a retake of that famous show.

If the True Finns used their anti-immigration stand to lure votes in Sunday’s election, the same shameful opportunism is being used elsewhere by French President Nicolas Sarkozy to improve his election bid in 2012.

The article below shows how religion and politics don’t mix.

Controversy has followed artist Andres Serrano ever since he placed in 1987 a crucifix in his own urine (Piss Christ) and photographed it. His work has been the target of attacks by Catholic fundamentalist.

Serrano states that Piss Christ is a statement on the misuse of religion.

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By Angelique Chrisafis

• Intruders vandalise photo day after Christian protest
• Exhibitor blames Sarkozy speech for inflaming issue

When New York artist Andres Serrano plunged a plastic crucifix into a glass of his own urine and photographed it in 1987 under the title Piss Christ, he said he was making a statement on the misuse of religion.

Read whole story.

Soini’s probable hello-goodbye-thank-you-ma’m kiss to xenophobia

Posted on by Migrant Tales

By Enrique Tessieri

Will we see in the comming weeks a gentle hello-goodype-thank-you-ma’m kiss from True Finns chairman Timo Soini to the xenophobic wing of the party? A total of six people who signed the xenophobic Nuiva manifest last year got elected to parliament. The best-known of these are Jussi Halla-aho and former Finnish State Railways (VR) employee James Hirvisaari.

I personally would be pretty surprised if Soini allowed these far-right crusaders get a dominant position in the party. They could be the very ones that can challenge Soini’s leadership and force the party to implode.

We’ll know the answer to what kind of kiss Soini will give these far-right representatives if the True Finns form part of the next coalition government.

The other four “Nuiva gang” members that got elected are Vesa-Matti Saarakkala, Juho Erola, Olli Immonen and Maria Lohela, who isn’t too fond of Muslims.

Finland 2011 election: A perilous watershed

Posted on by Migrant Tales

By Enrique Tessieri

Sunday’s election in Finland was historic for many reasons. For one it ushered in a populist party with far-right and xenophobic elements to the Eduskunta (Parliament). In order to comprehend the new political landscape of Finland, we must use hindsight to understand what has happened.

While some like the Social Democrats blame ever-growing social inequality in welfare state Finland and globalization for the convincing victory of the True Finns, I believe it has its roots deep in the cold war period. Even if Finland paid a high price for allying itself with Nazi Germany in the Continuation War (1941-44) and for waging war against the former Soviet Union, far-right nationalism in this country was never challenged.

This type of nationalism was maintained with the help of our hatred of the Russians and our general perceptions of other cultures based unfortunately on myths and racism.

One has only to look at the number of immigrants during the cold war era and the foreign investment laws to understand that at least in the laws Finland was an off-limits country for outsiders.

Apart from passing its first Aliens Act in 1983, or 65 years after we gained independence in 1917, Finland kept foreign investment on a very short leash through the Restricting Act of 1939. With the help of the law, equity ownership was capped at 20% and, with special permission up to 40%.  Foreigners could not own land and weren’t allowed to establish companies in the following sectors: forestry, mining, shipping, refining and securities trading.

If you were a so-called alien before 1983, you did not even have the right to habeas corpus. Soviet refugees were returned back to the USSR as well to face long-term imprisonment in asylums.

Is the True Finns’ victory a return to the cold war preiod or a twenty-first version of it?

One of the first statements on television by the anti-immigration wing of the Perussuomalsiet (PS)* led by Jussi Halla-aho, who got elected in Helsinki, was on immigration. He interpreted the True Finns’ victory as a vote against Finland’s immigration policy and the European Union.

It is kind of odd that while 2.9% of the population of Finland are non-Finns, Halla-aho and his followers are steadfast on tightening immigration policy. Is this a first preview of Denmark a la Danish People’s Party? We don’t know.

In neighboring Sweden, where 14% of its population consist of non-Swedes,  the xenophobic Sweden Democrats got 5.3% of the vote.

Even though Sunday’s election is a clear indication that about 20% of the Finns are fed up with the government’s EU policy, immigration and the weakening of the comprehensive social welfare state, it does not mean that the majority of the Finns are on a protest-vote warpath. The majority gave their support to the traditional parties and their values of our society.

The election will stand out as a dangerous watershed for Finland. As Finland finds it more difficult to finance its social welfare state with the help of borrowed money, thus fuelling social inequality, matters will get worse before they improve.

Far-right populism is an illness inflicting Europe at present and it now has a beachhead in Finland.

* The Finnish name of 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.

BBC: EU bail-out nerves as Finland holds general election

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Comment: Here is another story by the BBC on today’s election. 

The end of the story puts the election result in context: “Whether the True Finns will really [emerge] as champions of the elections is still uncertain but I think we will clearly get a more nationalistic, more conservative, less European-oriented government in Finland,” ING senior economist Carsten Brzeski told Reuters news agency.”

If the True Finns election result turns out to be lower than what some opinion polls suggested it will fuel a lot of debate on the role of such polls in Finnish elections. Unfortunately, the media and the public have accepted the results of these opinion polls as the final result of the election.  We all know that the ballot boxes have the final say.

If the True Finns get less than 20 seats it will be an upset for Timo Soini’s party.

What do you think?

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Finns have gone to the polls to elect a new parliament in a vote that may affect future EU bail-outs if a rising nationalist party does well.

Read whole story.

Finland election today: What future awaits us and Europe?

Posted on by Migrant Tales

By Enrique Tessieri

Today Finnish voters will head to the polls. What their collective message may be for the direction Finland will take in the following four years remains to be seen. One of the most tragic aspects of the campaigning to April 17 is how some, like the True Finns and individual members of all the parties in this country, have used fear-mongering of immigrants and refugees to further their political careers.

This type of chicanery is unacceptable in a country where IT-technology is king and where its students enjoy one of the best educational systems in the world.

If xenophobia gets the best of us after the polling stations close today at 8pm local time, then all the Nokias and Pisa exams will have little meaning. We must now begin to invest in stereotypes, ethnic myths, intolerance and see our society consisting of  “us” (good guys) and “them” (evil people).

Another matter that has surprised me is the sheer ignorance of some of the candidates who should know better. Even if there are politicians who have been quite outspoken on racism and xenophobia, there are PhDs who speak of other cultures in the same level as elementary school dropouts. They are the children of  Rolf Nordenstreng’s teachings in a twenty-first century context.

Contrary to the nineteenth century racist, its twenty-first century counterpart is more astute and hides his fanatism by carefully chosing his/her words to avoid being sued for incitement against a religious or ethnic group.

These types of candidates masquerade behind soundbites like “guardians of  freedom of speech and western values” while they bash and send other groups to the twenty-first century gas chambers of hatred, where one survives but is imprisoned by walls of hostility.

If we allow the new fanatism to get the best of us, we will be setting the groundwork for future wars. Wasn’t that the whole idea of the European Union when it was founded in the 1950s?

Good trade and business relations will keep our countries busy in more productive things than spreading hatred and war.

Resolving and winning the challenges we face as a region will be the icing on that cake.

El País: La ultraderecha finlandesa despega en las legislativas

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Comment: This story published on Saturday in El País of Madrid warns that the Eurozone faces a new threat from a “periferic populist and nationalistic party” in tomorrow’s election. 

Adrián Soto, who has lived in Finland since the 1970s, is a seasoned journalist. He states the party comprises of racists and those who olocaust deniers. The headline of the story labels the True Finns as a “far-right” party.

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Adrián Soto

Una nueva amenaza se cierne sobre la eurozona. Esta vez la alarma proviene de Finlandia, donde un partido periférico, de corte populista, nacionalista y euroescéptico irrumpe con fuerza en las elecciones legilsativas del próximo domingo.Se trata de Auténticos Finlandeses, al que las encuestas dan un 18% de intención de voto. Hace apenas cuatro años, en los anteriores comicios parlamentarios, el grupo había logrado un 4% de los votos y cinco de los 200 escaños. Ahora, con una expectativa de 30 escaños, el partido podría tener la llave de un futuro Gobierno de coalición.

Para seguir leyendo pinche aquí.

Gracias a @kiquedc por facilitarme el link a esta nota.

Finland election: Flirting with isolationism and xenophobia

Posted on by Migrant Tales

By Enrique Tessieri

In our neck of the woods in the Nordic region, ultra-nationalistic and xenophobic parties have made their mark in Norway, Denmark, Sweden and most likely now in Finland on Sunday when the True Finns are expected to score a historic victory. Will the election embolden other xenophobic parties in this region and Europe? Will it send shock ripples in the EU?

It’s pretty doubtful that parties like the True Finns have any answer to those questions because they base much of their rhetoric on populism and denial. Since Finns are the biggest per-capita coffee drinkers in the world, a good example of our populism would be adding salt to sour coffee in order to make it taste better.

Instead of solving our problems, a large group of voters have preferred to sprinkle the salt of isolationism and xenophobia on our reality.

Depending on the scale of the True Finns’ victory, the next thing we may see after Sunday’s election will be a stream of far-right party leaders flocking to Finland from the Danish People’s Party, Sweden Democrats, British National Party, Jobbik of Hungary and none other than Geert Wilders of the Isalmophobic Dutch People’s Party for Freedom and Democracy.

Are we afraid of these twenty-first century fanatics? Not at all because their example have shown us that xenophobia and racism have not been nipped in the bud in Europe.

Even though the True Finns may score a big victory on Sunday, they will not be a majority. That majority comprises of sensible Finns who are not lured by xenophobia, isolationism and corny political soundbites from True Finns’ chairman Timo Soini.

Xenophobia and ignorance are curable social diseases.

The original link was taken down.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOgc5WH0yW4]

However, here’s the latest one:

I apologize for the racist and provocative content of this campaign ad by Jussi Halla-aho and Teemu Lahtinen, both of which are running for the True Finns and are members of the far-right Suomen Sisu association. Apart from being xenophobic, the turban worn by the potato appears to be Indian. Is this against Indian IT-immigrants or some legal loophole? Both Halla-aho and Lahtinen reveal their shameful ignorance on a grand scale. Here is a video showing Lahtinen at a far-right march in France.

BBC: True Finns’ nationalism colours Finland election

Posted on by Migrant Tales

Comment: The BBC is one of many media in Europe that will be covering the April 17 election.  It writes: “The True Finns saw political potential among the neglected people in society. Their political message is two-fold: social-democratic welfare combined with nationalism and xenophobia.”

The BBC continues by stating that Finland is officially a bilingual country but Timo Soini’s party has no room for Swedish: “It excludes Swedish as something unfamiliar to Finnish culture.”

I’ll never forget an analyst in the early 1990s who pointed out that devaluating the Finnish markka was like pissing in one’s pants in winter. At first it feels good but later on the sensation changes.

Could this be a good description of the election and especially for all those who believe that the True Finns are a sensible answer to the challenges the country presently faces?

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An anti-immigration party in Finland – the True Finns – has surged in popularity and could produce a surprise in Sunday’s general election, opinion polls suggest.

Read whole story.

Thank you for this link @Mastersson

Helsingin Sanomat: Rotuajattelu elää täälläkin

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Comment: Researcher Vesa Puuronen has been creating some waves in Finland as of late with his observations of racism and the rise of right-wing populism in our society.  The Helsingin Sanomat review of his book, “Rasistinen Suomi” (Racist Finland), claims a lot of disturbing matters about ourselves as a society.

He believes that the roots of racism span deep in our history and have been present through our treatment of the Russians and Saami as well as newer groups that have moved to Finland.

Certainly we can blame the rise of the True Finns and xenophobia in this country on the general atmosphere in Europe. If Finland had as many immigrants as Sweden (14.3%) compared with 2.9% now, would some Finns have gone on the rampage as happened to the Reds shortly after the Civil War of 1918?

Even though the xenophobic atmosphere makes us wonder these days, the racism that has inflicted this society is out in the open for all of us to observe.

Silence will no longer make it go away.

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Antti Blåfield

Tutkija Vesa Puurosen johtopäätös on karu: “Suomalaisessa yhteiskunnassa vallitsee rotujärjestelmä, ja rasismi tarkoittaa rotujärjestelmän ylläpitämistä”. Kirjassaan Rasistinen Suomi Puuronen etsii suomalaisen rasismin juuria ja tämän ajan rasismia.

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