By Enrique Tessieri
Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP Olli Immonen, a member of Suomen Sisu and well-known for his anti-immigration views, wants to do away with the Ombudsman for Minorities office, according to Oulu-based daily Kaleva. Apart from slashing the budget by 50%, Immonen plans to draft a law that will make the Ombudsman for Minorities redundant.
Immonen’s reasoning? He claims in Kaleva that “the present and former ombudsman have tried to limit freedom of speech guaranteed in the constitution.” He doesn’t consider his rhetoric about Muslims as hate speech nor offensive.
Immonen would be happy for immigrants and minorities to be part of a shooting gallery where people like himself could shoot at targets for political profit and fun.
Immonen reiterated in August on tabloid Ilta-Sanomat that “a war of cultures” will eventually overtake Europe. Much to our horror, we saw this “war” on July 22 in Norway, when Anders Breivik on a mass killing rampage
“Due to the present trend of multiculturalism, I believe we will see in the future of Europe a number of terrorist strikes and civil war in which the other warring adversary will be notably the representatives of Islam,” he was quoted as saying on Ilta-Sanomat from a 2009 blog entry.
The PS are not in government today but they may be in the future. If they form part of a future government, how much will the PS heed to extremists like Immonen?
Immigrants, minorities and sensible Finns should take a strong stand against any politician that wants to water down civil rights and take Finland back to an eerie repeat of the 1930s in the 2010s.
This is why the PS are a threat to immigrants and Finland.
Mr. Immonen may be just clever enough Not to become a second Breivik. His voice however doesnot give me hope that he or one of his followers see Breivik only as an unfortunate exception.
Suomen Sisu used to be a term to be proud of in Finland. It meant something positive. Now it is stolen, given another meaning and claimed by some “idiootti”. And a lot of people accept that. This is something that I find hard to understand from Finnish society. But there are many examples that this happened before and people just let it happen.
Mr. Immonen’s comment in Ilta Sanomat may actually refer to terrorist activities from his side instead of from sides he is only presuming. Simple minds are a joy forever.
I compare Mr.Immonen -like Breivik- as an avant-garde who think that the world is made for just a small set of people. They are the rulers of the world.
But; she/he who doesnot want to learn from history is deemed to relive it again.
Did Orwell said: “Some animals are more equal than others” (The leader PIG).
Mr. Immonen may be just clever enough Not to become a second Breivik. His voice however doesnot give me hope that he or one of his followers see Breivik only as an unfortunate exception.
Suomen Sisu used to be a term to be proud of in Finland. It meant something positive. Now it is stolen, given another meaning and claimed by some “idiootti”. And a lot of people accept that. This is something that I find hard to understand from Finnish society. But there are many examples that this happened before and people just let it happen.
Mr. Immonen’s comment in Ilta Sanomat may actually refer to terrorist activities from his side instead of from sides he is only presuming. Simple minds are a joy forever.
I compare Mr.Immonen -like Breivik- as an avant-garde who think that the world is made for just a small set of people. They are the rulers of the world.
But; she/he who doesnot want to learn from history is deemed to relive it again.
Didnot Orwell say about this type of leadership: “Some animals are more equal than others” (The leader PIG). That’s what Mr. Immonen is!!!
Sisu is not the only word that has been hijacked by the far right. Others include our national emblems like the coat of arms.
Just changed some lines.
Eyeopener
– “Suomen Sisu used to be a term to be proud of in Finland. It meant something positive. Now it is stolen, given another meaning and claimed by some “idiootti”.
Of course, you realise that PS stands for PahanSisuinen 😉
I’m sure that Finland doesn’t lose it’s virtue overnight or that it was ever a ‘perfect’ place without a few bad apples. And, it’s always important to remember that people like Immonen really believe they have the best interests of Finland at heart, and think themselves to be ‘good’ people. He really doesn’t see how fear and paranoia enters his political and cultural narrative, and that actually, making such prognostications only adds to the ‘charged atmosphere’ that may alienate some Muslim immigrants in the West and feed into their paranoia too.
‘A war of cultures’. Hmm. There is constant tension between cultures in all societies, sections of society and between national societies. Perhaps he’s thinking an apocolyptic end-game war between Islam and Christianity. Extremely unlikely.
But, if the West keeps shafting poorer Islamic countries and messing around in the Middle-East and Asia, then the seed-bed for discontent within Islamic countries remains. The single biggest factor is still Israel vs. Palestine, and America’s hamstrung political stance over the issue. If that issue was resolved, and the West has finally got out of Iraq and Afghanistan, then the calls for Jihad would sounds weaker and weaker.
Maybe Immonen secretely likes the idea of an uholy holy war of wars. Who knows.
Hi Mark.
You got some interesting lines here: And, it’s always important to remember that people like Immonen really believe they have the best interests of Finland at heart, and think themselves to be ‘good’ people. That’s what Hitler cs. said also!!
Furthermore; to use the international arena to avoid creating solutions in your own country is naïve and simple-minded. Finnish political situation is related to international issues. True!! But it’s not also the case that Finland’s government makes its rules within the European framework.
A war on cultures?? Hhmm!! Following Huntington’s ideas of the Clash Of Cultures it is more on the strive of world dominance. The “set rules of engagement” are Western dictates. See Admiral Perry’s dictate to Japan to open their borders for “free trade” better read “American trade” An up-rising against this one-sideness was/is very logic. That was already the case with Cuba and nowadays with Latin-America with Venezuela as their champion.
The Jihad comes from inside the minds of people. You seem to blame the Eastern/Arabic world for this issue. What about: “God wants it” slogan?? The war-cry of the Western world against ALL other world philosophies. Have you read “Mr. Romney’s declaration of war” against ALL other nations.
Mr. Immonen has already declared an unholy war. Didnot you noticed?? Like Mr. Romney, he proclaims and justifies a war against everybody who is not Finn, especially those who you can easily identify by colour, facial expression etc.. Later on he will discriminate between Finnish males and females. Wanna bet with me??
According to his vision I will have to wear a STAR with the text Foreigner tomorrow/pretty soon. You seem to downplay this option. This happened before and people let it happen. Because they think these ideas are without consequences and you can walk away from them without damaging yourself. I have heard too many times these excuses afterwards:
“Ich habe es nicht gewusst”. Or: “I just did what was ordered”. Or: “I had to do my job”.
The freedom of speech is NOT an absolute one. That’s a mis-conception many people including politicians hold. You are responsible and accountable for your speech before the law.
Who will protect us from the garbage of Mr. Immonen??
Eyeopener
What does cs. stand for?
– “Furthermore; to use the international arena to avoid creating solutions in your own country is naïve and simple-minded.”
I’m not sure of your point here. I mean, it’s valid, but I’m not sure what you are relating it to. It’s true to say that problems can be avoided in two ways at least: shifting responsibility to the international arena, which is mostly the EU, though occasionally the US is made the scapegoat (given it’s position as ‘world policeman’), and the other is in the opposite direction, individualising a problem that can really only be tackled at a societal level, which is typical of most social problems relating to lack of resources, and is very common in immigration debates.
– “Following Huntington’s ideas of the Clash Of Cultures it is more on the strive of world dominance.”
I don’t know Huntington’s ideas. But my guess is that ‘dominance’ never appears on a US agenda. The US try to protect US interests, be they political or economic. I wouldn’t expect it to be any different to be honest.
– “The Jihad comes from inside the minds of people. You seem to blame the Eastern/Arabic world for this issue.”
Actually, I don’t think I blamed anyone. However, I expect you would agree that ‘jihad’ works very differently in the Islamic world. Calls to go protect a fellow ‘Christian’ population or country does not gather very much support. The treatment of Christians in Egypt has not brought mass demonstrations, or calls for ‘jihad’.
I think you are right to identify a psychological component to Jihad, but you leave the point undeveloped. What do you mean?
– “What about: “God wants it” slogan?? The war-cry of the Western world against ALL other world philosophies. Have you read “Mr. Romney’s declaration of war” against ALL other nations.”
Mr Romney’s declaration of war. Hmmm. What’s that then? Mitt Romney is in favour of immigration, by the way. And what is this war-cry of the Western world against ALL other world philosophies? From what I have seen of life, Eastern philosophies are very popular in the West? Also, it was Japanese innovation that revolutionised the car industry, with the whole world following suit. Just one example.
– “An up-rising against this one-sideness was/is very logic.”
Well, yes, in some ways. But trade has generally benefited many underdeveloped countries too. In the case of Japan, which you mention, they have the world’s third largest economy, bringing all the benefits of that.
– “See Admiral Perry’s dictate to Japan to open their borders for “free trade” better read “American trade”
I had to look that one up. I suppose what happened in the 1850s might be relevant to modern US foreign policy. But, just to point out, at the time, the European nations had a monopoly on the trade routes, so ‘freeing up trade’ is actually a pretty good description.
– “According to his vision I will have to wear a STAR with the text Foreigner tomorrow/pretty soon. You seem to downplay this option.”
I wasn’t even aware we’d discussed this option to be honest. You seem to be having a conversation with an imaginary friend. I find your comments generally interesting, peppered with some concrete/historical facts, but, I’m a bit at a loss to see the connection with my own points at times, or even to see what you are really getting at with your own points.
Regards
Hi Mark.
I will come back later to comment. But to help you with your question:
cs. means cum suis (Latin) which means “and his alikes” or “followers” if you like.