hate speech Archives - Migrant tales

Why do the Perussuomalaiset speak in code when referring to Muslims?

Posted on June 10, 2022 by Migrant Tales

Throughout the years, far-right parties like the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* have in recent years mainly used code words to refer to Muslims. Some of the most common ones are sexual offenders, overrepresented in crime statistics, asylum seekers, and, now the latest, vieraskieli, or “people who don’t speak Finnish as their mother tongue.”

One article published last week by Helsingin Sanomat highlighted the issue.

Russian and Estonian speakers were the most prominent vieraskieli groups in the story about Espoo schools. Arabic speakers were the third-biggest mother language group.

When far-right politicians like Riikka Purra use the term vieraskieli, it means in code Muslim and people of color.

One researcher pointed out that using the term vieraskieli is safer and more sanitized to express anti-Muslim hatred. It may help you avoid ethnic agitation charges.

Many understand that the Finnish media is part of the country’s racism problem. Any sensible person can see that the media rarely asks racialized people their opinions, never mind experts’ views on issues like racism and discrimination.

One overbearing message of parties like the PS and the near-silence and flirting of parties like the National Coalition Party is that people who are granted asylum are portrayed as a threat to Finnish values and culture.

Racism is deeply ingrained in Finnish culture. Excluding other voices means that little to nothing will change. Institutional racism must be challenged head-on.

I believe that if Finland’s newsrooms weren’t so white, they would write about racialized people differently.

It would be a big blow to the racist narrative of parties like the PS, which always label racialized groups with suspicion.

PS MP Sebastian Tynkkynen gets a third ethnic agitation conviction

Posted on October 4, 2021 by Migrant Tales

THE STORY WAS UPDATED

Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party MP Sebastian Tynkkynen was convicted for a third time of ethnic agitation, according to Yle News. The two previous convictions were handed down in 2016 and 2017.

The Oulu District Court handed Tynkkynen, who is the PS’ third vice president, 70 day fines amounting to 4,400 euros.

The PS MP naturally denied any wrongdoing, and that conviction ran against his right to free expression.

“Why was it necessary to speak [out against Muslims who are a danger to society], taking into account what was happening behind the scenes with respect to the sexual abuse of children and how it undermined security in general,” he was quoted as saying in Iltalehti and continues: “I saw back then that I had a moral obligation to speak out against this.”

A “moral obligation” to speak out against sexual harassment? How disingenuous of you, MP Tynkkynen.

Let’s look at media coverage and how the police and politicians reacted to sexual harassment cases of minors in Oulu in 2018-2019. Back then, MPs like Tynkkynen were fueling the fires of fear against asylum seekers, which are mostly Muslims.

Exposing white Finnish privilege #80: Violence against you counts but mine doesn’t

Posted on October 1, 2021 by Migrant Tales

Radical-right Islamophobic Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party MP, Sebastian Tynkkynen, who has two ethnic agitation convictions and a third pending, is trying to get the most political mileage from an incident at an #elokapina demonstration.

Some unknown persons at the demonstration allegedly attempted to attack Tynkkynen and shoved him. The police asked if the MP wanted to press charges, and he said it wasn’t necessary apparently because nothing serious happened.

All types and forms of violence should be condemned, but why are the PS making up a big fuss about the incident? The whole affair, in my opinion, appears like a storm in a teacup.

The incident with Tynkkynen overlooks other forms of verbal and physical abuse and violence that the PS have promoted for years and continue to spread.

Why don’t we see more leadership among politicians? What about the media? Why don’t they openly condemn racism, and especially Islamophobia, and appear worried about the growth of these social ills thanks to the likes of Tynkkynen and the PS?

White Finnish privilege #80

The answer to the above question lies in the double-standards of our society made possible thanks to white Finnish privilege.

Violence against white Finns gets a lot more attention than what migrants and minorities see.

See also:

Insulting migrants is called “discussion” and a privilege of white Finns

Posted on August 30, 2021 by Migrant Tales

THIS STORY WAS UPDATED

Remember when Center Party parliamentary group leader Juha Pylväs slammed asylum seekers as “parasites” that wanted to live off social welfare? Pretty sickening and lowly on his part.

I hope that Pylväs get charged with ethnic agitation.

But what is worse? The silence and support for what he said and the arguments that justify the latter?

Hanna-Leena Mattila is a Center Party politician from the city of Raahe in western Finland. She uses the same argument to call migrants parasites and deviants by stating that despite Pylväs’ words, “[We still]l have to be able to discuss [the problems of migration] without hesitation.”

Mattila’s Facebook post below:

Mattila states: “Juha Pylväs said what many people think: Our goodwill should not be abused. [His) use of words were not the best. Migration and its many forms have to be discussed without hesitation,”

How quaint and unimaginative are Mattila’s Tweet. What politicians like her say over and over again is that only white Finns can insult migrants.

The sometimes farcical “discussion” about migrants is similar if only men were speaking about women’s rights.

Another shameful fact of the ongoing debate that won’t be corrected any time soon as long as white Finns control the debate.

Is there a difference between former and present Perussuomalaiset members?

Posted on May 6, 2021 by Migrant Tales

Some of the persons promoting racism, violence, and Hungarian-Orbán-style rule in Finland are former and present Perussuomalaiset (PS)* members. The only difference between these two types of PS supporters is their incitement of violence and racism.

James Hirvisaari, who was sacked from the party after he took a picture of a friend giving a Nazi salute in parliament, is the aide of MP Ano Turtianen, who got the boot from the PS parliamentary group last year and who got ejected in February from the Islamophobic white-nationalist party.

Hirvisaari tweeted a poll about what punishment should be handed to the state prosecutor if found guilty of persecuting white nationalists and Finland’s Christian society.

His solution:

Death by hanging
Death by injection
Electric chair

In Finland we also have our crazies.

Finland’s PM Sanna Marin is the target of fierce misogynistic attack by online users

Posted on March 18, 2021 by Migrant Tales

A story published Wednesday in Politico exposed the misogyny against Finland’s woman prime minister, Sanna Marin, and the women members of her cabinet. Considering that Finland’s biggest opposition party, the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* which is also leading in opinion polls, hate speech has raised its head for many years.

Hate speech and the PS are like a perfect couple walking in the park with a rabid dog on a short leash. The dog, which is used to impress voters, eventually bites its owners, and hard.

A report from the NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence concluded that Marin’s government is “overwhelmingly” targeted by sexist online harassment.

Politico writes: “The five most targeted ministers, all female, were overwhelmingly victimized by misogynistic abuse attacking their values, demeaning their decision-making skills, and questioning their leadership abilities.”

So much for the myth of gender equality in Finland and that the police clamping down on online hate speech.

One of the most revealing matters about the report is that there are many similarities to the hate tactics of former US President Donald Trump.

Slow due justice – if any – plaguing racialized communities of Finland

Posted on March 3, 2021 by Migrant Tales

Hate speech, hate crime, and racism appear to rank low on police’s priority list. Many people who have turned to the police to report such a crime are usually surprised by the following fact: slow response and reaction; your case may never see the light of a day in court.

A shameful case is that of Fares Al-Obaidi, a young Muslim who was attacked in June by a group of enraged townspeople of Teuva, located in Western Finland.

Nine months have gone by that terrible incident that changed Al-Obaidi’s life, and no charges have been brought against anyone.

“What happened to me changed my life,” he said. “I have to take sleeping pills and for stress and depression.”

Al-Obaidi said in December: “The fact that I know nothing about my case [and the charges] gives me the impression that what happened to me isn’t important to the police. Those who attacked me are walking freely with no consequences.”

“Helsinki City Councilor Fatima Diarra states in one of the tweets below that whenever she is racially harassed, since 2007, she has always filed a complaint to the police since they go nowhere.

She continues in the second tweet: “I got information from the police last Friday that one of these cases will be dropped. With this type of [racist] harassment, [the perpetrators] try to scare you or silence brown and black people. But dear ones, we are not going anywhere. Finland is our home.”

Is PS’ Tynkkynen aiming to be the top MP with the most ethnic agitation convictions?

Posted on July 3, 2020 by Migrant Tales

What are we to make of Perussuomalaiset (PS)* MP Sebastian Tynkkynen’s hate speech convictions? An Oulu appeals court upheld the PS MP’s second conviction for ethnic agitation. The first one was handed in 2017.

Two convictions are a pretty dark stain in an ordinary party, but for the PS, it may be a feather in one’s cap.

Tynkkynen may face further charges in a third hate speech case.

Is he planning to be the top MP with the most hate speech convictions?

It sure looks that way.

One of the most distasteful matters to read about ethnic agitation convictions are the excuses.

Writes Yle News: “He had argued that the post was political expression that was protected by freedom of speech. Tynkkynen also claimed that the text only referred to certain individuals, and did not imply that terrorism is unique to Islam.”

Tynkkynen plans to appeal the ruling to the supreme court and to the European Court of Human Rights.

The announcement by the PS MP clearly shows how little he understands what freedom of speech is. They act in such a hostile way for two reasons: they are bullies and political opportunists.

If politicians like Tynkkynen had their way, vulnerable minorities like Muslims would be put in a shooting gallery and attacked in the most hostile way possible.

It would be naive to think that words don’t have consequences.

The appearance of an Islamophobic party during this decade that spreads white supremacy and hate speech wholesale should concern us all.

Hate speech is a toxic fruit.

The Mäenpää “invasive species” case is an example of how disenfranchised are Muslims and migrants in Finland

Posted on June 18, 2020 by Migrant Tales

There is one matter that is clear about Perussuomalaiset (PS) MP Juha Mäenpää: he hates Muslims so much that last year he compared them to an “an invasive species.” He is also close ideologically with Ano Turtiainen, who mocked George Floyd’s death.

According to the National Geographic, “An invasive species is an organism that is not indigenous, or native, to a particular area. Invasive species can cause great economic and environmental harm to the new area.”

Mäenpää, are Muslims and migrants organisms?

In the interview below with MTV, Mäenpää appears to regret the negative publicity but not what he said. He stated that in his “invasive species” speech in parliament he did not mean any ethnic or religious group.

“Immigration is one factor that affects the economy and taxes,” he said. “I plan to be critical about these matters but choose my words more carefully.”

For those who have followed how Islamophobic parties like the PS speak of Muslims and asylum seekers, will note that much of it is in code. Rarely do they use the term “Muslim” but do refer to asylum seekers, which is code for Muslims.

On Wednesday, the constitutional law committee voted 12-5 to lift MP Mäenpää’s immunity from prosecution.

Three of the committee’s PS members (Olli Immonen, Sakari Puisto, Jukka Mäkynen) and two of the National Coalition Party (Wille Rydman, Heikki Vestman) voted against the measure.

The fact that an MP can label Muslims and migrants as “invasive species” speaks volumes about how disenfranchised these groups are in Finland. For the Mäenpää affair to take a year shows how slowly justice works in this country.

One of the first to criticize the measure was PS chairperson Jussi Halla-aho, who considered the constitutional law committee vote “shameful.” He said that the PS would vote against the measure in parliament.

To take away Mäenpää immunity, 167 our of 200 MPs would have to back the proposal. In theory, the PS could block the proposal with its 38 MPs.

What did other PS MPs comment about the committee vote?

MP Mauri “Perkele” Peltokangas, who appears close to exploding when giving monologue rants, slammed the decision as an example of the left-green and communist rot in parliament.

MP Sebastian Tynkkynen, who was convicted twice for ethnic agitation, wasn’t very imaginative. He stated that lifting Mäenpää’s immunity was another step in the degradation of free speech.

President Sauli Niinistö is worried about the rise of “anti-Semitism and racism” in Finland

Posted on February 5, 2020 by Migrant Tales

It is a positive sign that President Sauli Niinistö, who has been no friend of cultural diversity in the past, speaks out against the rise of anti-Semitism and racism in Finland on the formal opening of parliament on Wednesday, according to Yle News.

He said: There are signs of anti-Semitism and racism being on the rise, unfortunately also in Finland,” he said. “We must be resolute in opposing them. They do not deserve any foothold in our society.”

And added: “Hate speech, too, generates a myriad of emotions in its targets, from shame to hatred.”

While it is encouraging that President Niinistö has awoken to the threat that racism and hate speech pose in Finland, one hopes that it isn’t too late to change course.

Even if the president didn’t mention any names of parties, analysts saw that he was pointing to the Perussuomalaiset (PS)* party.

Another matter that is interesting to note in his speech is that while he mentioned anti-Semitism, he did not say anything about an ever-growing social ill called Islamophobia.

Anti-Islam racism has such a foothold in Finland that it helps minor parties like the PS over a decade ago to become the biggest opposition party today.

Racism is a threat in Finland, irrespective of who the victim is. It is a good matter that President Niinistö finally understands the gravity of the problem.