Are racist remarks unveiling a larger issue in Finland's government?

Finland is embroiled in a heated controversy surrounding racist remarks. The country's recently established government is facing initial difficulties as two prominent party officials have come forward to acknowledge their involvement in making racist and anti-Semitic comments. However, are these isolated incidents, or indicative of deep-seated bigotry in the country?
Guests:
Khaled Beydoun
Author
Karin Creutz
Researcher at University of Helsinki
Paavo Teittinen
Journalist for Helsingin Sanomat

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[@dandylion188]

Mr. Ahmed, et al: Islam is not a race, and Muslims has shown great reluctance to assimilate throughout Europe, in Finland and in neighboring Sweden.

[@UltraCasualPenguin]

Do you know what Fjotolf Hansen did? Do you think he had right to do it?

[@josepedrosantiagosilva9625]

I think it's essential to have a nuanced perspective on the issue of anti-Semitism and its relation to Muslims in contemporary Europe. While it's important not to generalize or stereotype an entire community, it is also vital for everyone, regardless of their religious or cultural background, to understand and respect the cultures of the countries they live in. Historically, Europe has faced its own share of religious and cultural conflicts, such as the struggles with Catholicism and the inquisition. The continent has gone through a significant transformation, embracing diverse perspectives and becoming a place where freedom of expression and satire have played a crucial role. It's also worth noting that Europe has won the freedom to express itself through the lens of humor and satire, as exemplified by iconic works like "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" and more. This freedom has allowed for a rich tradition of comedy and satire, which often challenges societal norms and pushes the boundaries of humor. When newcomers arrive from different cultural and religious backgrounds, it's essential for them to respect and adapt to the cultural norms and values of the host country. Europe's cultural landscape is marked by a long history of satire and expression, which may not align with the traditions of some other religions. Therefore, it's important to strike a balance between preserving one's cultural identity and adapting to the cultural fabric of the country they reside in. Mutual respect and understanding are key to coexisting harmoniously and avoiding the rise of anti-Semitism or any form of discrimination. Dialogue, education, and open-mindedness can help bridge cultural gaps and foster greater approval and acceptance among different communities.

[@pabloastudillo6903]

The Finns have every right to speak their opinions- Every country has the absolute right to pick and choose their immigration policies- Immigration is not a right, it’s a privilege- However racism is never a good thing-

[@rata_yonqui]

true privilege is to live isolated in your own community

[@AAA79797]

@@rata_yonquiexactly?! why would europe want to give this privilege away…

[@sonsofthunder007]

I went to Finland, and nobody mistreated me because of my skin color. They might have some prejudice, but they aren't rude about it, from my experience. And what country doesn't have racism?

[@Redfizh]

Finns are know to be introverts and have culture of personal space of silence. This combined to the fact that most finns just have never spent time with other cultures and do not know how to be. Does Finland have racists? Yes, few and they are not afraid to admit it.

[@jarimiettinen779]

@@Redfizh There is no racism in Finland. We criticize illegal immigration and the large number of Muslims crimes. There is not a single hate crime committed by a Finn against a muslim, none. Why are there only problems with muslims, but not Vietnamese, Thai, Turkey, etc.?

[@jt305]

and you are black or chinese ?

[@tyyneviljakainen5108]

You visited ? I live here as former Soviet Unions person who speaks better Finnish than most Finnish ( yeah) who also looks very Scandinavian they misstread me from day 1 (1991) I constantly hear slurs and even worse - people who ware my friends said that if I don't get a job maybe I should start to sell my ass....I literally have a lot bad things happened here. Funny how those rassistic pigs call me ryssä but I never been in Russia. Finland is one of most rassistic countries in the Europe.

[@tyyneviljakainen5108]

​@@jarimiettinen779Jaa ei rasismia? Mua on ryssitelty ja huoriteltu vuodesta 91. Missä laalaa landiassa sä oikein elät? Sain kuulla olevani ryssähuora kun olin lapsi. Ryssittely jatkuu edelleen. Olen kokenut erittäin paljon syrjintää Suomessa ( olen inkerinsuomalainen) toisinsanoen ryssä . Nuo ei ole mun sanoja . Olet ryssä vaikka voissa paistaisi - ex naapuri. Ehkä sun pitäisi tarjota " palveluita" jos et saa muuta työtä - ex kaveri - valtion vihollinen - ex luokanvalvoja . Asiat mitä Suomessa oon kokenut ei yksikään terapia poista. Muutettiin Baltiasta neuvostoliiton hajottua koska oli pakko. Jos tutkit mitä Suomen valtio on alunperin tehnyt inkerinsuomalaisille.... Eipä moni viitsi tätäkään tutkia. Suurinosa suomalaisista on feikkiheikkejä - hymylee päin naamaa ja ryssittelee seläntakana.

[@Rezah6]

Good to see European a European country denouncing racism, however, making it a crime to be anti-semetic when those in the middle east occupying the Palestinians are racist themselves toward the people they occupy. How about some first world country having the courage to stand up for the Palestinians...also the people from the region are also semetic..as Arabic is also a semetic language.

[@watcher2424]

7.10. The year 2023 perfectly showed what Islam is.

[@Rezah6]

@@watcher2424 and that is ?

[@andreas956]

Finland is awesome! Good for you for finally caring about the safety of your people again. We Swedes love you brothers and sisters.

[@sampohonkala4195]

It should be understood that there was very little shift to the right in the parliamentary elections - in that sense nothing has changed in Finland. However, the Conservative party narrowly won and they need the right wing Finns party to form a government where they can promote their general idea of taking from the poor and giving to the rich. Economy rules, and getting the racist Finns party in the government is just a by-product. Despite their name, the conservatives are almost as liberal in their values as the Swedish people's party. But in econony, they promise cuts to everybody - benefit cuts for the poor and tax cuts for the rich. Inequality may become even a bigger issue with this government than racism.

[@r.sebottendorf1146]

Nobody talks about the problem whit illegal inmigration?

[@eskoikonen3306]

Utter nonsense! Finland belongs to the finns

[@YTChannel344]

Why is that woman giving violent threats of openly murdering poor people? WTF?

[@annkristinbarnes4596]

This narrative is utterly ridiculous and completely out of touch with the concerns of the general public in the Nordic countries! By the way, Ms Rankin, may one presume that you yourself are safely situated on another planet, judging by the ludicrous and derogatory epithets you throw at the native Scandinavians for wishing to discuss the consequences of inviting a multitude of guests in who refuse to respect the CULTURES of their hosts? Now, if I am not mistaken, there are 57 nations to choose from in which the disgruntled guests of the Nordic countries will feel more CULTURALLY at home. How about asking the esteemed academics why the disgruntled multitudes don't just migrate there instead?

[@CEO1001]

Exactly what do you mean by "Respect the culture"?

[@edwin786]

yes yes every one is wrong and the finland is in right position, you cant even admit the the finns are xenophobic and hate foreigners for racist reason, if a leader of Finns party admires Hitler and its policies its says lot about that country !!!!!

[@rata_yonqui]

the struggle to justify xenophobia

[@edwin786]

@@rata_yonqui there is no struggle, Finns has already poven it by there action and words, only deluded finn would say that what you said,,and i'm pretty sure most on of the finns have mental problems and are narcissistic in nature.. the struggle of yours to accept the truth..

[@UltraCasualPenguin]

Does anyone remember who Fjotolf Hansen (better known as Anders Behring Breivik) is? Just heads up. Ann Kristian might be next Breivik.

[@psikeyhackr6914]

It is called groupthink. How many people really think for themselves as individuals? People develop attitudes from their group and proceed to think inside the group box, mostly rationalizing.

[@tyyneviljakainen5108]

most people don't think by themselves. I was bullied and still aim as I am from former Soviet Union. Amount of rassistic treatment what I experienced in Finland can fill the book - and one day it will.

[@AnthonyD-yy2in]

Deep -seated bigotry is a world wide issue. Why is Finland being singled out lately?🤔

[@farrahranya]

Its not a world wide issue unless you are talking about white supremacy poisoning societies. You won't find sub aharan african countries discriminating on bases of skin color. That is exclusive to european societies and societies that look down on people with darker skin and are driven by the desire to be a part of whiteness to mistreat other people.

[@raskltube]

who cares

[@yipmabaruya1148]

Good morning from Papua New Guinea. I enjoyed watching your contents.

[@AK--]

15 years is not a long time? in what universe is the presenter living in?

[@stevedynell3330]

Yes, there are larger issues involved. Too many True Finns want to win+to retain power, even at the cost of tolerating racists+far-rightists among themselves. On the other hand, there are too many moral relativists+postmodernists among the Centrists, leftists+Greens. Also Finland is becoming increasingly polarized - as are many other countries. May God have mercy on Finland, Europe+the world!

[@thewatcher8345]

I love Finland....

[@user-nk3ko5bf6e]

There's nothing wrong for Finns who want to protect their country , culture or whatsover, be mindful of the impact of those political remarks! As a foreign female i got harrassed by a bunch of Finnish teenagers who got easily influenced by the political views, how should i fight for my right in front of those immature kids?? who protect the safety and right of us foreign working force here? I work for this country, pay high taxes, should i just feel pity for myself and count the days to move out? The society don't really care about the rights of foreingers and ignore the contributions foreign community has made. They only care whether we work here, pay taxes and speak Finnish!

[@Redfizh]

Having freedom score 100/100 means that you are allowed to be racist as long as you do not commit crime. You are allowed to say whatever is in your mind and it is others job to agree or not. BlueBlack party is not afraid to say they are racist and no one vote them. Finland has maximum democracy and insignificant racism.

[@Proust451]

They are summarily humiliated. Can’t even look at the camera. Lol

[@jarisalonen7788]

Yes , and well ...

[@paanikki]

the Finns party used to be just a populist party, not extreme right. But facists took control in the party in 2017. The current party leader, FM Purra entered national politics via the openly facist "Suomen Sisu" organisation. FM Purra apologised her use of certain words in her racist comments in the past only when the public pressured her to do so. But she has never apologised for being a a racist, and never condemned racism, even when asked by the media. The other parties in the government, especially the PM's National coalition party are OK with co-operating with an openly racist Finns party, as long as they pretend not to be racist and pretend to condemn racism in public.

[@gagadonim3354]

Without lies, Islam dies

[@KramsLor]

YOU RELİGİON DİES NOT İSLAM ☪️🦾 RİSES RELİGİON SHUT UPm

[@sebastianniittyvuopio5017]

Sbhwapp❤Sanna?😮

[@carlobody8143]

I am one of those rare Finnish people with darker colored skin my father Is African, I spent some time as a child in English school, and I totally cannot tolerate english people, so even though I have experienced racism and still do today, I am also racist given my almost total intolerance of British people and Europeans, whatever colours they are.. And I freely admit that I am racist, and I also respect the rights of we Finns to be racist... We have that right to be racist, as I also am and anyone does, and it is both stupid and immature to expect that every cultural group will just accept other cultures with open arms, especially because of non shared religions, music, food and language.... Instead of seeing racism as unfair we must at least have courage to examine the actual root causes of that racism, rather than condemning those whom we perceive as being racist, or those whom are racist, like myself, and for whatever reasons... One of the things I am very suspicious of is people from Muslim countries, why are they so keen to move into what are very clearly non Muslim countries? Now I am not saying that all Muslims are bad, but at least ninety percent of Muslims believe that those who are not Muslims, are "Non Believers" and are therefore seen as "Infidels" or "unclean" only Muslims can go into a Mosque, and only jews can go into a Synagogue, however many of the world's other Religions,will welcome all people no matter what the religious faith... In many non Muslim countries in the world, Muslim Imams can be seen in crowded tourist areas surrounded by their loyal followers, expounding the benefits of Islam, and hoping to convert others to Islam... It's a numbers game and their belief is that the more people that they convert to Islam, then the greater the rewards will be for them in their version of heaven,..So will we see the same in Finland.??? ... Could it be that some of the World's Muslim community want to convert the whole of Europe and Finland to Islam, for rewards in thier version of Heaven... My grandfather defended Finland in the winter war,( he fought as a Searjant leading his men destroying russian tanks, with well placed munitions) and I feel exactly the same... I think that Finland should stay Finnish, and it was a big mistake for Finland to have joined the EU, we are not Europeans and neither is our language

[@nipander11]

I have never before stumbled across such a weird left wing channel/programm 😄. Oh my gosh, this would make your average finn laugh at the absurdity of you theorizing about how racist us Finns are 😅. It really does not matter... If you wan't to know how racist then we aren't as racist as poles, but just slightly under 😊

[@Jonra1]

As a Finn living in Poland, I don't think Poles are as racist as Finns. You can live in ignorance of course, but it does make you look bit silly. The type of racism in Finland isn't quite as outspoken, but it does have a strong negative impact. It's been worse since the Finns Party/True Finns became more prominent. You don't get physically attacked that much or even threatened in Finland, but that's just largely cause Finns generally don't have the courage to really even speak out openly in public without bit of alcohol in their system. But the type of racism people face when trying to find work for example is quite severe in Finland outside of the really international companies. It's not impossible to find work as a foreigner, but having a foreign last name is just asking for trouble on the job market no matter how good your Finnish skills are. Finns are also very ignorant people when it comes to different cultures, most Finns don't seem to visit countries outside the main five: Thailand, Spain, Sweden, Estonia and Greece. Even then they do not know much of these countries cultures.

[@nipander11]

@@Jonra1 I think it matters a lot whether your judgememt is based on your experiences living in a certain part of Finland or in what kind of environment and circle of people you lived. Because smaller towns off the beaten bath and older generations tend to be more racist. I'd say there are definitely regions in Finland that are more racist than others, mostly the more isolated regions and places with older people and not many immigrants. Though it is true that the Rise of the True Finns party has coinsided with a rose in right wing ideology within some youth as well due to their effective marketing on social media. But that has happened nearly everywhere. Sweden, Germany, Italy, Greece, Hungary AND Poland are just some examples where right wing politocal parties have gained traction. And you never explained how you think Poland is better than Finland. Actually the examples you gave make it pretty clear that racism is worse in Poland. I mean tje PiS party continues to hold power and doesn't seem to be going anywhere. And I work in the IT sector and personally I can tell you that someone's surname does not matter a bit in this profession. And I'm involved in the hiring process for the company so I should know. It probably does in some companies, but then again it happens in every country unfortunately. I don't condone any of it, but it isn't a sign Finland is somehow especially racist. I alsoo disagree woth your statement that Finns are ignorant when it comes to other cultures. That very much untrue, especially when it comes to the youth in the capital Region and Turku and Tampere. People are very pretty well educated on other cultures, their customs, current events in countries far far away and even on language as many of my youngest siblings friends were picking up phrases in arabic and farsi when speaking with theor froemds from Arab countries and Iran. I do think that there is currently a resurgence of right wing ideas. And while I'm certainly not a fan of them, the reasons fpr this resurgence are issues that really need to be solved. For example the constant stream of Asylum seekers arriving from Northern Africa and Turkey to Europe. With climate change even more economic migration and a lot of climate migration will start happening and the numbers will grow manyfold, meaning the current policies can't remain in place as European societies cant support potentially tens of millions arriving yearly. We simply do not have the ability to do that. And we have seen what migrant policy gone wrong looks like in Sweden that has both the rape Capital of Europe and the worst gun crime out of all EU countries. These issues need solving and until something is done people will keep voting for the right wing in EU just generally. I might even cast a protest vote for someone like the True Finns party sometime in the future if it seems like Swedens problems are spreading here and EU doesn't have concrete plans. There has also been a lot of Xenophobia recently from Poles towards the Russians due to the Ukraine war. Some people online have been saying that all Russians are sub-human and that they are complicit in the war...

[@UltraCasualPenguin]

​​​@@nipander11 So, you choose people who work for company. Explains why everyone has either russian or so-finnish-it's-laughable (Jorma K, Mora Puukko etc.) names.

[@andreas956]

​​​@@Jonra1 Typical for a hypocritical coward.You're one of these Finns that supported uncontrolled mass immigration to the point where criminality has skyrocketed in Finland and then you move to Poland! One of few countries that has refused to bend the knee to EUs insane levels of migration. To the one country where you don't have to fear Muslim terrorists or the same level of criminality. Disgusting and hypocritical..

[@synaestesia-bg3ew]

15 years ago? She was probably just 20, influenced by some skinhead boyfriend. It was common 15 years years ago in Sweden, Russia, even Canada. This was the result of post 911 right ring era and the Afghan war. Government allowed extreme right to flourish in order to boost extreme right military recruit.

[@snowtinttu3562]

She was a fully grown 31 year old adult.

[@deficharliegosseTK]

Yeah this is was too Blasé Blasé

[@Joshua-w5hJ77]

womp womp!

[@rufina_in_hel]

I’m sorry but I hate how the Finns are downplaying the situation in the government. I came as an international student, i am currently married to a Finnish citizen and we were planning to apply for my citizenship in the end of the year. Now I might have to wait another 3 years for this opportunity. And it’s coming from someone who moved to the country over 7 years ago. It’s already HARD to make a living in Finland as an international student and an immigrant, and we are DIRECTLY TARGETED by the new government. It pisses me the F off to see these two representatives talk about it as a casual swing in politics. Of course, because THEY are NOT affected by the policies!!!

[@LUMADSAMATI]

From "Happiest" to The Saddest country! What a pivotal moment for this racist country! Way to go!

[@subimaginos]

Is Finland racist? If yes then they must accept more refugees and give them basic income until they integrate :))

[@WhiskyandBacon]

👋🛫

[@rata_yonqui]

true finnians?

[@AK--]

propaganda

[@EjazKhanmughal-oo1lh]

In Spain we have lots of finish community' in my opinion finish living in there fantasy world they run business here in south of Spain they ar mostly honest people but they don't want any autsider in there restaurant or finish bar and most of the time they forget that they live in Spain and when there ar drunk they speak to public in there own language 😂my God very strange nation anyway i hope they start learning to live with normal people and start thinking positive my self i m braun skin person if they dont know mi they ar scared and feel unconfotable i think they shoyld start traveling to other countries like Africa asia latin America know the world better

[@eeaasf8776]

Yes, finns have established their safe spot there 😂 but we do have lots of regular people who explore cultures and lots of liberal minded people.

[@EjazKhanmughal-oo1lh]

@@eeaasf8776 I hope so

[@carlosacta8726]

I dunno, looks like an incredibly boring country...

[@saharshverma7026]

It is

[@carlosacta8726]

@@saharshverma7026 😂😂😂😂😂

[@Jonra1]

What an useful comment.

[@carlosacta8726]

@@Jonra1 I'm glad you are entertained!

[@sonsofthunder007]

It's pretty nice.

[@bellohadiza9414]

The so-called Finland is a scandinavian country living on ice RACISMS is their DNA period said many people .

[@andreas956]

Then just stay away from this insanely dangerous country. Choose other countries to mass immigrate too. There are many countries in the middle east with 0 racism(everybody are angels there), better weather and similar culture. Go there instead.

[@gijuvarghese6545]

Impose sanctions on Finland

[@nipander11]

Please sanction us yes 😄... Who? And for what? We are pretty racist, but not even top5 of Europe 🙄😂

[@AAA79797]

for what?? not letting in uncontrolled amount of imigrants?? how about we sanction israel for doing the same…

[@eerotabell1952]

They are far- right, not fake news.

[@Proust451]

They are summarily humiliated. Can’t even look at the camera. Lol