anti-Semitism Finland Finland and Israel Finnish Politics SALOLAINEN-GATE US

MORE ON FINNISH POLITICIAN PERTTI SALOLAINEN AND HIS ANTISEMITIC REMARKS STATE TV ABOUT U.S. JEWS CONTROLLING MEDIA AND MONEY………

 

The JPost article gives a shout out to the Tundra Tabloids. 

UPDATE: News round up

The Finnish Ambassador to the United States has been already contacted by the Simon Weisenthal Center over Pertti Salolainen’s antisemitic remarks on state TV. The SWC has the story up on its webpage here.

NOTE: Lets see how soon the Finnish media begins to report on this scandal, what form the reporting takes (circling the wagons), and what becomes of it. Will the part-time antisemite Pertti Salolainen retain his position, or will he be removed with official apologies coming from the Finnish Ministery of Foreign Affairs over the scandal?

Also, what about the Finnish state broadcaster’s (YLE) role in the televised scandal? The network allowed the antisemitic canard to go unchallenged, as did the Social Democrat and The Finns representative.

Finnish politician: Jews control money, media in US

By BENJAMIN WEINTHAL, JERUSALEM POST CORRESPONDENT
12/01/2012 01:47

JPost: Pertti Salolainen says Jews cause US to be “afraid” of neutrality in Middle East conflict; Finnish site calls him “part-time anti-Semite.”

AIPACPHOTO: REUTERS

BERLIN – Finland’s Vice Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee Pertti  Salolainen asserted on Thursday that American Jews have vast control over the wealth and media in the United States and that impedes the US government from remaining neutral toward the Palestinians.

Pertti Salolainen’s remarks sparked sharp criticism from the Simon Wiesenthal Center, an international human rights group with its headquarters in Los Angeles, and the Finnish media watchdog website Tundra Tabloids.

While discussing the UN General Assembly vote to upgrade the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) to non-member observer state status on the state television program YLE Aamu TV, Salolainen said: “Now about the United States, it finds it difficult to take a more neutral stance on the Israel-Palestine issue because they have a large Jewish population who have a significant control of the money and the media. The US for internal political reasons is afraid to become adequately involved. This is a sad truth about US politics.”

Finland’s government voted to upgrade the PLO.

Mark Weitzman, from the Wiesenthal Center, wrote to Ritva Koukku-Ronde, the Finnish Ambassador to the US, “That such remarks can come from a pillar of the political elite in Finland is dismaying and astonishing; but that this remark was unchallenged makes it appear that such ideas are part of acceptable discourse in Finland.”

Weitzman  continued that Finland joined the International Task Force for Holocaust Education, Research and Remembrance and “At this point, Finland must immediately act to show that it remains committed to these ideals,” by officially condemning and repudiating Salolainen’s remarks  He called on the Finish government to  take steps to remove the parliamentarian from any official position.

The pro-Israel Helsinki-based website Tundra Tabloids posted a translation of Pertti Salolainen’s comments and the television clip with a translation. Tundra Tabloids termed Salolainen “a part-time anti-Semite” and said he propagated  a modern version of the notorious 19th century  anti-Semitic document “Protocols of the Elders of Zion” with his diatribe of Jew-hatred and conspiracy theories.

When asked in early November by The Jerusalem Post if statements from Hezbollah calling for the murder of Jews and Israelis and praise for Holocaust denial are anti-Semitic, Pekka Marttila, from the Finnish Foreign Ministry, refused to answer.

Frank Johansson, the head of Finland’s Amnesty International office, caused an anti-Semitism scandal in 2010 when he labeled Israel a “scum state” on the website of Finland’s third-largest newspaper Iltalehti. In an interview with the Post, Frank Johansson, defended the term and said he would only apply it to the Jewish state and some Russian officials. He retained his job with the human rights organization.

UPDATE:Now being reported in the Finnish media:

“Nazi hunters irritated/mad/angry over Pertti Salonen’s words”

And also at the excellent Finnish blog: Smith and Wesson

17 Responses

  1. I completely missed this one, because I don’t have the stomach to watch Yle morning TV any more.

    But it’s sad to see how much Pertti Salolainen and David Duke have in common.

    Salolainen is a former chairman of the National Coalition Party (faux conservatives) and it was under his term that Finland joined the EU. Salolainen served as a minister in the Esko Aho government in the 1990’s.

    Salolainen was considered a weak leader who was more interested in joining the EU than leading the party.

    1. Sounds right, thanks Vasarahammer. You pegged him rather well.

  2. Ho hum. Just more of the same old anti-semitic bull s..t.

    I think he needs to trade in his tired old brain for a new model that will enable him at least to say something sensible – even perhaps rational.

  3. Well then. If Johansson called Israel a scum state – that would make him a scum bag, right? Seems quite logical to my forensic mind.

    And he should have been sacked forwith.

  4. Millä perusteella Salolaista voi sanoa antisemiitiksi? Olisi kiva kuulla perusteluita, vastaväitteitä, ym, eikä pelkästään leimaamista.

    1. I take it that you’ve never heard of the antisemitic Russian forgery, The protocols of the learned elders of Zion, [1] What Salolainen said filled the criteria of antisemitism embedded throughout that forgery. The ‘manipulative Jew’, the ‘Jew with dual loyalties’, the ‘money grubbing Jew’ the ‘Jews control the worlds media’. All these canards are something you could find coming straight from Iran, Hezbollah, Hamas/PLO/Palestinian Authority, the Arab Muslim world and Nazi Germany.

      Salolainen actually believes that its because of Jews controlling the US, that it is pro-Israel. In fact, Israel is pro-Israel, because unlike in Europe, which has a rather dark penchant for totalitarianism, the average American identifies with a fellow democracy under attack by a thugocracy. Salolainen grossly errs in judgement and gives way to ancient antisemitic canards just explained.

      Oh and do note, I gave him the benefit of the doubt, I labeled him a ”part-time antisemite”, he probably thinks himself a philosemite, but he holds antisemitic notions.

      1.) https://www.adl.org/special_reports/protocols/protocols_international.asp

  5. I don’t see how the Russian forgery has anything to do with Salolainen’s comments, which have basically been confirmed by higly respected academics such as John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt in their paper on the Israeli Lobby.

    What Salolainen said is common knowledge, or at least it should be, and it can be proved with relative ease. When an organisation concerned with the Holocaust begins attacking politicians for statements regarding current affairs, the political context of such organisations becomes apparent. To abuse the historical tragedy for political leverage is insulting to the victims, in my opinion, and those engaging in it should feel ashamed, if they can.

    That Jewish lobbyists attempt to shut people up with accusations of anti-semitism is nothing new, either. Sooner or later, it will lose its smear-effect.

  6. Wealthy Jews with media influence can also be part of the Israeli lobby and many are. It is clearly reflected in American media coverage of Israel, as Philip Weiss has shown in his paper from 2006.

    It doesn’t matter, though. He could just as well have spoken in terms of “the Israel lobby” and he would have been branded an antisemite by said lobby just the same, just as Walt and Mearsheimer were.

    1. Hey Kristian, he was talking about wealthy Jews, period, and their supposed control over the media. It reflects his gross lack of knowledge (and yours, Walt and Mearshsheimer’s) of US society.

  7. I am Finnish and I think Salolainen’s comments are outrageous. Also, the amount of comments defending his position in the media are far too many.

    It makes me really sad to be a Finn. Of course a peaceful solution has to be found regarding the West Bank and Gaza. But that someone of the political elite here can blurt out a remark that reeks of antisemitic propaganda, and not be immediately denounced by all is a mystery to me.

    This is all a part of the rise of the “redneck fascism” in Finland, where suddenly remarks such as “Jews control media”, “Muslims and Africans are genetically inclined to steal and live on welfare”, etc. are considered not only acceptable, but even courageous acts of exercising free speech(!).

    I am ashamed to be a Finn.

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