Panu Höglund

Le giota maith ama tá muid anseo san Fhionlainn ag fanacht leis an gcéad ainghníomh sceimhlitheoireachta a bheas bunaithe ar thucaidí ciníochais. Ar ndóigh bhí roinnt réamhtheachtairí ann cheana. Sa bhliain 2007 mharaigh fear óg darbh ainm Pekka-Eric Auvinen deichniúr daoine, é féin san áireamh, i Lárionad Scoile Jokela i gceantar Tuusula. Luadh tuairimí radacacha eite deise leis, mar ní raibh sé soiléir áfach an bhféadfaí é a aicmiú chomh simplí sin, nó bhí sé go mór faoi thionchar smaointí an fhealsaimh éiceolaíoch Pentti Linkola, a bhí ar duine acu siúd a chuir tús le gluaiseacht na nGlasach sa tír seo. 

Mar a deir lucht a cháinte, chuaigh Linkola le cineál éicea-Fhaisisteachais agus é ag dul in aois, agus é barúlach go mba chóir dúinn ‘bithlárnachas’ a chur in áit an ‘daonlárnachais’: is é sin, tús áite a thabhairt don timpeallacht nádúrtha in áit an duine. Mar is dual don chineál seo seanmóraithe, ní chuireann Linkola féin gníomh le focal: mar shampla, nuair a buaileadh le dúlagar intinne agus le diaibéiteas é, níor dhiúltaigh sé do na cógais a thairg córas an leasa shóisialta dó. 

Ní féidir a rá gurbh as smaointí Linkola a fáisceadh radacachas na heite deise san Fhionlainn, cé go bhfuil bá áirithe ag cuid den chineál sin radacaigh leis. Mar sin féin, is dócha go raibh muid róthuisceanach i leith an smaointeora áirithe sin sna laethanta a bhí. Nuair a fágadh an ‘Linkolachas’ in áit na leathphingine i ngluaiseacht na nGlasach, glacadh leis go forleathan nach raibh dainséar ar bith i Linkola don chóras pholaitiúil ná do chobhsaíocht na sochaí; cé go raibh dornán lucht leanúna aige, ní le gunnadóireacht a chleachtadh a thagadh an sórt sin daoine le chéile ach le tae a ól agus brioscaí as comhábhair mhacraibheathacha a ithe.

Mar sin, ba leasc linn an t-ár i Jokela a aicmiú mar sceimhlitheoireacht eite deise. Níl sé furasta Linkola a shuí sa ghnáthmhapa polaitíochta; is gnách linn dearcadh air mar fheiniméan speisialta Fionlannach. Anois, áfach, d’imigh sin agus tháinig seo. Nuair a d’éirigh leis na Fíor-Fhionlannaigh – páirtí na dtuathghríosóirí agus na bhfuathghríosóirí – suíocháin a bhaint amach sa chaibinéad a tháinig ar an bhfód i ndiaidh na dtoghchán, ba spreagadh é sin chun sceimhlitheoirí na heite deise a gcuid pluaiseanna a thréigean agus cromadh ar an obair go hoscailte. 

An oíche idir an séú agus an seachtú lá de Mhí Dheireadh Fómhair, rinneadh iarracht i Lammi (ceantar tuaithe atá suite idir na cathracha úd Hämeenlinna agus Lahti) bloc árasán a chur trí thine atá ar cíos ag Cros Dhearg na Fionlainne le lóistín a sholáthar do na teifigh ón tSiria. Ádhúil go leor d’éirigh le fear óg a bhfuil cónaí air sa bhloc árasán an dóiteán a mhúchadh sula raibh aon duine i nguais cheart. Mar sin féin is droch-chomhartha amach is amach é seo, nó tá an chuma ar an scéal go mbeidh tuilleadh ann.

Leis na blianta beaga anuas tá antoiscigh na heite deise ag craobhscaoileadh a gcuid bolscaireachta timpeall an Idirlín, agus mar a dúirt siad féin go bródúil d’éirigh leo ‘ardcheannas aeir’ a bhaint amach in Idirlíon na Fionlainnise. Is é sin, is é an ciníochas in aghaidh na dteifeach an ‘fhírinne neodrach réamhshocraithe’ ar an gcuid is mó de na fóraim Fhionlainnise ar an Idirlíon, agus is ”idé-eolaíocht” neamhneodrach é, abair, Dearbhú Uile-Choiteann Chearta an Duine. Faoi na himthoscaí seo, is furasta na daoine a bhfuil eagla orthu roimh an Ioslam agus roimh na Gormaigh a shaighdeadh chun sceimhlitheoireachta.

Na daoine atá imeaglaithe mar sin, is féidir leo gníomhartha sceimlitheoireachta a chur i gcrích as a stuaim féin, agus mar sin is mar aonaráin a sheasfas siad an dlí. San am chéanna áfach tá baint acu le mórghluaiseacht phobail de dhaoine agus iad meáite ar na Gormaigh agus na Muslamaigh a ruaigeadh as an tír nó a mharú scun scan. Níl teacht orthu siúd a thuilleadh a chuir tús leis an ngluaiseacht seo, agus ní féidir an ghluaiseacht a stopadh trí dhuine anseo nó duine ansiúd a chaitheamh i dtóin phríosúin. Traidisiún féinbhuanaitheach atá ann cheana a bheas ag cur shaol na Fionlainne ó mhaith go ceann i bhfad fós.

Scríbhneoir Gaeilge ón bhFionlainn é Panu Petteri Höglund.

For some time we in Finland have been awaiting the first racism-based terrorist attack. Of course there have already been some harbingers. In 2007 Pekka Eric Auvinen killed 10 people, including himself, at the Central School of Jokela in Tuusula. He was said to have held right-wing radical views, but it is difficult to say though whether he could be classified in such a simple way, because he was strongly influenced by the views of the eco-philosopher Pentti Linkola, who had actually in his day inspired the Greens of Finland.

As his detractors are keen to point out, Linkola has in his older days developed into an ‘eco-fascist’ who wants our present ‘humanocentrism’ to be ousted by ‘biocentrism’: in other words, he would pioritise the natural environment over humans’ well-being. All too humanly, though, he does not seem to be willing to practice what his preaches: he is quite happy to use doctor-prescribed medicine to keep his depression and diabetes at bay.

It is hardly possible to say that Linkola’s ideas have had a particularly important role in the development of Finnish right-wing radicalism, although some of those radicals do show a certain sympathy towards him. In any case, it is possible to say that we used to be too full of understanding towards this particular thinker. When ‘Linkolaism’ was marginalized in the Green movement, it was commonly accepted that Linkola was no threat to the political system or to societal stability; he did have his followers, but those were more interested in gathering around tea and macrobiotic scones than in undergoing military training.

So we were quite reluctant to see the Jokela murders as right-wing terrorism. It is difficult to place Linkola on the usual political maps; we usually think of him as a specifically Finnish phenomenon. Now, though, things have changed. When True Finns – the party of populists and hate-mongers – acquired government seats after the last election, it was largely perceived by right-wing terrorists that they could leave their hiding places and come out to the open.

The night between 6 and 7 October saw an attempt to burn down a block of flats in Lammi, a countryside municipality between the more major cities Lahti and Hämeenlinna, which the Finnish Red Cross is at present using to provide lodgings for refugees from Syria. Fortunately a young man living in the block was able to put out the fire before anyone was really in danger. However, this is a very bad sign, because it seems more is on its way.

For some years now right-wing extremists have been poisoning the whole of the internet with their propaganda, and as they themselves happily pointed out some time ago, they have been able to acquire ‘air sovereignty’ in the Finnish-language internet. This means that racism against refugees is now the default setting and the neutral truth on most Finnish-language web forums, and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, for example, is treated as non-neutral ‘ideology’. Under these circumstances it is easy enough to induce people who are afraid of Islam and of black people to commit terrorist crimes.

People who are terrified in such a way are able to perform terrorist acts individually, so that they will be prosecuted as individuals. At the same time, they are connected with a major movement of people who are determined to throw Muslims and blacks out of the country or to simply murder them. Those who started the movement can’t be caught anymore, and the movement cannot be stopped simply by imprisoning individual members. It is already a self-perpetuating tradition that will poison public life in Finland for a long time to come.

Panu Petteri Höglund is a Finnish writer of Irish expression.