Sudan Protests II

Students at the University of Khartoum entered the second day of demonstrations, chanting "people want the regime down" and social media has run warm while waiting to see if this is "the real deal" or not. This is not the first time (and probably not the last) that students demonstrate against the government. Last December authorities closed down Khartoum University temporarily after more than a week of protests against the government.

The inflation in the country is currently running at 30 percent, but some economists claim it can be as high as 40, and the Sudanese people have been building up their anger against rising food prices and the government's plans to cut fuel subsidies.

President Omar Hassan al-Bashir addressed parliament around lunch, Monday, saying that the government had decided to "raise taxation and remove fuel subsidies "step by step." Furthermore, hundreds of federal and state positions will be axed and officials's salaries will be cut. Needless to say, people weren't too happy about the announcement. More on the announcement here.

Riot police has continued to fire tear gas and use batons against the protesters. There has been reports of both rubber bullets and live ammunition being fired, but the reports are yet unconfirmed. Students answered the brutality by throwing stones at the police and an unconfirmed number of protesters have been detained and taken away in trucks to police stations. Some claim they've been brought to torture chambers. As always with social media, it's difficult to know what's fact and what is rumors.

The security presence has been heavy all over the city centre and while the students at Khartoum University have had a hard time during the day (police has raided the female dorms at the campus) tweets now claim that Omdurman Ahliya University (link currently down) has joined the protests during the afternoon and that protesters are cutting off a road (video) near the Ministry of Defence.

Update: In early evening 30-40 youths have reportedly been beaten and arrested as they attended a meeting at the headquarters of New Democratic Forces Movement (HAQ) in Khartoum 2. The young activists, may of them Girifna members, were taken into trucks owned by the National Intelligence and Security Services (NISS) and there whereabouts are unknown at the moment. Tweeps are calling for lawyers to help out.

Twitter:

@girifna

@MimzicalMimz 

@S_Elwardany

@Shamarat

#السودان_ينتفض

Photo from Twitter.

Anders Behring Breivik - Profile

Anders Behring Breivik

[Continuously updated]

The man arrested for the bomb and shooting that have so far claimed 93 lives (a number which i likely to rise) in Oslo and Utøya, Norway, is called Anders Behring Breivik. At least another 97 got injured. The name started to circle on social medias before it was announced in traditional media. Today the name is among the top searches on internet and a hot topic around the world. The shooting of young people in Utøya is said to be the worst in modern history during peace. The police are currently looking into leads about a second shooter, but for now, lets have a quick glance at Behring Breivik without analyzing too much:

Name: Anders Behring Breivik

Age: 32

Nationality: Norwegian

Religious beliefs: Christian

Political views: Conservative and possible connections with the extreme right wing. Calls himself a "nationalist." Been a member of the xenophobic Fremskrittspartiet (FRP). He became a member in 1999 and was also active in FRP's youth group (FPU) 1997-2007. He hated muslims, the political left and the social democratic youth association.

Education: Oslo Upper Secondary School of Business (own translation of Oslo Handelsgymnasium).

Work life: Communicator at Telia callcentre in 1999-2003, started his own company in 2005 with focus on data processing, data storage and adjacent services before it was disolved in 2008. In 2009 he started Breivik Geofarm in Rena, which were growing vegetables, melons and root vegetables.

Other connections: A member of the Johannes Lodge Søilene which is a part of the Freemason Lodge. He claims to have joined a secret underground group, PCCTS, Knights Templar, in 2002. The network is supposedly a sequel to the Knight's Templar, an order that was created to protect crusaders during the 1100's. He claims to have worked purposefully in order to begin the war against what he calls the cultural-marxist elite in Europe. It's unclear if the organisation really exists or if it's a made up story which Behring Breivik explains could be the case since he "can't reveal sensitive information."

Weapons: An automatic and a Glock gun are registered in his name. On May 4th he purchased six tons of artificial fertilizer which is suspected to be used as the bomb. Three tons remains on his farm.

 
Hobbies: Hunting and body building according to his Facebook profile.

Have been described as: Polite, calm and dutiful, service minded and gave no impression of having bad thoughts about any of his co-workers, says a former colleague at the calling centre at Telia - a telephone company. Neighbors describes him as a person that keeps to himself a lot. Behring Breivik's father hasn't seen his son since 1995 and was shocked to hear about the news through media. He said that he didn't notice any tendencies to this kind of violence when the boy was 15-16 years old and claims he was a "normal boy." Neither his mother suspected his son to be capable to such a thing, and a friend of her says that she was very proud of her son.

On Twitter: Behring Breivik started an account on Twitter just days before the attacks where he has one quote posted by the British filosopher and social liberal John Stuart Mill: One person with a belief is equal to the force of 100 000 who have only interests.

On Facebook: Had an account for several years where he posted extreme right wing views. The page was deleted and replaced by a new one a few days ago where he mostly had been posting music videos. Medias are speculating about the intentions of the latest profile - that it was Behring Brevik's way to warn about the upcoming attacks and to create himself an image with photos (that looks a lot like press photos) that he would like the world to see after the attacks. His latest Facebook profile has now been closed.

 
Views expressed: Behring Breivik has been active on the right wing forum Document.no where he has posted several texts which are controversial and critical against Islam. He calls himself a "nationalist." Read all his posts on document.no here. His posts on the forum contains personal views of the political environment, certain public figures in Norway, marxists and islamists. He was a member of a Swedish neo-Nizi forum called Nordisk, according to Expo, a Swedish group monitoring far-right activity.

The manifest: A 1500 pages manifest called ”2083 - A European declaration of independence” was released shortly before the attacks. The manifest is published online under the name Andrew Berwick, which is believed to be a pseudonym of Behring Breivik himself, who has also admitted to be the writer. The text contains a diary, starting in 2002, explaining how he got hold of the explosives and guns and planned his deeds as well as an explanation of how Europe will get rid of Muslims. The number 2083 in the title of the document is supposed to be a date that he believes an European war will end the execution of cultural Marxists and the deportation of Muslims. The "civil war" that he talks about would come in three phases: the first runs through 2030 and includes "open source warfare, military shock attacks by clandestine cell systems (and) further consolidation of conservative forces." The second, between 2030 and 2070 is a call for "more advanced forms of resistance groups (and the) preparation of pan-European coup d'etats" and the third and final stage features the deposition of Europe's leaders and "implementation of a cultural conservative political agenda." Parts of the document is a direct copy of the American terrorist Ted Kaczinski's, the Una-bomber's, manifest. In the end of the manifest are pictures of Behring Breivik with guns and the words "I believe this will be my last entry. It is now Fri July 22nd, 12.51." A YouTube video about the manifest has also been released (but continues to be deleted and can also be found here or here).
 
How the attacks were planned: In his manifest, Behring Breivik explains in detail how he prepared himself for everything during nine years. He sold off belongings to be able to afford bomb materials and the rent of the farm where the bombs were built and where he could plan everything in peace and quiet. He built up his body with anabola steroids and was a little concerned about how his liver would be affected but was happy about his "perfect body" and explains how he was happier than ever. He started to distance himself from friends and other people that could nose around, like neighbors and curious tourists that wanted to take pictures of his farm. In the middle of June this year, he made a test explosion of a bomb in an isolated place, which he declared a success and quickly drove from the area to avoid unwanted attention. He claimes to have carried out the attacks alone.

Motives: During police interrogation, Behring Breivik explains how he wanted to change the politics in Norway through violence. The shooting of over 80 youths in Utøya was supposed to be a warning about an approaching doomsday if the political party didn't change it's politics. He wanted to harm the party and the recruitment as much as possible and called the Labour Party people marxists. He also seems to believe that Muslims are trying to "colonise" Western Europe and that multiculturalism and cultural marxism are to blame for this.

VG
DN
Aftenposten
The Guardian
Expressen 

Wake up World!

I have to say it; no matter if your for or against WikiLeaks, it's clear that the witch hunt of  Julian Assange and the organization is far more freightening than the information that is being leaked. The world has participated in elections on false causes. How can a state claim to be democratic when we don't have the correct information to base our votes on? No, thanks to WikiLeaks, leaders around the world are standing with their pants down both in the sense of being ready to be fucked in the ass by USA and for their citizens to see them for what they really are. Except for PayPal's and Amazon's guile, both MasterCard and Visa now refuse to accept payments to WikiLeaks, saying that it's against the companies rules to directly or indirectly promote illegal actions. Now this is strange. WikiLeaks hasn't been prosecuted or condemned with any crime. Is it really a crime to tell the truth? Yes, in dictatorships.

Julian Assange turned himself in to the London police earlier today. It's still unclear if he will be submitted to Sweden, but he's being held in jail and refused bail until December 14th because of a "high risk for escape." Assange write in a public letter:

We are the underdogs. The Gillard government is trying to shoot the messenger because it doesn't want the truth revealed, including information about its own diplomatic and political dealings.

It's sick and highly alarming. The west has never been in such an obvious malfeasance, bent by the mighty USA that rather lets their own people starve and suffer than give up their aggressive foreign policies, anything to let the rest of the world understand who is their true leader and what happens if they would refuse to bend themselves to their will. I want to see more democratic journalism, that serve the readers and not the banks or governments driven by their slimy lust for power and money. People are worth more than that and it's time for us to make use of the power of the masses. 40 years from now I don't want to sit in a constantly monitored old people's home with cracked concrete walls and crappy food, and through my barred windows watch a world that fell apart and know that I could have done something about it. 

This is my way of taking a stand. Spread the information and support WikiLeaks in any way you can. Demonstrate, write letters, boycot the cowardly companies that think they can judge what is legal and what isn't to gain respect from Big Brother. Even though the press are too afraid to give their support, you don't have to be. Make your children and grandchildren proud, give them the opportunity to one day tell their children how brave their grandmother was, to stand up for democracy, free information and freedom of expression.

Edit: The witch hunts for Assange and WikiLeaks are as far as we know two different cases (Assange is being accused for sexual assault, but some believes it to be a setup). I do not claim that Assange is either guilty or not guilty, which I write more about in my previous post Freedom is Slavery. I do claim, however, that WikiLeaks, as an organization, is doing the right thing by spreading the documents given to them. Wether that's legal or not doesn't really matter, I still believe it to be right and a step in the right direction for true democracy.

Freedom is Slavery?

Winston Smith lives in a society where the people at all times are subordinated to the state; everyone is under constant governmental surveillance, both physically and mentally. Mind control and a new language, Newspeak, is developed to prevent the people from critical thinking. Through a telescreen, propaganda is streaming in every home and public place and monitors the people. Throughout the society posters of Big Brother warns the people: BIG BROTHER IS WATCHING YOU. 

This dystopian society is described in George Orwell's novel Nineteen Eighty-Four and was written in 1948-1949; a fantastic novel, but it is so much more than that. Orwell's intention was to warn people of the effects of the Eastern states that were forming during the time of writing. But the warning was not solely of Communism and Fascism, but of a future development that would affect all nations, no matter of their political foundation. His visions about oppressing dictatorships are slowly creeping upon the West today; we are being monitored, media is far from impartial, freedom of information and expression are only pretty words that governments use to manage the masses.

As no one can have missed: WikiLeaks' publishing of classified documents have caused governments to sway. Hillary Clinton describes the leaks as "an attack on the world" and WikiLeak have been cut out from Pay Pal for "violation of the PayPal Acceptable Use Policy, which states that our payment service cannot be used for any activities that encourage, promote, facilitate or instruct others to engage in illegal activity." The organization have also been dropped from Amazon.com Inc. that acted as a website host for breaching terms of service. In Sweden, the public is expressing it's outrage for PayPal's cowardice. WikiLeaks have not been proved guilty of any crime, on the contrary they have published documents that by all means concern the public. Governments have been revealed to commit crimes against humanity in these documents and any information that directly affect our societies are our concern. We are being monitored by governments and now WikiLeak, in a way, monitors the governments. I salute them.

WAR IS PEACE, FREEDOM IS SLAVERY, and IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH.

- Slogan of the Brotherhood, Nineteen Eighty-Four

WikiLeaks' frontman, Julian Assange, is being accused for sex crimes of two Swedish women. Many believes this to be a setup and I'm not qualified to judge what is true and what isn't. But what is  true is that Assange is merely a face of a much larger organization. His actions or personal qualities have little to do with the values and distinctions of WikiLeak. The fight for freedom and democracy will continue with or without him. The world is finally reacting now that the disclosures are on tabloids all around the globe. It is my sincere hope that the leaders will realize that their actions no longer can be done behind our backs, that they will be forced down on their knees and see that governments are meant to serve the people, not the other way around.

Do the world a favor and cancel your accounts on PayPal and Amazon (and tell them why). Ways to donate to WikiLeaks and support their struggle for free information can be found here.

Sweden - Not so Perfect

"A helping hand"

According to Newsweek, Sweden is the world's third best country to live in. Many thinks of the Swedish society as an idyll, and that for many good reasons; you can express your thoughts and feelings however you want, you can criticize the government openly, demonstrate against what you think is wrong. You can be openly bi- or homosexual, practice any religion you want to, have the right to form and join work unions. Marriage is not a necessity to form a family, nor is it an issue to be a single parent. Anyone can study at the university - and get a student's loan. If you get sick, you get sickness benefits. When you become a parent, you get parental allowance and if you loose your job you either get unemployment benefits or social assistance - you don't have to worry about becoming homeless or go hungry.

It's agreed that it's hard to find many societies as free and democratic as the Swedish, but to what cost? Mayhap Sweden is a paradise, but how are the government and major companies using this concept? I have listed a few publicly disclosures that may change your view of the perfectness of Sweden:

• Lundin Oil is blamed for contributing to the vicious civil war in southern Sudan when they decided to explore and extract oil from an area called Block 5A, which triggered a bloody fight for control over the area between 1997 and 2003. The company is accused for knowing of the war crimes they have caused; ranging from mass rapes to people being forced to displacement.
• Saab signs a 4,5 billion kronor deal with Saudi Arabia this fall. This specific deal was concerning advanced early warning radar systems. Military products were also sent in March, April and May, most of which were classified as combat material, which can include "missiles, rockets, torpedoes, bombs, etc." A subsidiary, Saab Bofors Dynamics, were earlier in the year reported to have sold anti-tank missiles to the same country. “We’re talking about one of the world’s worst dictatorships. We can’t send weapons to dictatorships that should be buying food instead,” Green Party defence policy spokesperson Peter Rådberg says.
• WikiLeaks publishes a document revealing Swedish weapons to be used in the war in Iraq, not only by Americans against the Iraqis, but also the other way around. WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange, was denied recidence permit in Sweden earlier this year.
• Furniture company IKEA are revealed to use child labour in the Philippines and Vietnam in 1997.
• Managers from Scania, a truck making company, are charged for violating United Nations sanctions for being part of bribing the former Iraqi regime of Sadam Hussein. The bribes paid reached millions of Swedish kronor.
• Atlas Copco Group is a mining equipment and services supplier that have been accused of repeatedly violating human and environmental rights and standards. "NGOs have charged that AGC has forcibly evicted, persecuted and killed local villagers, destroyed villages and destroyed water and agricultural land by discharging cyanide and other heavy metals." says OECD Watch.
• Clothing giant H&M use certified organic cotton that isn't actually organic, making the company guilty of fraud. They also got a lot of criticizm for discarding unused clothing instead of giving it away to charity.

You can continue to dig and search for corruption and violations and certainly find whatever you're looking for and I'm aware of that this small list is somewhat to pull information out of it's context. But my point with this is that even though something seems good, even perfect, there is always room for improvement. This applies to everything in life and I think it's a good rule to live by; don't ever take things for granted.

SD Uncovered

During the inauguration church service for the new Swedish Parliament, Sweden Democrats (SD) chose to leave when the bishop Eva Brunne (the first openly lesbian bishop in Sweden) in her sermon said that:

Last night thousands of people in Stockholm and in different part of the country gathered to manifest themselves. Shout out their abhorrence for that that makes a difference between people. That racism that says that you are not as much worth as me. You shall not have the same rights as me. You are not worthy of a life in freedom. And this of a single reason - that we happen to be born in different parts of the world. It is not worthy of a democracy as ours to make a difference between people. It is not possible for a person of faith to make a difference between people. It is not worthy people to make a difference between people. Here, it is not enough to give a few hundered people mandate to our cause. Here, we have a common commission. And if somebody silence or gets silenced in the fight for human value, we have to make sure that also the stones will shout. We do it with the help of God.

I thought it would take more than a day in the Parliament for SD to reveal their true identity, but I guess it's good that it happened sooner rather than later. A political party that has persisted on not being racists and hostile towards foreigners chose to leave the bishop's sermon (in the presence of the king, whom they wanted to honour) because she spoke of equality and anti-racism. They claim to be "deeply insulted" because they felt that the speach was aimed at them and therefore left the church in protest. Clever. I cannot think of a more obvious proof of the politics SD want to introduce into our society - a society that is rich because of our immigrants. If SD truly aren't racists, why walk out on a speach about anti-racism?

The reaction amongst other sermon participants were colourful to say the least.

KD:s party leader Göran Hägglund: "It's very unsuitable to do that. What the bishop was talking about was equality between all people and to break up and march out in protest like they did, shows their basic outlook."

M:s parliamental group leader Anna Kinberg Batra: "If you get that provoked when someone talks about equality between all people that they get up and leave, then you clearly show that you're an extreme party."

  

MP:s mouthpiece Maria Wetterstrand: "The feeling was that they marched out of church as if they were an army. It was like when Iran is provoked in the UN and walk out."

33 Reasons why SD are Racists

"Wierdo!"

People ask what makes Sweden Democtats (SD) a racist party. Here is a (by me) translated version of their 33 points about immigration that were adopted in May 2005 that might give you multiple answers to that question:

1.  Sweden shall, within EU, support the proposal "Safe haven", i.e. asylum reception in areas next to the outskirts of EU.
2.  Until a system with "Safe haven" has been consequently implemented, Sweden should cancel its connection to the New York-protocol from 1967. This would mean a return to the Geneva convention's original undertaking, namely to recieve refugees from other European countries.
3. Asylum application in Sweden shall be done at the border in connection with the entering, otherwise no handling or trial.
4. A satisfactory presentation of identity, otherwise no handling and trial of asylum application.
5. Mandatory tests concerning HIV-tests of those who apply for stay permit.
6. Mandatory tests concerning HIV and tuberculosis  and other epidemics when applying for stay permit in Sweden.
7. Asylum applicants that commit crimes - even less serious offences - shall immediately be deported without further trial of application.
8. Temporary stay permits (TUT) shall be a rule. Not permanent (PUT).
9. Immidiate enforce of rejection- and deport decisions.
10. Stop for parents' opportunities to drive children to apathy in order to obtain PUT. Such things should not be rewarded.
11. Abolish the opportunity to hand in a new application (NUT) after a lawful decision of deportation.
12. "Danish rules" for family reunion, 24 years of age and connection rules, own residence, stable economy, etc. This is important to prevent forced marriage.
13. No Swedish teaching before stay permit.
14. No optional settlement for asylum applicants.
15. No cash allowances for asylum applicants, only food and shelter.
16. No permission for regular work before stay permit. However duty to compensate for costs of stay.
17. Restrictiveness in granting Swedish citizenship.
18. Annullement of citizenship and stay permit at serious offence.
19. Deportation of foreign citizens at repeated offences.
20. Annullement of stay permit when showed that "the refugee" could visit the country from where he/she fled.
21. Repatriation of foreigners who subordinate Swedish law and authority decisions for Islamic decrees and traditions.
22. A more effective foreigner control within the country.
23. An increased border control, fine injunction for transport companies that don't adopt the visa obligation.
24. A larger restrictivity in granting a new passport for those who lost a previously issued document.
25. Ban against burka/niqab in public places.
26. No more mosques on Swedish ground.
27. Special support for students with immigrant backgrounds shall be conditioned. Also parents have to show an active engagement in learning the Swedish language.
28. No regular teaching in Arabic or other immigrant languages in school.
29. Prohibit to send children to Quran-schools in their home countries to "undo Swedishness".
30. Sanctions against parents to under aged repeated criminals.
31. No special treatment for individuals and groups on the sake of ethnicity.
32. With the exception of the primary information to asylum applicants the authorities' information and documents shall be supplied in Swedish.
33. Tear up the law that means a converted evidence production of evidence and that cause employers excessive fines based on stated "discrimination of immigrants".

Jimmie Åkesson about point 7: "If a 15 year old shoplifts, the whole family shall be deported."

Jimmie Åkesson about point 12: "Immigrants should not be allowed to get married until they're 24 years old."

Jimmie Åkesson about point 16: "They have to work for food and shelter. They can clean in the refugee shelter."

Jimmie Åkesson about point 21: "Foreigners shall be deported if they criticize Sweden."

Jimmie Åkesson about point 25: "Burka is a political uniform for islamism and shall be banned."

We Like Different

Swedish evening paper Aftonbladet runs a campaign called "We like different" as a stand against immigrant hostility. A racist party has entered the parliament and  the reaction and emotions around the country are sadness and rage, dissappointment, and for the Swedish Democrat's sympathizers - joy and malicious pleasure.

I take comfort in knowing that most people didn't vote for them, and that those who did were ignorant to its true purposes and opinions, and thought they were voting for something completely different than for what it really is.

This is not a disarable situation, not one bit, but I refuse to think of Sweden as a lost cause. This is when the fight starts. And as a friend said; let's not mourn and spread more hatred. Let's instead spread love and solidarity and show Sweden what it really means to be Swedish!

Election

The Swedish election 2010 is a special one. The race is between the right wing Moderate Party (M) and it's Allies (a cooperation with the Centre Party (C), the Liberal Party (FP) and the Christian Democrats (KD)) and the Left Party and it's cooperation program the Red-Greens (the Left Party, the Green Party and the Social Democratic Party). About to enter the Parliament is the Swedish Democrats (SD), a "nationalistic democratic" party (according to themselves) with controversial opinions about immigrants and islam. It is the 19th of September and the polling stations close at 8PM. This is my report about the waiting for the results, and the feelings and reactions right after the results have been announced.

A few days ago, a Swedish blogger told her moving story about her sick mother who is being denied sickness benifits and is being forced to sell her home and is expected to start working although numerous doctors have certified that the woman is in no shape to work ever again. The story reached media within hours and reporters have tried to get a comment from the present prime minister, Fredrik Reinfeldt (M), in vain. The story of "how a young woman's blog post is changing the Swedish elections" have reached tens of thousands of readers and have been referred to by a Washington Post blogger. The story is unfortunately one of many. My own mother is in a similar situation, although not as bad as the mother in this story. Days before the election, a young woman's story, might be decisive for the results. It gives me great hope, getting proof that a single person can change the world.

I am no secretive Swede and hides my opinions. I'm not sure why Swedes don't want to tell what they're voting for. I'm proud to say that I'm voting green this year.

The tension rises; will Sweden get its first female prime minister, the Social Democrat's Mona Sahlin, or will Fredrik Reinfeldt be the first non-Socialist prime minister to stay for two election periods?

4 PM   It just stopped raining and I'm putting the voting paper in my handbag and leaves for the polling station at the local upper level of compulsory school. My belly is tingling and I can't help but feeling nervous. It feels like this election is more important than any election I can remember. It is time to make Sweden humane again, and I will be part of that happening.

5 PM  Me and baby brother Jimmy went to place our votes together. It was with mixed feelings that I saw the vote applications of the minor parties (Swedish Democrats, Feminist Initiative and Pirate Party) next to the major ones. Democracy is the core of freedom and welfare, but it's scary knowing that something so good can lead to improved influence for hateful racists. Speaking of which, if you make a google search, the first hit on the list will now be http://www.sverigedemokraterna.de/, an anti-Swedish Democrats information page. Go internet acivism!

5.30 PM  Two and a half hour until the polling stations close. The election debate on Swedish TV4 starts an hour prior to the closing. According to the news, 3,9 million people that are authorized to vote are expected to vote. Nervous!

8 PM  The polling stations are closed and Swedish Television (SVT) report an initial result from a survey made in some 130 polling stations around the country. The Allies report to lead with 49,1 % against the Red-greens' 45,1 %. Swedish Democrats are expected to get around 4,6 % of the votes, meaning that they will most likely enter the Parliament. The final results will take another couple of hours and I'll keep my fingers crossed that the luck will change! Time to put mini brother Anton to bed.

10 PM  According to counted districts; the Moderates get 172 mandates, the Social Democrates 157 and the Swedish Democrates 20. There are mixed emotions to this and the Red-greens are still hoping for a win although it doesn't look like it at the moment. 4429 out of 5668 districts have been counted so far.

11 PM  I'm crying for Sweden. For all the people that SD wish wouldn't be here and for all those who wouldn't be allowed to seek refuge here if they have a say. I'm crying for all the sick people that will continue to be kicked out to work, that have a time limit for their ilness' and have all their dignity taken away from them. I'm crying and I'm ashamed. I cannot believe that Sweden will have a racist party in the Parliament, that we have allowed hatred to enter our society to this degree. God, I hate this.

12 AM  A right-wing minority government rule is taking place and community's vulnerable groups are mourning. We are writing a dirty chapter in our history and I will have a hard time explaining it to my future children. The Red-greens are planning to continue their cooperation and all party leaders within the program are stating that they will refuse all cooperation with a racist party. I salute them and support their continued work against oppression and for solidarity, justice and all people's equal value. Fredrik Reinfeldt says in his speach to his party friends that they will not rule with - or be dependant of - the support of SD. That remains to be seen.

I'm genuinely mourning, for all those (including me) that will have to pay for the sake of a thick non-Socialist wallet. I'm sorry, all of you, that this is happening. To all immigrants, and future immigrants: please do not think that this is the voice of all Swedes. Many of us remain, that will continue to fight for solidarity.

The Swedish Horror Election

"2 mg reliefs muslim hatred & islam phobia"

A couple of more days remain until the Swedish scandal election and I'm starting to feel like I'm in part of something like The Truman Show. For those who don't know; Sweden is about to write a dirty chapter in its politics history. Sverigedemokraterna (SD), or the Swedish Democrats, is a minor "national democratic" (according to themselves) party with controversial, to say the least, opinions about immigration. It's a one matter party that masks its intentions with 101 rethorics and tactics to frighten people into voting for them. According to Jimmy Åkesson, SD:s most ignorant party leader, means that islam is Sweden's biggest threat. He claims that Sweden is loosing its identity because of a "islamation" of society, where muslims are intentionally working on "taking over" Sweden and the rest of the western world.

On a question if wearing a scarf makes you less Swedish, Åkesson replies that that is up to that person - and the people around her - to decide, but yes, it's possible that she looses a bit of her "Swedishness". I wear a scarf most days, although not of religious reasons. I grew up in Sweden. My last name ends with -son and I celebrate Midsummer every year. A piece of fabric on my head doesn't make me less Swedish, for whatever reason I wear it, does it?

The reason to why SD wants a hugely restricted immigration politics, is (they say) the economy. They are ignorant to the research stating the profits that immigrants bring Sweden. The second reason is criminality. According to the party, immigrants are over represented in criminality registers. This is also a lie, and all opposing parties that have tried to reason with them have put forward statistics proving the opposite, but they try to avoid even this with vague responses like "I haven't looked into this specific statistics, so I cannot comment on that". Naturally, the frightening tactics they use, draw a lot of people that aren't very initiated in politics and therefore fall for simple, rediculous, rethorics.

Recent opinion pools indicate that SD will reach the four percent limit to enter the Parliament and it genuinely scares me knowing that my fellow compatriots - my neighbors - are letting this happen. It is freightening to see the similarities to the racial politics that shadows the 30's and onward in Sweden. Last week a SD Parliament candidate said that immigrants have an "aggressive gene". Does that sound familiar? It should; Hitler was saying similar things. Only difference is that for him jews was the focus group and for SD it's muslims. Not surprisingly, Åkesson doesn't have to say much about his fellow party member's statement and calls it a mere trifle.

To make things worse, SD are trying (although not very hard) to mask its real intentions in promises of a more worthy life for the "real" Swedes, particulary the elder ones. But not even their other ideas of change makes much sense. They want to lower the minimum age for penalty from 15 to 12, something that shows ignorance about criminality. They want to reintroduce the administration of corporal punishment and imagine to send Swedish prisoners to Russian prisons if there isn't enough room in Swedish ones.

Today I had a discussion with a social democratic party worker, and she assured me that although they would be forced to have debates with SD, they would never cooperate with them. That gave me some hope, that even if the nightmare would come true, and SD would really enter the Parliament, our leaders will be sensible enough to realize that a party with dangerous ideas like them, can never get enough power to actually change something.

I'm ashamed of what's happening, and it saddens me beyond anything right now that my beloved Sweden are getting more and more foreigner hostile. SD is contradicting human rights, the equality of all humans. In my opinion, everyone is equal, meaning that those who needs to flee their home country for whatever reason, should be welcomed with open arms and treated with repect and dignity, just as they would do the same to us. I have lived in developing countries, among muslims and where I was the only western person. I got treated with nothing but respect, even when my beliefs and opinions were completely different from theirs.

Yes, I am upset and I felt that I had to put my thoughts into words. Maybe I can reach out to a person or two, and get them to be extra consequent in this election. It's not right to make a protest vote, for whatever reason. You may have bad experiences with immigrants, or maybe you have something personal against different religions, but that is not a reason to encourage hate, hostility and oppression.