Wiesenthal Centre to Finnish Centre Party: “Reconsider Hussein’s MP Candidacy in View of His Personal Political Agenda in Attacking Israel Through Your Party Tribune.”

SIMON WIESENTHAL CENTRE-EUROPE

Tel: +33(0)1 47 23 76 37

Fax: +33(0)1 47 20 84 01

Mail: csweurope@gmail.com

“If Mr. Hussein is elected, your Parliamentary debates will be subject to a rhetoric that can only contribute to Jewish insecurity in Finland and its Nordic neighbours.”

Paris

In a letter to Finnish Centre Party Chairman, Juha Sipila, the Simon Wiesenthal Centre Director for International Relations, Dr. Shimon Samuels, expressed “shock at a campaign speech by yourParty’s Youth Section Chairman, Abdirahim Hussein Mohamad, that accuses Israel for 'the last few years brutal actions, in which children, women and the elderly have been systematicallymurdered'.”

The letter continued, “apparently, Mr. Hussein has an assured place, with the 13th slot on your Party list for the forthcoming 19 April Parliamentary elections. Is his campaign so dependent ondefaming the Jewish State? How come there is no word of Israel’s unprecedented measures to warn civilians to evacuate zones of conflict in Gaza, of Hamas’ civilian human shield policy, of itsraining rockets continuously on Israeli civilian targets, of the ever more barbaric actions against Muslims by Syria’s President and ISIS mass murder, or even the Iranian mayhem and nuclearthreat to the Middle East and beyond?”

The Centre pointed to the reported history of the Finnish Centre Party, as “itself worthy of consideration:

- The 1930’s claim to represent ‘the real Finland,’ actively supporting ‘Finnicization’ to suppress the rights of the Swedish minority

- Its late 1930's favour for Finland’s alliance with Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union, in the so-called 'Continuation War' of 1940-41

- Its government role as the principal vector for Soviet Russia in post-war Europe.”

Samuels lamented, "your Party has come so far, since those days, in championing Western values on behalf of all Finland's communities. Why should its election campaign now be marked bypropaganda considered by Jews as a blood libel?"

The letter emphasized to the Chairman, “Your Party has legitimate concerns regarding the European Union, the euro, the Greek bailout. If, however, Mr. Hussein is elected, your Parliamentarydebates will be subject to a rhetoric that can only contribute to the insecurity of Jews in Finland and its Nordic neighbours.”

We therefore urge you to reconsider the MP candidacy of Mr. Hussein in view of his personal political agenda in attacking Israel through the tribune of your Party,” concluded Samuels.

For further information, please contact Shimon Samuels at +33 609 7701 58, join the Center on Facebook, www.facebook.com/simonwiesenthalcenter, orfollow @simonwiesenthal for news updates sent direct to your Twitter feed.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations with over 400,000 member families in the United States. It is an NGO at international agenciesincluding the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the OAS, the Council of Europe and the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino).