Kenneth Sikorski

Last updated
Kenneth Sikorski
Born1959or1960(age 64–65)
United States
NationalityFinnish
OccupationBlogger
Known forTundra Tabloids blog

Kenneth Sikorski (born 1959or1960), [1] writing as KGS, [2] is an American-born Finnish blogger. Sikorski has been noted as the editor of the news blog Tundra Tabloids, which has been affiliated with the pro-Israeli counter-jihad movement. [2] [3]

Contents

Activities

Sikorski was born in the United States, where he lived until moving to Finland in 1987. [4] A retired paper industry machinist, [1] he formerly ran the blogs Bad News from Finland and Bad News from Sweden until 2008 [2] as part of an international network of "bad news" bloggers, [1] before he founded Tundra Tabloids, a pro-Israel [5] [6] counter-jihad blog. [2] [3] The website states to be "keeping tabs on the most outrageous happenings in the Middle East, Islamist extremism and Islamist hegemony in Scandinavia and on the political correctness that allows them to flourish". [7] It has been described by The Jerusalem Post as a "media watchdog site", [8] and a "blog that monitors anti-Israeli sentiments in the Finnish media and blogosphere". [9]

Sikorski is based in Helsinki, and has been noted as a writer on radical Islam and antisemitism in Finland. [10] According to scholar of antisemitism, Manfred Gerstenfeld, writing for Israel National News , without Sikorski's blog "hardly anything regarding Finnish anti-Israelism and anti-Semitism would be known abroad". [4] Sikorski has close contacts with the blog Gates of Vienna and its editor Edward S. May, for which he has translated texts from Finnish to English, and has participated in several of the international counter-jihad conferences. [2] He has also written for the Gatestone Institute. [10]

In 2010, Sikorski exposed a blog post by the head of Finland's Amnesty International branch, Frank Johansson, which termed Israel a "scum state". [9] [11] The post was removed following the exposure, [8] but Johansson retained his job at the organisation. [12] In 2012, Tundra Tabloids translated a television interview with Pertti Salolainen, Finland's vice chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, in which Salonainen stated that American Jews "hold vast control over the wealth and media in the United States". [12] In 2013, Sikorski gained media attention for translating a Dutch television interview with Turkish Muslim youth who praised Hitler for killing Jews. [13]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carlos Latuff</span> Brazilian political cartoonist (born 1968)

Carlos Latuff is a Brazilian political cartoonist. His work deals with themes such as anti-Western sentiment, anti-capitalism, and opposition to U.S. military intervention in foreign countries. He is best-known for his images depicting the Israeli–Palestinian conflict and the Arab Spring.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs</span> Israeli political think tank

The Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs (JCPA) is an Israeli think tank specializing in public diplomacy and foreign policy founded in 1976. Describing itself on its website as "The Global Embassy for Israel", it publishes the biennial journal Jewish Political Studies Review alongside other content.

Manfred Gerstenfeld was an Austrian-born Israeli author and chairman of the steering committee of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs. He founded and directed the center's post-Holocaust and anti-Semitism program.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Robert S. Wistrich</span> Professor at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (1945–2015)

Robert Solomon Wistrich was a scholar of antisemitism, considered one of the world's foremost authorities on antisemitism.

Antisemitic tropes, also known as antisemitic canards or antisemitic libels, are "sensational reports, misrepresentations or fabrications" about Jews as an ethnicity or Judaism as a religion.

Holocaust trivialization refers to any comparison or analogy that diminishes the scale and severity of the atrocities committed by Nazi Germany during the Holocaust. The Wiesel Commission defined trivialization as the abusive use of comparisons with the aim of minimizing the Holocaust and banalizing its atrocities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the Jews in Qatar</span>

The history of the Jews in Qatar is relatively limited unlike some of the neighboring countries in the Gulf of Persia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jewdas</span> Anti-Zionist Jewish organisation

Jewdas is a Jewish diaspora group based in London. It describes itself as a "radical Jewish diaspora group" and is described by media as far-left and anti-Zionist. It has a satirical-communal website and stages events in London and elsewhere.

Antisemitism in Norway refers to antisemitic incidents and attitudes encountered by Jews, either individually or collectively, in Norway. The mainstream Norwegian political environment has strongly adopted a platform that rejects antisemitism. However, individuals may privately hold antisemitic views. Currently, there are about 1,400 Jews in Norway, in a population of 5.3 million.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raphael Shore</span> Israeli Canadian film writer and producer

Raphael Shore is a Canadian-Israeli film writer, producer, author and rabbi. He is the founder of OpenDor Media, a Jewish educational organization, and Clarion Project, a nonprofit organization "dedicated to educating the public about the threats of Islamist extremism and providing a platform for moderate Muslim voices."

Evelyn Hecht-Galinski is a German activist, an outspoken critic of Israel's policies towards Palestinians and a member of the group European Jews for a Just Peace. She is a daughter of Heinz Galinski, a former president of the Central Council of Jews in Germany.

Antisemitic incidents escalated worldwide in frequency and intensity during the Gaza War, and were widely considered to be a wave of reprisal attacks in response to the conflict.

Nidra Poller is an American author, novelist, translator and writer who has lived in Paris since 1972. In later years, she has also been a reporter and the Paris editor for Pajamas Media.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pamela Geller</span> American activist, blogger, commentator

Pamela Geller is an American anti-Muslim, far-right political activist, blogger and commentator. Geller promoted birther conspiracy theories about President Barack Obama, saying that he was born in Kenya and that he is a Muslim.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Criticism of Israel</span> Disapproval towards the Israeli government

Criticism of Israel is a subject of journalistic and scholarly commentary and research within the scope of international relations theory, expressed in terms of political science. Israel has faced international criticism since its establishment in 1948 relating to a variety of issues, many of which are centered around human rights violations in its occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tawhid al-Jihad (Gaza Strip)</span> Sunni Islamist Palestinian group

Jahafil Al-Tawhid Wal-Jihad fi Filastin was a Sunni Islamist Palestinian group in the Gaza Strip and the Sinai peninsula. The establishment of the group was publicly announced on 6 November 2008, with communiqués vowing loyalty to al-Qaeda, after having "received the messages of Osama bin Laden and Ayman Al-Zawahiri." Various forms of the "Tawhid al-Jihad" label have appeared in relation to developments in the Gaza Strip. The size of the group is not publicly known. The group have no reported attack since 2012 and is considered as defunct.

Counter-jihad, also known as the counter-jihad movement, is a self-titled political current loosely consisting of anti-Muslim authors, bloggers, think tanks, street movements and so on linked by beliefs that view Islam not as a religion but as an ideology that constitutes an existential threat to Western civilization. Consequently, counter-jihadists consider all Muslims as a potential threat, especially when they are already living within Western boundaries. Western Muslims accordingly are portrayed as a "fifth column", collectively seeking to destabilize Western nations' identity and values for the benefit of an international Islamic movement intent on the establishment of a caliphate in Western countries. The counter-jihad movement has been variously described as anti-Islamic, Islamophobic, inciting hatred against Muslims, and far-right. Influential figures in the movement include the bloggers Pamela Geller and Robert Spencer in the US, and Geert Wilders and Tommy Robinson in Europe.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Progressive Jewish Thought and the New Anti-Semitism</span> Essay

" 'Progressive' Jewish Thought and the New Anti-Semitism" is a 2006 essay written by Alvin Hirsch Rosenfeld, director of Indiana University's Center for the Study of Contemporary Antisemitism and professor of English and Jewish Studies. It was published by the American Jewish Committee (AJC) with an introduction by AJC executive director David A. Harris. The essay claims that a "number of Jews, through their speaking and writing, are feeding a rise in virulent antisemitism by questioning whether Israel should even exist".

<i>Crossing the Line 2: The New Face of Anti-Semitism on Campus</i> 2015 American film

Crossing the Line 2: The New Face of Anti-Semitism on Campus is a 2015 film which documents how a growing number of anti-Israel demonstrations on U.S. campuses also include anti-Semitic messaging. The filmmakers interviewed pro-Israel college students, both Jewish and non-Jewish, who say that they feel increasingly intimidated to express their support for Israel on campus.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Campaign Against Antisemitism</span> British non-governmental organisation

Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA) is a British non-governmental organisation established in August 2014 by members of the Anglo-Jewish community. It conducts litigation, runs awareness-raising campaigns, organises rallies and petitions, provides education on antisemitism and publishes research.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Liphshiz, Cnaan (1 February 2008). "Bad News Bloggers Bid to Beat Press Bias". Haaretz. Appearing patriotic seems to be of little concern to Kenneth Sikorski, a Finnish non-Jew who runs both Bad News from Finland and Bad News from Sweden. "Even harsh criticism does not generally register as unpatriotic in Scandinavia," says the 48-year-old retired paper industry machinist. Sikorski, who was born in the U.S. and immigrated to Finland 20 years ago, has been monitoring the media for years.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Hannus, Martha (2012). Counterjihadrörelsen– en del av den antimuslimska miljön (PDF) (in Swedish). Expo Research. pp. 28, 92. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 December 2024.
  3. 1 2 Pertwee, Ed (October 2017). 'Green Crescent, Crimson Cross': The Transatlantic 'Counterjihad' and the New Political Theology (PDF). London School of Economics. p. 268. doi:10.21953/lse.xx0e1p4w3f3y.
  4. 1 2 Gerstenfeld, Manfred (3 July 2013). "Finland Has Its Own Anti-Semitism". Israel National News.
  5. "Legal action over Finnish stores' 'Zionists' puppet' article". The Times of Israel. 19 January 2013.
  6. Marcus, Lori Lowenthal (10 September 2014). "Israeli Journalist Amira Hass Bashes Israel at Government-Funded 'Peace Forum' in Finland". Jewish Press.
  7. Dervin, Fred (2016). "How to Work with Research Participants: The Researcher's Role". In Hua, Zhu (ed.). Research Methods in Intercultural Communication: A Practical Guide. John Wiley & Sons. p. 137. ISBN   9781118837467.
  8. 1 2 Weinthal, Benjamin (26 August 2010). "'Israel is a scum state' removed from Finnish paper's site". The Jerusalem Post.
  9. 1 2 Weinthal, Benjamin (24 August 2010). "Amnesty Int'l Finland: Israel scum state". The Jerusalem Post.
  10. 1 2 Weinthal, Benjamin (2 May 2019). "Finnish MP under fire for comparing Israel to ISIS". The Jerusalem Post.
  11. "Finland's Amnesty head calls Israel 'punk state'". Jewish Journal. 24 August 2010.
  12. 1 2 Weinthal, Benjamin (1 December 2012). "Finnish politician: Jews control money, media in US". The Jerusalem Post.
  13. Marcus, Lori Lowenthal (7 March 2013). "Turkish Youth in Holland: Hitler Should Have Killed All the Jews". Jewish Press.