“This is sad. I wasn’t prepared for something like this to happen in our society, especially by an organisation which helps people in need. It hasn’t mattered who the distressed are or where they come from; but now it does,” said Amal Tamimi, the manager of Iceland’s House of Equal Rights.
Tamimi was talking about Fjolsylduhjalp (Icelandic Family Help), the charity which decided this week to start forcing Icelanders and Foreigners to stand in different queues when waiting for much needed weekly food aid. The Icelanders waiting in line will have priority.
“I find this unbelievable. I simply don’t believe it. Especially at a time when emphasis is being placed on everybody standing together to rebuild society,” Tamimi told DV.
She added that Fjolskylduhjalp’s most uncharitable decision seems to be an isolated incident. “I don’t feel that this reflects the nation as a whole. In this case we are talking about the decision of an individual (Asgerdur Jona Flosadottir) under a lot of pressure who came to a strange decision,” Tamimi said and asked: “Do we want to be like apartheid South Africa? That should naturally never happen in Iceland, of course not.”
Flosadottir is a prominent member of the right-wing Liberal Party, which yesterday publicly distanced itself from Fjolskyldahjalp’s actions.
Thank you Iceland. I am very happy that you are keeping priorities. Never forget you are one family in iceland. Do not let this multicultural crap brainwash your people. Yahweh bless!
I know I am not speaking literally to a country, but you get my figurative language.
As an American I’d like to welcome Iceland into the 21st Century.
Good luck and God bless you all
I think a part of the problem here is pride, a very large part of Icelanders would rather jump off a cliff than stand in line waiting for charity,
This disaster is different from all the volcano eruptions, floods, avalances, earthquakes, storms and the stuff we are used to because this is man made, we dont fully understand what happened or the size and structure of the damage it is harder to get everyone to stick together like we always have done in the past, there is a problem with organizing help, not just this, also for people who could easily avoid bankruptcy, but wont, because the government is not responding fast enough to the crisis, unfortunetly no other politicans exist in Iceland who could do any better.
Click on Scunnert and you will get some idea where he is coming from. No, in civilized countries destitute foreigners are not deported as long as they are in that country legally.
Why are foreign nationals in Iceland begging for charity? Surely they should be going home if they can’t provide for themselves? Icelanders taking care of their own first is somehow racist? Give me a break. In most countries destitute foreigners are deported.
@ Mladen Hosi
I hate hackers and spies as much as anyone; but there’s nothing wrong with Googling someone’s name, right?
The only Mladen Hosi I could find easily on Google linked to a Facebook page. Mladen sensibly does not share all of his information with strangers, something we should all try not to do.
However, it did say that Mladen has an Icelandic wife and that a large majority of his Facebook friends also have VERY Icelandic sounding names.
Now I’m not suggesting that you are this same Mladen Hosi; but you have to admit it is interesting, no?
next step: ask for geneological tree and assign priorities according to when the first ancestor went to Iceland…
Einstein once said that only two things were infinite: human stupidity and the universe, but he wasn’t sure for the universe…
What a surprise that foreigners are treated as second class citizens in Iceland…..I was a foreigner (Australian) who lived there for 3 years. Never in my many travels around the world have I ever experienced such a self obsessed, ignorant, and arrogant society who are controlled by a few for the befefit of the few. Thank god I could leave…think ‘we’ as foreigners will have a chance to treat them as they have treated us when they come begging for money….answer will be £”$%&^*…
I was thinking of going to Iceland this summer because of direct flights and interesting scenery. But I’m mostly of Polish descent, so I’d better stay away.
I have to agree with another poster (Wally) that Icelanders don’t know how to form queues — even if their lives depended on them. So I’m not surprised that some Icelanders show up, see a QUEUE and get discouraged and leave. And some might just be embarrassed to be seen in a queue with a bunch of [gasp] foreigners. Not everyone here is a racist, but xenophobia is alive and well just like in every other European country.
“I really like how people without jobs in Iceland still have a nice car and smoking( of course not all!!) But again it was foreigners what I saw yesterday without job talking in front of nice WV!”
Have you seen Icelanders in DK living on the state?
Been denied to anyone the right of being assisted? Is Mrs Flosadottir suspected and investigated of having violated any law on racial discrimination by police or by some court? If not, case closed.
Before the elderly, then women with children, then the other Icelanders and finally the guests: i don’t find it discriminatory at all.And i myself am an utlendingur.
well Tamini should first resign!!!! I do not like people like this because if you take a foreigner to be like in some organization for foreigners then of course all is about racism! Personally I do not like this Tamini gang in Iceland, spreading hate against Israel here too! Tamini should calm down!
In my opinion even I am foreigner it can be true that many foreigners send money and then come to get something more. I really like how people without jobs in Iceland still have a nice car and smoking( of course not all!!) But again it was foreigners what I saw yesterday without job talking in front of nice WV!
It is like sad to make two lines like this but there should be made some different rules, just people with real problem should get help! Not people who do not fit for unemployemnt support or are not registred or whatever.
The story above does have the words, iceland and racist, and that is more than enough to proof that all icelanders are racists.
It is amazing that the people with “the purest gene pool on earth” can look down on others… don’t you people understand what that really says about you?
are you sure this just isn’t in response to the absolute inability of Icelandic people to form a queue?
RACISM!!! The sky is falling!!! So…. when did Icelanders become their own race?? And what RACE is non-Icelandic people. Nationalist maybe. Xenophobic most likely. RACIST not on this. Plus good on them for trying to take care of their own BEFORE(not to the exclusion of) help others. I wish more charitable NGOs would do this.
Is this Flosadottir going to step down? One thing amazes me most is in Iceland people like this will remain in their post after having clearly shown their unfitness and incompetence.
Lynch all nationalists.
Not joking.
I understand the good intentions behind giving priority to older Icelandic people. However, there were also people who thought Hitler had good intentions and that separating blacks and whites was of good intentions. Iceland has had a large increase in emigration. If it wasn´t for the foreigners coming in it would be much larger. Icelanders want foreign products, they want foreign money to be spent here but then they don´t want foreigners taking from icelandic priority. You have to give if you want to take. I´m sure this woman would have easily taken money offered by foreigners but she wouldn´t be willing to treat the needy foreigners equally. That´s just how I look at it. We as a society I feel with the history of discrimination should know better by now that it doesn´t help any situations.
More on it over on the Grapevine.
Last year Fjölskylduhjálp made the news for sending 30 Poles to the back of the line so that they could help “single mothers” first. Somehow that got lost in the hubbub. Forgotten, and nothing happened. And now they’re back. This morning’s Fréttablaðið revealed that indigenous Icelanders get preferential treatment at Fjölskylduhjálp – as of yesterday there are two separate queues. A quick service queue for Icelanders and another slower one for foreigners.
http://grapevine.is/Home/ReadArticle/Segregating-the-poor
http://www.grapevine.is/News/ReadArticle/Charity-Gives-Priority-to-Icelanders-Over-Foreigners
I especially liked Flosadottir’s comment, “because of the demand of foreigners, many of whom only have a residence permit and some of whom don’t even receive welfare benefits.”
Classy.
We have to remember, this is a human being crisis and not just the icelanders him selfs,if we dont fight all together theres no the way to safe Iceland. There are a lot of foreigners who help the economy by working and also giving money to charities.
We all live here, we all have the same rights.
This is a shame!!
This is so sad because Fjolskylduhjalp’s suppose to help people without seeing weather you are Icelanders or foreigner, and the thing is this woman who running this Fjolskylduhjalp’s is not fair at all. I think Kirkjuhjalp is better. The idea is, to help people who needs to be help, not for the publicity. It is a racism, when you devided into twi like that! For the foreigner, for me personaly, I rather to go to another place than to Fjolskylduhjalp’s, I guess as a foreigner, we still have pride and dignity!
Have a nice weekend and be strong!
This is not racism. This is helping older people which have already a problem begging for food.
Tamimi has to come with a solution instead screaming the populair words: Racism and apartheid to get the attention.
There is for sure a better solution, but someone has to come with that and make sure that works, as nobody want to feed the rich.
People who has a job and are not registrated as having financial problems stand in line. This are mainly foreigners who most likely also sent money to their home countries.
Flosadottir has a wider support amoung Icelandic people for her action as Tamini might think.
I am glad you find this “unbelievable”. However, I am not shocked.
Regards,
A foreigner living in Iceland
This was always going to happen when times get tough in Iceland. In Australia they consider it a problem when studies shown 1 in 10 people believe some races superior to other, in Western Europe that general estimate is 3 in 10, in Iceland I would guess the figure is well over 5.
[…] Continued here: Icelandic charity sees racism as solution to its problems … […]
Sad and funny. I wonder what these people think of themselves. Superior Viking race? Well, doesn’t look like that at present. A bunch of arrogant people who do not respect their debt obligations being led by a bunch of crooks. And they are discriminating between Icelanders and non-Icelanders. Tell us you can survive on our own. You have every right to be isolated if you wish to but don’t ask for foreign help (money!!!) any more. It is well understood that the whole country will go bankrupt and the Vikings will die of starvation if they don’t get support from outside. And they are discriminating between Icelanders and outsiders. Unbelievable!!! Good help Icelanders!!!
She added that Fjolskylduhjalp’s most uncharitable decision seems to be an isolated incident.
Seems to be pretty endemic. This one relates to another charity (The other? How many such charities are there in Iceland?), the Mæðrastyrksnefnd:
http://icelandweatherreport.com/2010/02/we-dont-speak-to-the-foreign-press.html
See especially the comment by Pauline. Anecdotal, naturally, but it has the ring of truth.