Reykjavík Grapevine - 14.07.2006, Síða 7

Paul Nikolov has been a writer for the
Reykjavík Grapevine for coming up on three
years. This July, he finishes his contract with
the Grapevine, and seems to be transitioning
into politics with his New Icelander Party,
focused on immgrant rights and issues.
/// To begin with, we could file this under
funny things that happened while the editor
was on vacation. The star journalist formed
a political party. The Grapevine has been
accused of propaganda once before, but now
they may have a point. Are we now a political
party mouthpiece, like Viðskiptablaðið or
the many papers in Iceland?
Paul: I had pitched the idea to the acting
editor, and he said he loved it, send it on. It
was my impression that he thought it was
a newsworthy idea. And apparently he was
right. Since then, all the television shows and
newspapers have contacted me for some sort
of follow up.
/// We should talk about the news coverage,
but first, let’s get back to party papers. For a
year, we attacked papers with a bias towards
one political party. Are we an Immigrant’s
Party paper now? What is the difference
between the editorial decisions and the party
decisions?
- The Grapevine has an audience that is
comprised pretty evenly between Icelanders,
tourists and immigrants. To some extent, we
gear content toward our readers. However, the
Grapevine has been pretty even-handed to the
political parties.
/// Not too even towards the Progressive
Party, maybe.
- No. No, maybe not. But then again, there
was a counterbalance there. We had praised
earlier on, and we swung back the other way
on that party. So in the long run, we were
even there, too.
/// So we’re definitely not a party paper. I’m
interviewing you, instead of you writing an
opinion column, to demonstrate this, for
example.
- Right.
/// Okay, so now we should talk about living
out a lot of immigrants’ dream, in a way. You
said you were starting a political party, and
the media here responded. We got phone
calls and emails constantly regarding your
column. How has that experience been, and
can you evaluate the different coverage?
- I’ve spoken with all the newspapers, the
RÚV and NFS television stations, and the
Útvarp Saga and Ríkisútvarpið radio stations,
and the attitude has generally been really
positive. By and large people are curious. A lot
of people have gone out of their way to give
positive coverage to this party.
/// Outside of the established media, how
has the discussion gone? Start with constitu-
ents, people who may campaign or work for
your party. What is the typical background?
- I have not done any active recruiting. But
just having the word out there. We have a blog
now, (newicelandersparty.blogspot.com), and
we’ll have a website soon that will hopefully
have the domain name FNI.is.
///Then who has responded?
- So far a lot of people have come forward
with a positive tone. They cover a lot of
ground. As you can imagine, most are immi-
grants, but many are European, and a lot from
Scandinavian countries, which is interesting
because they have a lot of rights and privileges
that non-Europeans don’t have.
/// One thing that we talk about in this
magazine is that, even if Europeans have
more rights, we all end up in the same bin,
all foreigners have to struggle here. What
kind of numbers are we talking about?
- I’ve heard from about 40 people within the
past few days, some of whom
represent larger groups, and have been in
contact with them.
/// So you’re talking 40 co-organisers,
40 people who might form the party, you
haven’t started a petition or anything.
- No, not yet.
/// No Icelanders yet?
- No, but I’ve received some interesting com-
ments from Icelanders abroad.
/// I’ve heard from Icelanders. Positive reac-
tions, though a little confused as to whether
this was our party or yours.
- The only Icelandic reaction I’ve received by
email has been one gentleman forwarding on
anti-Muslim propaganda. But Icelanders on
the street have been positive. I ran into Sjón a
couple days ago, and he not only expressed his
support for the idea, but offered to help.
/// It might be a good idea to make some
room for him. Nordic Prize winning Icelan-
dic novelists are good draws, I think.
- Yeah, I might want to pencil him in.
/// That would get a reac-Sjón. Ahem.
- But anyway, I think this means that the
goals are getting out, and they should appeal
to Icelanders. We are trying to help with as-
similation. I believe Iceland could learn from
European countries who were in the same
situation decades ago, such as Denmark or the
Netherlands, where they looked at immigrants
solely as a source of cheap labour. And then
they end up becoming marginalised and ghet-
toized, leading to a degree of social unrest that
exists there today.
/// I see that, that government policy should
change, and that there are obvious examples.
But there is something else, by stepping out
and forming a party. That, I think, is sym-
bolically important. What has bothered me
since the Red Cross poll in 2003, is the idea
that 20% of young Icelanders believe for-
eigners living here shouldn’t have the same
rights as them. There is no better indication
of what’s being talked about in the homes,
than to hear the opinions of children. In
my opinion, running a party based solely on
the idea that these regressive attitudes have
to change is as important as, for example,
forming a Women’s Party was important
to put attention on modernizing attitudes
towards gender issues. We’re talking about a
country that wants to be progressive towards
European ideals, as indicated by the gay
rights legislation.
- That was successful.
/// Yeah, but if one of the partners in a gay
union was under 24 and foreign, for exam-
ple, it wouldn’t be a real union, because of
the anti-immigration laws they passed here
in 2003. What I find alarming in the days
since you started the party is the blogging
and website discussion. As you said, there
have been anti-Muslim comments. There
has been an argument that an immigration
party is anti-assimilation in its very title. In
the same way, was the Women’s Party anti-
women?
- There is a bit of false logic there. A lot of
people are expressing fears and concerns about
the party without even reading the platform.
A lot of nationalist ideas brought up by our
opponents are the same ideas that have been
brought up by us: that immigrants need to be
further integrated into Icelandic society.
/// You’re proud of having nationalist ideas?
- No. But one of the largest things we’re
fighting for is to increase the chances to learn
Icelandic language and to learn the history
and culture of the country.
/// Which brings us to the platform. I think
this platform is fundamentally conservative.
In fact, reading it, I thought it was embar-
rassing for Iceland that a party would have
to form just to allow the government to meet
such basic functions. We have a government
that requires Icelandic language lessons,
then doesn’t offer classes, and, when it does,
puts exorbitant prices on them. I know this,
of course, having followed the rules and
taken 145 hours of classes, spending a lot,
but learning very little. You aren’t asking
for groundbreaking stuff. You aren’t even
asking for the parliament to repeal its racist
2003 immigration law that discounts mar-
riage under the age of 24 if a foreigner is
involved.
- What’s the most surprising to me is that
nobody has brought up the ideas I have before.
I was asked by Fréttablaðið, for example, do
you think this party could be more appealing
to people on the left or on the right. And I
don’t think we’ve stated anything that would
qualify us as either.
/// No, to me, I haven’t seen anything on the
left. You’re so far at the beginning. You’re
asking, essentially, to allow foreigners to
obey the law. Then, there are many changes
that foreigners see as necessary that you
haven’t mentioned.
- There are specific reasons for that. When
I announced the party, I thought we were run-
ning in the 2010 municipal elections. The city
does not control national law. However, since
we have decided to go for the 2007 parliamen-
tary elections, our platform can change.
Grapevine: Beyond the language require-
ment, you ask for the government to obey
European law. Now, you don’t say it that way,
but you’re saying to simply treat religions
outside of the state religion, Lutheranism,
equally. Again, this is a step that most of us
would assume the country would have taken
in 1950.
Paul: I think this is something that immi-
grants and Icelanders alike would like to see,
that everyone is treated the same, and that
immigrants are given a chance to integrate.
I’m not asking for the moon.
/// Technical question. When you’re inter-
viewed or if you debate, what language will
you speak? I ask because many constituents
still have difficulty with Icelandic, based
on the fact that, as of yet, it is difficult to
get instruction in the language. Our read-
ers need no reminding, but it is difficult to
find a course inside Iceland, and learning
Icelandic outside of Iceland is almost impos-
sible—there is one course sometimes offered
in America, but that is only for beginners;
there is Old Norse instruction, which, not
surprisingly, doesn’t prepare you that well
for Modern Icelandic. Unless you get into
the courses in London, or in Scandinavia,
you’re not even going to get the opportunity
to hear the language before you move here.
- Ha. In America there’s the outdated gram-
mar book and a CD.
/// So Icelandic is not an easy middle
language for people from various cultures,
hence the use of English. Can I persuade
you, then, to speak English on television?
- I can say that when the website goes up, it
will be in English and the four primary lan-
guages of the immigrant community: Polish,
Thai and Serbian and Croatian. The blog
may soon be translated into these languages
as well.
From Newsman to Man on the News
An interview with Paul Nikolov, Organizer of The New Icelander Party
by bart cameron photo by gúndi
interview
Special offer
Booking phone: Tel: (+354) 562 1011 www.re.is e-mail: main@re.is
2 0 0 6
i n I c e l a n d
Our brochure is available
at all major hotels and
guesthouses.
Discounts on day tours
5% discount for 1 daytour
10% discount for 2 daytours
20% discount for 3 daytours
Tours must be purchased at Reykjavik Excursions
sales offices: BSI Bus Terminal, Radisson SAS Hotel Saga,
Icelandair Hotel Nordica, Icelandair Hotel Loftleidir.
©
I
C
EL
A
N
D
IC
A
D
A
G
EN
C
Y/
SI
A
.I
S
K
YN
3
31
58

06
/2
00
6
12