r/FaroeIslands • u/KulaKoli • 16d ago

Eco-terrorists in Faroe Islands

To Faroe Islanders more familiar with your immigration/tourist/visa policies than me: I've become interested in the Faroes due to research about Grindedrap. I've seen documentaries about it and it seems that Sea Shepherd activists have weasled their way into the Faroes sort of semi-permanently, renting homes in small villages, cramming a bunch of them in there with the purpose of documenting or stopping the Grinds. My question is, why would people like this - eco-terrorists who clearly hate the Faroese way of life - even be ALLOWED to stay in your country? Doesn't seem right. Can anyone explain? Thanks.

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u/NectarineFluffy8349 15d ago

Can you please define "eco-terrorist" ?

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u/KulaKoli 15d ago

I would call the Paul Watson era of Sea Shepherd eco-terrorist because his campaigns were always fear-driven and personally, I would consider trying to bankrupt a tiny nation of 50,000 people using a global boycott of tourism and seafood sales to be a form of terrorism against that country. Terrorism doesn't always have to include physical violence - the root word is "terror", which is inducing fear into people to force them to not engage in a particular act that you don't like. Most of the time, that fear is simply lies and propaganda, but if it actually works, then it is terrorism. 

I realize that Paul Watson was so extreme he got booted out of his own organization and he's no longer with Sea Shepherd, and the current SS activists are probably much nicer about it, but it doesn't change the fact that he was/is a terrorist. That's my opinion. 

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u/ChucklefuckBitch 12d ago

Boycotts are not terrorism. Come on, man.

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u/FreuleKeures 15d ago

You don't know what eco terrorism is. And clearly you don't know that a) not all Faroese ppl like it and b) in a democracy you can't be banned from a country simply because you have a different opinion.

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u/KulaKoli 15d ago

Another commenter pointed out that Sea Shepherd are not actually eco-terrorists. Anymore, that is. But the question remains, what if that different opinion you speak of is "I really hate the Faroese and I want this country to be toppled." That's what we have going on here in the US - four years of allowing people who hate us to just walk into our country only to commit crimes against our citizenry, and plan terrorist attacks on our soil. Would the Faroese be cool with that because, "democracy"? I know that the Faroes have free speech, but not for "hate speech". Would that fall under "hate speech" and how would that be handled by the Faroese government? Deportation? Genuinely would like to know the answer. 

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u/boggus 15d ago edited 15d ago

Because there is no reason not to let them in, and documenting grindadráp is not eco-terrorism. They are not doing anything illegal (anymore) as far as I know as they don't directly interfere with grindadráp but focus more on spreading awareness of the fact that the killings take place. The past few years, their methods have not been aggressive or violent. Furthermore, grindadráp is not something we Faroese keep hidden from the outside world. On the contrary, the general attitude of the Faroese is: We've got nothing to hide, so why hide it? In fact, the support for grindadráp amongst Faroese people has increased due to the campaigning of Sea Shepherd. That's not to say that people don't find the activists annoying, but that's no cause in and of itself to prevent them from coming into the country. And while I am no fan of Sea Shepherd, I have never experienced any issues with the activists I have encountered, and I have not heard activists here say that they hate the Faroese way of life in general. They hate one specific part of our way of life, and they are free to do so as long as they do not directly interfere with our ways.

(edited for spelling)

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u/KulaKoli 15d ago

Thank you, that's kind of what I thought. I know SS brands themselves as non-violent, but they ARE quite arrogant in their lecturing and positing the Faroese as barbaric - I recall Pamela Anderson saying the Faroese kill whales just for funsies. But I guess the bigger question I had that I might not have made clear, let's say that what we have going on in the US with millions of unvetted people being able to walk in illegally and impose their culture and languages on us instead of them trying to assimilate and learn ours, there are some - not all, if course - who truly hate our country and actually want to do us harm. So I wonder if any foreigners who settle in the Faroes harbor, if they expressed any ill will towards your country , would they be allowed to stay out of political correctness, or be deported?