Denis Catania the immigrant saves Malta all the way from the US of A
Published:
December 31, 2008 at 11:46am
This comment was posted beneath the story about Superintendent Valletta’s remarks that ‘the Maltese’ are scared of going to Marsa.
Denis Catania (1 day, 7 hours ago)
To all readers: We the Facebook group SAVE MALTA FROM ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS just announced that we are awarding Supt: Valletta with the Man of the Year award. A plaque will be sent to Supt:Valletta.
Please note that Save Malta Against Illegal Immigrants does NOT tolerate racism either way. If you show hatred against any race or nationality, your comment will be erased and you get one warning. After the one warning, abusers will get thrown out of the group. Anti Maltese are also not welcomed.
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If I was American, I’d be sorely tempted to create the Facebook group to save the USA from immigrants like Denis Catania. Talk about hypocritical!
“Anti-Maltese are also not welcomed”.
In my online exchanges with Denis Catania and his ilk, I’ve learnt that anyone not expressing panic/fear/resentment/suspicion with regards to immigrants is anti-Maltese.
Pity Mr Catania has not learnt to write correct English. I have to admit I am becoming increasingly racist: I abhor “fellow” Maltese with such obnoxious views.
Dan ir-ragel tal biza! Jien ma nafx kif certi kummenti tieghu jigu ippublikati ghax mimlijin rabja u razizmu. Anti Maltese issa ukoll!
What a loser!
Dear Daphne,
Do you or any of your readers know who is the spouse of Superintendent Valletta? None other than our Gozitan Labour MP.
[Daphne – Prosit ukoll. One smells an incinerator that isn’t there (“Mur xommhu!”), and the other feels the need to tell us that Malta isn’t Somalia. I hope the recent addition to the family is a bit brighter.]
From some recent comments of his we now know that old Denis left Malta for the U.S. when he was a kid; that he may or may not have learned to read and write at school; and that he cannot string together a decent set of arguments. I guess xenophobia and racism doesn’t exactly attract the best and brightest, does it?
[Daphne – I also learned, from something he wrote, that he was traumatised by his departure from Malta as a child, and particularly by the sight of his grandfather crying, knowing that he was never going to see the departing family again. It helped me understand that the roots of this obsession, as with most other obsessions, are in childhood trauma.]
Good for him, I support him, when do you want it all to end?
lets see, would you like to live next door to them and have your children marry them? get real- black and white don’t mix, more so in this tiny island.
[Daphne – I have no qualms about living next door to ‘them’. One of my neighbours is a convicted murderer and another is pending trial for attempted murder and cocaine trafficking. They’re Maltese. My sons will marry who they please. It’s not my business.]
Joe Formosa: I don’t care if my children “mix” with people of a different colour but I do care whether or not they “mix” with bigots, racists and xenophobes. Ten years ago people like you would have directed their hatred toward PN/MLP supporters. Now that most Maltese do not care much about politics, the target of that old hatred are immigrants.
This email is posted on the “Save Malta from Illegal Immigrants” site on Facebook:
Dear Mr Catania,
I’m contacting you from The Times.
I just got off the phone with Superintendent Silvio Valletta.
He denies that he said such things in court. He said his only point was that probation was a good enough sentence and that the court had to make sure that Marsa does not become a place where people are afraid to go.
Basically, he’s quite angry at the reactions his comments received and does not want any such award.
I was wondering if you could react to this for me and tell me whether you are still interested in giving the award to Supt Valletta.
Thanks,
Chris Peregin
Journalist
The Times
unreal, oh i bet that when the refugee comes to live next door and the price of your property becomes worthless, what will you think then, I say wake up before it becomes too late, I remember a police man once informed me that most of these refugees have lived in camps were guns are the norm and they have no problems with taking a life? do you think they have the same values as us! and will save to buy a house and pay a loan, send their kids to fee paying school, pay tax? get real why should they bother to obey our laws? some people will not learn and don’t won’t to learn, are you one of these?
[Daphne – Excuse me, but did you read my earlier remark? One of my neighbours is a convicted murderer and another is standing trial for conspiring to kill a soldier in a cocaine trafficking venture that went wrong. I doubt that having a black person living next door is going to reduce the value of my home. Why do you imagine the value of property was so low for so long in the Grand Harbour area, and is still much lower than it should be, like for like? It’s because of the Maltese people who live there. You’re the one who needs to get real.
I have more in common with the values of many of ‘them’ than I have with the values of Maltese people who think as you do. Perhaps you and your kind will one day wise up to the fact that values come from one’s social, family and educational background and not from one’s passport. Hence, there are commonalities between me and others brought up in a similar way in a different country, but no commonalities between me and somebody brought up in Malta in a completely different way. That’s why sometimes two people from different countries can marry and spend the rest of their lives together, but then two people from the same country have no common basis on which to build so much as a friendship.]
Ah, the irony!
http://daphnecaruanagalizia.com/2011/08/22/denis-catania-is-wanted-for-murder-and-is-on-the-run-thats-why-hes-disappeared-from-timesofmalta-com/
Joe Formosa: Where did you meet that amazing policeman – the one who knows about the guns in the camps? I thought the major complaint about “these people” is that they’re a bunch of liars who hide their true origins.
That’s to say nothing of the fact that it hasn’t occurred to you – or to the policeman – that the reason “these people” are here because they wanted to escape those guns you mention.
Once again the point is being missed, these refugees have nothing to lose, they come from a place that has no law and order, no values – of work, save and join in a modern society, yes you live next to a Murderer, and yes there are good and bad in most society’s. If these refugees came here legal and contributed to society that would be another case but its not, if they are not happy here and don’t like the facilities offered they are welcome to go back, these refugees coming here have paid a passage through Libya and have got on a boat – with satellite phone, how well organized! this is not about White and Black or racism,its common sense – when do you stop the arrivals? when the country is full, and there are no jobs, when the tourists are sick of seeing these refugees all over the place? Malta and Europe can’t take all of Africa in, better we spend the money making Africa a better place to live.
[Daphne – Funny how these comments tend to come in from people who can’t punctuate a sentence.]
so your only remark is to comment on my English ability, not all of us had parents that could afford the expensive schools? if that’s the only comment your are able to make, it looks like I have won, you are a sad person, who’s views have been made up only time before and is not capable of looking all sides with open eyes.
[Daphne – I didn’t get my education at school, and church schools cost next to nothing in the 1970s. My comment was a reflection on your level of education, and on the fact that your sort of views appear to be linked to a poor educational standard, even among people in the higher social strata.]
@Joe Formosa,
It is about black and white: your black and white point of view. Your definition of common sense scares me. Let’s just hope that none of us ever will be in the position of being a refugee.
Don’t use the tourists as an excuse for your narrow-minded propaganda, please. These tourists usually come from countries which are used to dealing with all kinds of refugees, no matter which cultural, social or political problems may occur. It’s never easy but the act of humanity comes first!
What worries most people ,is that one finds himself surrounded by a group of young foreign men who speak a different language hanging around in an uninhabited area after dark.
Even passing through certain areas of the island in the night is considered to be ‘dangerous’.
If for example one sees men ,women and children strolling , one automatically feels safe.
@ Joe Formosa
Do you really think that tourists are bothered by seeing some Africans among the local population?
Many of the planet’s top tourist attractions are in “third-world” countries, often full of poor people living on the side walks. Tourists visit Malta mostly for the mild climate, the sea, the beaches and its cultural attractions. Many people I’ve met are interested in visiting Malta because English is (apparently) spoken there. It seems to me that many Maltese citizens are doing their best to ruin the environment, leave the place in shambles and denigrate the use of English. Add a general lack of common courtesy to the picture. This is the behaviour that could destroy the country. Helping unfortunate refugees will not do Malta any harm.
@John Schembri,
IS it actually dangerous or is it just the imagination of danger?
@ Andrea: it is a matter of judgement. I would avoid the area, like I would avoid other areas.
In that area there were fights (which are expected between young men), an unsolved murder, prostitution and gambling. Someone even mentioned drugs.
I consider the area as dangerous after dark. Maybe others like the setup. I don’t. Would you blame me?
@Daphne, have it your way! Let them all come in, maybe you can let them stay with you – whilst they sort their visa’s and paper work out? Don’t try to judge me by the style of writing and my grammar, so you went to a cheap church school, that does not allow you make comments on the level of my education, your style shows that when you lose an argument you start to make it personal, have a good day.
[Daphne – Your arguments are personal, Joe, so they have to be tackled at the same level. And yes, I have noticed that the lower a person’s level of education is, and that includes people from my own social background, incidentally, and people who went to cheap church schools and to expensive independent schools – going to school is not a guarantee of education but of schooling – the more likely it is that they have views like yours and fear The Other. That’s all.]
@John Schembri
When I lived in Malta in a beautiful and very cute village I met a lot of drug dealers, drug addicts, gangsters, corrupt policemen and often witnessed cases of domestic violence JUST NEXT TO ME!
@Andrea: I consider the place you lived in, dangerous. I would have left the place,like you did.
[Daphne – Look around you, John. You’ll find the same in Zurrieq.]
Not that much Daphne. Zurrieq is quite a big area.
[Daphne – Then there will be even more criminals living there.]
@John Schembri,
My point was that criminals don’t have to be black, green, yellow or foreigners and sometimes we even live next door to them without being aware of it. We create our own imaginations of danger and choose our own objects of fear. The place wasn’t more dangerous than any other place in Malta and I loved living there. Plenty of tourists own houses in that pretty huge village. Those drug traffickers don’t wear signs around their necks tagging them as drug dealers; they unsurprisingly looked like ordinary people, and it took me years to find out what they were doing for living. Domestic violence has got nothing to do with the colour of your skin or your nationality, not even with education unfortunately, and I guess we don’t really have to argue about the “corrupt policemen” issue. A nice neighbour might be a criminal and a refugee from Africa might be a nice guy!
I understand both Andrea and Daphne. I have a friend from Ivory Coast here in Malta; he is integrating, he is even learning Maltese fast. He wants to go to France like his friend did and then hopefully return to his homeland. I am not colour prejudiced, but I prefer not to stop in the area I described above.
You may have noticed my silence on the police.
Daphne this is how they settle their arguments in Sliema:
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20090101/local/magistrate-warns-two-neighbours-to-stop-fighting
One can find crime everywhere. There are places where there is more crime than other places. I prefer living in the backwoods of Zurrieq where at least I can keep a watchful eye on people who I know and can recognise.
Daphne, its people like you, with your holy then holy views that have Malta the cesspit of crap it is now, Church on Sunday – hate on Monday, and your only comment when the argument goes against you – is to say that people of lower education have racist views. This blog was about Dennis Catania and his views and what you have done is to degrade it into insults about education and social backround, I wonder if your the racist, I for one am a realist.
[Daphne – I don’t go to church, and I’m not the one preaching this hate-creed against Africans.]
Daphne – I have never preached hate against African’s – read what I have written before you make comments, I wonder why you don’t go to church, after all you had the cheap Church education – given to you from the donations of honest hard working church going people.
[Daphne – More to the point, why do you go to church?]
I am not sure why Joe Formosa is of the opinion that black and white don’t mix – my children are biracial (yes, half white, half black). Are my children any less than his if he has any? I also cannot understand why he declared that “these refugees have nothing to lose, they come from a place that has no law and order, no values – of work, save and join in a modern society”.
The societies they come from had law and order, except now it has been turned upside down by ruthless people who would kill for power. To say that these people have no values is stretching it – every society has values. The may differ from the ones Joe Schembri has, but they have values.
Now the next question is – what colour is God? Forget the gender…
Immigrant – a person who migrates to another country, usually for permanent residence.
Let’s face it people, the problem we have in Malta is not with Immigrants per se but with refugees who arrive in Malta in large numbers seeking refuge and safety on our small Island.
Obviously the refugees who land here are given shelter and cared for, however they are kept “secured” in facilities like Ta Kandja to safeguard our Immigration Policy and also the Maltese Citizens (us) from any harm these people might cause due to their unknown background, unknown health hazards and risks, etc.
I guess, till this point we all agree on the above procedure and also agree that these people are not immigrants but refugees.
What I personally do not agree upon is the process by which these refugees are miraculously transformed into immigrants and granted citizenship!! What is the process involved here? Has their background been checked before they are integrated into our society, or are they granted citizenship because there name was pulled out of a hat or because it’s a problem with space in the above mentioned institutions therefore they overflow into our society leaving us citizens to bare the consequences ?
I am Christian and believe in helping thy neighbour, I also have no objection if the new citizens are black, white or green, I also have no objection if they have jobs, pay taxes and also integrate into our society as I did for 3 years in Australia myself.
What I object to is having to divert my route if my destination happens to be in Newtown (Marsa) due to fear that harm will be caused to my family as it has already happened on many occasions in that particular area. Lets face it we`re not Australia and the capacity of our Island is limited.
What area will become the next Newtown when time will pass and this problem will continue to escalate and new citizens integrated into our society ? Will it be Sliema, Valletta, St.Julians ? What about the people who actually live in Marsa and face this problem on a day to day basis?
I guess its easy to chant the word racist, or say that we believe in brotherly love and that we should accept everyone into our open Maltese arms and to forget their past and accept them as new Maltese brothers and sisters, but rest assured that your opinion will change when you are directly affected by this problem our country is currently facing and unless something is done, it will only get worse with every day that passes.
Something has to be done before this problem gets more out of hand then it currently is.
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20090223/opinion/facing-up-to-a-problem
Dr Pullicino Orlando is a Nationalist member of Parliament: “We must act now. The consequences of inaction are too terrible to contemplate.”
[Daphne – Yes, I saw that. Toeing the Joseph line. Unbelievable. Send them back! As simple as that, huh?]
@ Andrea
Please allow me a personal remark. Even fully assimilated (not simply integrated) citizens of Caucasian origin with a migration background face an uphill path in Germany 2009.
I stumbled upon this site while researching travel ideas for a trip to Malta in 2010. To be long winded, I entered a contest where you have to identify a picture, where is the world is this place. That place happened to be in Malta. I love to travel so I immediately wanted to go there. As an African American woman I need to know if I would be welcomed in a country before I waste my time, money and feelings on a vacation.
Coming from the country of immigrants where some Americans if not a lot of Americans feel some way about lost jobs, services, security and who the migrants may be, I understand the concerns.
I don’t understand fear and prejudice of people I don’t know or who are not like me. My friends from Albania say that Europe is just like this. I haven’t been to Europe in 20 years and I would hope that things are better.
What are your opinions on my concerns?