Oh, so they've noticed they have blood on their hands
I'd better start being seen with a black person - but then again, that might lose other votes
The Labour Party’s website Maltastar has woken briefly to the error of its greater leader’s ways in fuelling the anti-immigrant frenzy – though of course, it avoids mentioning anyone by name. How could it? Joseph Muscat wants to be thought of as both a progressive liberal who champions civil rights and as a far-right anti-nigger hero. This was yesterday’s leading article on the site.
A Sudanese refugee in Malta was beaten to death as he was trying to enter a Paceville club with two other foreigners.
By refusing to put the people’s minds at rest on immigration, by opting not to challenge the rise of racist myths and beliefs on this subject, our political leaders’ hands are stained with this victim’s blood, if the court finds it to have been racially motivated.
Defending diversity, and insisting on the importance of tolerance and equality between races may not be a good vote-catching exercise. When the Opposition tried to come up with a balanced action plan to tackle immigration not only from a logistics point of view, but also considering its social implications, government was not supportive at all, pathetically giving the impression that all that was proposed is already being done.
Instead, our leaders, who should lead their people by inspiring our social and political values, choose to let racism thrive. Even worse, some of them talk of the immigration situation as a problem of resources, and not as a human tragedy brought about by hundreds of years of injustice by the so-called ‘developed’ countries in Europe.
The powers that be may find it convenient to let the people think that our greatest problem is ‘the invasion of the boat people from Africa’. Let the people think that immigration is our greatest problem, and your failure in all other social and economic areas may hopefully go unnoticed.
Left alone trying to make sense of the images of boatloads of African immigrants landing in Malta, the people cannot be blamed for feeling insecure. It is no wonder then that they blindly believe the misconceptions, and the lies that some minorities are trying to spread. Left unexplained, a soldier’s wife’s idea that all immigrants arriving in Malta are infected with dangerous diseases soon becomes a fact which many will believe. As a company is left to employ foreigners illegally and in inhumane conditions, it is no wonder that other Maltese at the same workplace feel that immigrants are their enemies, ready to pounce on their job.
Left alone, the person in the street who witnesses news reports of the isolated riots in detention centres without knowing the true conditions of those human beings trapped in a cage for months, cannot but fear that his or her family may one day come across these ‘terrible invaders’.
Fuelled by some politicians’ we-have-no-more-space-for-them prattle, these fears become beliefs. And these beliefs make the clerk in a bank feel uncomfortable to help a client, just because he or she is coloured. They make a couple and their children give their new neighbours the cold shoulder, just because they’re Somali refugees. They may make voters choose a far right-wing party, with ideas similar to the ones that led to the murder of millions 50 years ago, making it the fourth most popular party in Malta.
They may make a bouncer feel threatened when a youth comes his way, not because he may be inebriated, but because he’s not Swedish or Spanish, he’s Sudanese.
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The Maltastar article is a textbook example of hypocrisy. Joseph Muscat is the only political leader who wanted an urgent parliamentary debate on the subject, insisted that immigration has created a national crisis, described immigrants as semi-savages and accused the government of being a “softie” in dealing with the issue in Europe. They then have the gall to claim that “the powers that be may find it convenient to let the people think that our greatest problem is ‘the invasion of the boat people from Africa’ “.
A perfect description of Frank Portelii’s MEP election campaign.
The more Dearest Leader Kim Joe Muscat imitates Norman Lowell the better it is. In the long run it will make Labourites vote Lowell and not the other way round.
When Berlusconi few days ago for the MEP elections campaigned in Milan alongside Umberto Bossi, the former said: “Questa non e’ una citta Italiana ma Africana”. Berlusca’s intentions was to rob the Lega’s votes by looking to be also a tough anti-immigration guy. But this comment backfired. It only helped Bossi at the end of the day by making him look credible. Eventually Bossi gained in the whole of Lombardia and the Popolo della Liberta lost 10% at the polls.
D. Muscat: I disagree with that view entirely. The inherent danger in encouraging racism, or not putting a lid on it, is not Labour’s return to power.
Whoever is in power, I’m not too comfortable living in a place where racism is normalised. Are you?
You’re wrong. Even if Labour wins the next general election, our institutions are strong enough so that racism will never be normalised … except perhaps on Youtube or VivaMalta.
Associating Lowell with Joseph Muscat is not encouraging racism. It is ridiculing racists. It is like associating divorce supporters with the eccentric Emy Bezzina. All you need to do is watch a Youtube clip about these chaps. Lowell is such an eccentric that anyone seemingly sharing his views will be scoffed at. But you’ll always find those few thousands who will vote for mad men.
Joseph Muscat’s electoral gimmick of adopting racist policies will backfire and precious votes will move from Labour to Imperium Europa. I’m 100% sure about that. The trend is already visible. Analysing vote transfers after Lowell’s elimination reveals that Labour inherited 1,100 votes and PN got 800.
D. Muscat: “our institutions are strong enough so that racism will never be normalised”
I said normalised, not institutionalised, and so did you, though you seem to have confused the two terms. People feel no shame in publicly expressing racist sentiments and using racist terminology. That’s not an act of defiance. That’s a process of normalisation.
What cheek.
What about Frank Portelli and Simon Busuttil? Are their hands not tainted with blood too? After are they did their fair share of immigration scare-mongering in order to catch a few more votes. To be fair, the PN were as racist as the PL in the days leading to the EU election. Their depiction of immigrants in their advert played all day on TV was nothing short of incitement to racial hatred. Will Simon Busuttiil now take responsibility for this racist advert and its dire consequences?
@ Lino Cert: Was it Simon Busutill who said that blacks have to learn how to wait in queues and not crap in the middle of the road?
I think so. He was also the one who ran the racist electoral campaign and is therefore responsible for that racist TV commercial, which bragged how the PN campaigned to keep immigrants in cages. He also spoke in favour of an 18 month detention period for immigrants, as well as voting against the right for an immigrant vote in local elections. I think both the LP and PN have blood on their hands, grappling ahead of each other in their quench for votes, oblivious to the risk they were posing to innocent immigrants, and are now washing their hands of any responsibility in the death of this poor Sudanese. Let’s see know if they have the audacity to march in Graffiti’s walk against racism and violence. What hypocrites if they do!
Actually it was Joseph Muscat.
Are you serious? How dare you assert that Simon Busuttil pandered to the racist elements in our country. Simon Busuttil demonstrated through action, and not cheap words, that the PN takes its social responsibilities towards fellow humans seriously! It was only Joseph Muscat that wanted to send the boats back – with all the dangerous implications that implies. In any event, if there is one genuine refugee on board the boat – what do you suggest we do? Send him or her back to be ‘processed’ in the country they are legitimately fleeing?
Both parties play the political game to various extents but the LP has been notorious for not having well thought out policies and coming up with opportunistic vote grabbing initiatives that fail at the first test, vide Partnership and CET and now immigration policy, VAT on cars, electricity tariffs etc.
You must really have never heard Simon Busuttil speak about the issue. Whenever he spoke on illegal migration Simon has always been careful with his words. If you are serious, and if your intention is not just to tarnish Simon’s integrity, quote to all of us, chapter and verse, anything Simon has ever written or said that smacks of racism.
[Daphne – I confirm that Noel is right. Whenever Simon has spoken or written about the matter of illegal immigration, I have been struck by the fact that he is the only politician, besides the prime minister, to come across as though he is discussing other people and not cargoes of animals.]
Shame on you for trying to taint Joseph Muscat with the immigration problem. Of course it was one of the main issues on the MEPs agenda. We, who live in the south are invaded with illegal immigrants and if someone does not handle this problem immediately and seriously we would be at their mercy in a few years time. When there were some Muslims praying peacefully on the Sliema promenade, recently, many Sliema bunnies were not happy and these people were only praying. I cannot imagine what would happen if these immigrants started landing in Sliema creek or St Julian’s Bay for a change or are put up in a camp in that area. Mamma mia there would be mayhem. That would be an entirely different story. PL wants burden-sharing. and all European countries should help.
Jenny: Burden sharing works both ways. That’s something that’s never mentioned in all the bluff, bluster, and empty rhetoric on the subject. Immigration does not only affect Malta. If burdens are to be shared, are we willing and able to take on any other country’s?
Of course we have been more than willing to take our share. We have been excepting immigrants for years. In fact we surpassed our share by hundreds of them by now. We needed to sound our alarm and we need the other EU countries to take up this problem seriously.
Jenny: You’re missing the point about burden sharing. It could well mean more, rather than fewer, arrivals.
Why can’t people see through this man? It’s not that difficult. It’s written all over his face.
Maltastar betray a Freudian failure to appreciate that even in opposition, politicians lead. Of course, by their slip, Maltastar demonstrate that their leader isn’t one.
I think that’s a tad too complicated for the elves over at Maltastar to understand.
The racism/immigrants issue is not the only thing which the Labour Party have back-tracked on.
The future price of electricity supply is yet another one:
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20090614/local/muscat-says-he-cant-commit-on-future-electricity-prices
Oh, how pleased all those who voted Labour because of “Xokk! Il-kontijiet tad-dawl u ta’ l-ilma!” must be. Fools never learn, do they?
Eventually Muscat will also have to back-track on the health services issue. He’ll have to admit – with hindsight – that they’re still free.
Everyone has decided it’s a racist act. Well done, judges. We don’t have to go to the courts then. Don’t you know that a civilised nation is built on fundamental human rights such as “You are innocent until found guilty”.
[Daphne – That’s a rule of procedure which the police and the law courts must follow. Everyone else is free to think otherwise and behave accordingly, within the law, of course.]