Right up their own butts: Tony Zarb tells Libyans to keep calm so that Maltese people get to keep their jobs

Published: February 23, 2011 at 2:39pm

Tony Zarb: Maltese jobs matter more than Libyan freedom

I hope that something was somehow lost in translation, but then I remember that the union is run by people like Tony Zarb and Ronnie Pellegrini.

timesofmalta.com, this morning:

GWU concerned with developments in Libya

The General Workers Union has condemned the violence in Libya and said it was concerned about the negative effect events could have on the hundreds of Maltese workers whose job was somewhat related to the country, most of whom were its members.

It pointed out that there was also substantial Maltese investment in Libya and there was Libyan investment in Malta.

As a result the jobs of hundreds of Maltese workers were threatened.

In such a serious situation, the union appealed to the Libyan people to keep calm and avoid death and violence.

It expressed its solidarity with the Libyan people, especially the workers, and hoped they would soon reacquire peace which was a basic ingredient to security in the Mediterranean region.




47 Comments Comment

  1. TROY says:

    Toni ghid lil Gaddafi ‘issa daqsssek’

  2. Corinne Vella says:

    Did I read that correctly? He appealed to the Libyan *people* to avoid death and violence?

    Presumably, he thinks that the dead in Libya are the result of widespread self-immolation.

  3. Herbie says:

    Wicchom u s****m xorta dawn in nies.

  4. Why does Tony Zarb, I am assuming he is behind this communication, have to use his mouth to fart?

  5. Antoine Vella says:

    I don’t expect any better from the GWU-PL but have to say I’m disappointed the government didn’t take a firmer stand.

  6. David Buttigieg says:

    OK, I admit, I’m completely lost.

    Do they expect the Libyans to stop the revolution so that Maltese people can keep their jobs in Libya?

  7. ENOUGH says:

    1300: We have been hearing reports that large parts of the east of Libya have fallen. AFP reporters say they have seen rebels, many of them armed, while travelling all along the coastal road from the Egyptian border to Tobruk city. Government soldiers are switching sides to join the uprising, they report.

  8. Joe Micallef says:

    Tell this moron that these will keep calm for eternity RIP, thanks to one of his heros.

    http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/libya/8342366/Amateur-footage-shows-mass-burial-site-in-Tripoli.html

  9. Pepe` says:

    “and hoped they would soon reacquire peace” ..

    Oh, so they’ve been living in peace all this time and finally revolted against the peacemaker.

  10. Hot Mama says:

    The Luxury of the Libyans to laugh at Gaddafi

    http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2053198,00.html?xid=newsletter-daily

    [Daphne – Yes, everyone should read that.]

  11. VR says:

    Apparently some scuffles broke out between Libyans and Maltese during today’s protest in front of the Libyan embassy. Some Libyans said that they were not happy to be living in Malta as we are a third world country. Some Maltese objected, hence the scuffles. Can this be confirmed.

    [Daphne – Please read my column tomorrow. This is what it is about – not the scuffle, but how Libyans see us. They burned the Italian flag yesterday but were too polite (and sensible) to burn the Maltese flag. But you cannot be a friend of Gaddafi and a friend of the people he oppressors, so any friends of Gaddafi are by definition no friends of Libya or Libyans. If you have suffered under Gaddafi all your life, how do you feel when you see Malta’s prime minister and foreign minister slobbering all over him? As for Berlusconi, you should have heard the insults.]

  12. R Camilleri says:

    “and hoped they would soon reacquire peace”

    This guy is an idiot if he thinks that the majority of Libyans were living in peace under Gaddafi.

  13. A Grech says:

    Is he inferring that “peace” and jobs of the Maltese come before freedom and democracy?

    Why am I bothering to ask.

  14. willywonka says:

    You think that Tony Zarb is supercilious? You should see what Iran’s Ahmadinejad is saying: that guy’s tongue must be firmly planted in HIS butt cheek.

  15. Denis says:

    “Hey, Sayed – ave a cup of mint tea and avoid death if possible.”

    The stupidest of stupid comments yet, and it had to be our Tony.

  16. ENOUGH says:

    http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20110223/local/libyan-major-general-switches-sides

    A Major General in the Libyan Army, Suleiman Mahmoud, has declared himself and his soldiers as being on the side of the people and against ‘the tyrant’ Muammar Gaddafi.

    Maj. Gen Mahmoud is the commander of the army in the port city of Tobruk and the highest ranking officer to have declared his opposition to Gaddafi.

    He told al Jazeera TV station that artillery had tried to wipe out protesters in the Libyan second city of Benghazi but were defeated.

    This morning, a fighter pilot ordered to bomb protesters abandoned his aircraft and baled out.

    It was also reported today that protesters had taken control of the city of Misurata, which is significant because the city is in the West of Libya..

    The reports confirmed that opponents of Col Gaddafi appear firmly in control of the coastal east of Libya.

  17. Jakob says:

    Are Maltese politicians aware of what’s really happening in the Mediterranean? They sound completely ‘divorced’ from the situation. How can the government of an EU member state choose to put the interests of a few individuals before political decency?

  18. ENOUGH says:

    1440: France is coming out with increasingly strong statements on Libya. Foreign affairs minister Laurent Wauquiez says the president wants France to suspend all its trade, economic and financial relations with Tripoli, adding:”To be clear, we shall not let what is happening in Libya take place with impunity.”

  19. xejnsew.com says:

    What do you expect from Tony Zarb u l-GWU – mhux ahjar joqodu kwieti u ma jifthux halqhom ghax lanqas jitkelmu ma jafu?

    “hoped they would soon reacquire peace” – Libyans have not had peace since Gaddafi came to power in 1969. Theirs was the silence of terror and not of serenity.

  20. kevin zammit says:

    Maltastar has written the headline:

    GWU CONCERNED ABOUT NEGATIVE EFFECT OF MALTESE WORKERS IN LIBYA

    Why, are they causing all the trouble?

  21. cat says:

    Madoffi, but Daphne seems to have a close up picture of every personality of the island. Very well equipped and prepared.

    A very nice collection! Joe Grima, Fr Colin Apap, Tony Zarb, Joseph Muscat (minn kull angolu).

  22. xejnsew.com says:

    “Carmel Xuereb – timesofmalta.com

    It’s like here in Malta the government knows what do (the middle classa and the POOR) needs but to avail because all they want the power to govern and ar not concerned by our plight. Look they fended for themselves, the got an enourmous extra pay cause they hepen to be ministers and what about us the POOR? $1.60. you woun’t buy two loves with that and the time will come soon when we wil say THAT’S ENOUGH.”

    Veru ta, qisna l-Libya hawn. Alla hares tghid xi haga fuq Gonzi ghax joqtluk. Il-bierah kont ghadej min Strada Rjali u kien hemm mercenarji mil-Italja jisparaw juq in-nies. U bilhaqq is-suldati bdew jisparaw l-anti aircraft guns li hemm il-War Museum fuq in-nies f’Tigne. Ara naqra f’ix gabna dal-gvern.

    Igri jitla Joseph ghax ha jgholi l-pagi bil-living wage u ser jqassam hafna gid bhal ma qal Gaddafi.

  23. Anthony says:

    We want tourists diverted to Malta from Tunisia and Egypt. So the longer the troubles in these countries the better.

    However, we need jobs in Libya. So please behave yourselves over there and “avoid death”.

    To hell with principles.

  24. Hello, please, could you give readers a short, clear-cut definition of “Libyan freedom”? Thanks in advance!

  25. Ragunament bazwi - the brainless edition says:

    More wisdom from timesofmalta’s comments board:

    “David Scerri
    malta is now making world news, all for the wrong reasons,being drawn into other peoples problems, have patients, you done the right thing turning this plane away, dont become an airport for any tom dick or ahmed, who wants to land,”

  26. ENOUGH says:

    Arab League suspends Libya from participation in sessions.

  27. M. says:

    http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20110223/local/libyan-aircraft-denied-landing-permission-at-mia

    “Wednesday, 23rd February 2011 – 16:01CET

    Updated: Libyan aircraft denied landing permission
    Government: No information that Gaddafi daughter was on board”

  28. AND STILL NO WORD FROM MALTA says:

    1517: Botswana’s foreign minister Phandu Skelemani says he has been shocked by events in Libya, and told BBC’s Focus on Africa he was cutting ties with Tripoli: “We can’t have diplomatic relations with a person who is doing what he is doing.”

  29. Ara min irid jitkellem says:

    1507: Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has had his say on the Libyan uprising, telling state TV: “It is unimaginable that there is someone who is able to kill and bombard his own people. This is very grotesque.”

  30. M. says:

    Are these people for real? I had a similar reaction when listening to Net News two days ago, which reassured us that no Maltese had died in the Christchurch earthquake (so that’s all right then) rather than saying that 65 people had died.

    • el bandido guapo says:

      Tal-biki. I was about to comment in the same vein.

      I find it so pathetic that when we read news of a tragedy be it natural or otherwise, in some other country, this is always qualified by “all Maltese were accounted for” or similar.

      Guess that’s all right then. Like the (ex) Maltese Lira, one of ours is worth a lot more than one of theirs.

  31. Brian*14 says:

    From Al Jazeera English:

    6.30pm: Former justice minister Mustapha Abdeljalil told the Swedish newspaper Expressen that Muammar Gaddafi personally ordered the Lockerbie bombing in 1988, the paper reported on its website.

    “I have proof that Gaddafi gave the order on Lockerbie,” said the minister, who stepped down Monday to protest the ongoing violence in Libya.

    • red nose says:

      He should have spoken (and resigned) earlier, much earlier. Shame on him as well. Now that things are not going well he speaks up – coward.

  32. Bus Driver says:

    U l-kotra Libjana qamet u b’lehen wiehed ghajtet:

    “Hawn, isimghu lil-Toni Zarb ta’ Malta! Xerrdu l-kelma mal-Libja kollha. Inwaqqfu ir-rivoluzzjoni ghax huwa aktar importanti li ahna l-Libjani nibqghu nbaghtu, li nigu mahqura, sfruttati u maqtula, milli kocc Maltin jitilfu l-gobb.”

    GWU+PL = completely clueless and dangerously so.

  33. Brian*14 says:

    I not only appeal to but urge the Libyan people to finish what they have started, as I know they will.

    I am very proud of them and have been dreaming of this moment for the past 27 years. There was a time I was convinced this will not happen during my lifetime.

    To all my Libyan friends out there: you deserve your freedom for your kindness, generosity and bravery. Thank you for being part of my life.

  34. Brian*14 says:

    Let’s see if the Kev can come up with some conspiracy theory in this respect…..

    7.04pm: Malta has turned back the unscheduled flight that was carrying Gaddafi’s daughter, Ayesha Gaddafi. The plane is said to be headed back to Libya, Cal Perry reports from Valletta.

  35. Riya says:

    Ghalkemm dan il-bravu qal cucata, bhall ma jaf jaghmel dejjem, imma ghal inqas tkellem mhux bhal Joseph Muscat baqa sieket qisu mhu qed jigri xejn. Ghax ma tmurx tikkalmhom int Sur Toni Zarb!

  36. Hibernating from Malta says:

    Out of reach… so far…

  37. cat says:

    What does Dr. Joe Mifsud say about this situation?

  38. Rob says:

    How about the PNs ‘cautious’ approach on the current situation? Not the relationship between our gov and Gaddafi (or has he just became a villain over the past few days?)

    http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/feb/22/gaddafi-libya-oil-wealth-portfolio

    This is politics, as if morals ever had anything to do with politics. They use morals only when it suits them to tickle the rabble’s fancy! (same goes for journalists apparently).

    Shame on you too DCG!!!!

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