The Mother of God has nothing better to do, it seems
In The Times today:
Yasser Arafat’s widow feels safe in Malta where she enjoys diplomatic immunity.
This means that, if an international arrest warrant were to be issued against her by Interpol, as was reported by the international media on Monday, she will be protected.
“I have diplomatic immunity and I remain safe in all cases,” Suha Arafat, who has been living on the island for the past four years, said, adding that she was granted this status as the widow of the former Palestinian leader and as a member of the Palestinian Embassy in Malta
(…)
“I have the Madonna of Malta, she’s with me. I always pray to her and I know she knows that I’m innocent and she will not let me down,” Mrs Arafat said.
She admitted she loved living in Malta where she felt safe.>“I love the democracy between the two parties and I love the people… I am grateful for Malta for voting for us to join Unesco,” she said.
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Why does she not go back to Palestine to help her people by footing the bills to build hospitals, universities, schools and clinics with all the loot she has at her disposal?
It won’t be long before we see Suha Arafat at Borg in-Nadur.
What a pathetic appeal to our emotions.
If she stands accused that she did something wrong, she should face the charges and prove herself innocent.
At best, she should ask that she be processed in a democratic country.
Wrong. The accuser should prove you’re guilty.
Let’s not play around foolishly with our rights, my friend.
Min Weber, I agree that technically the way you put it is better. But isn’t the defendant also allowed to bring evidence against the charges?
Yes – but the accused has also the right to remain silent, and silence does not mean guilt…
Tunisia is a democratic country. It wasn’t when Mrs Arafat lived there.
I’m not aware if she is innocent or guilty and I cannot comment on this, yet she is clearly making an obvious effort to state the ‘right’ words to get the Maltese and relative institutions to protect her…..
It seems that she has something in common with our finance minister.
Our finance minister is a devout Catholic and has never changed his faith for convenience, unlike Mrs Arafat, who has done so twice, from Christian to Muslim and back again.
Are you serious?
Tonio Fenech should have never mentioned Our Lady’s name in the way he did. It was despicable.
If she converted back to Christianity after having been a Muslim of convenience, she better watch out. Islam has very strict rules re apostasy.
Mark v
I find it hard to point finger, but Mrs. Arafat statement is well documented both in the Koran and the Gospel that Mary a holy woman, conceived Jesus without seeing a man.
So the reverance of Mary coming from both Christians and Moslems is only in order.
Anything else is no concern of mine.
And our Finance Minister was never accused that he received any financial benefits from Gaddafi – not even being given a trip on his private jet.
I have no doubt that our finance minister is a devout Catholic, but is Mrs. Arafat talking about the same Madonna?
Silvio, If there is any doubt about which Madonna Ms. Arafat is talking about, we should ask Marlene Pullicino Orlando MP.
When Suha married Yasser Arafat, a journalist asked her why she became a Muslim. She replied “My conversion to Islam was a political conversion”.
Did our British governors, by attending state religious functions at St.John’s Co-Cathedral, imply that they had converted to Catholicism? No, because their attendance was political not personal.
Are all those Arafat millions banked in Malta like Mutassim Gaddafi’s? If so, then it’s that, and not the Madonna, that’s keeping Suha Arafat safe.
Tonio Fenech anyone?
I’m sure the elves will try to establish a link between the two to discredit the government.
It has always been a real treat to read this blog and actively participate in it.
However, what I fail to comprehend is why you don’t lambast the ministers who are really making a mockery of this government.
Aren’t you following the press that delinquents are being freed because of not having their lawyers present during interrogation?
[Daphne – Separation of powers: that’s for the courts to decide and the minister of justice can’t do anything about it at this stage. I’m not given to locking the stable door after the horse has bolted. I wrote and said all I could before the enactment of that law and in the period between enactment and coming into force. It was a subject I felt very strongly about, having been held at the age of 19 for 27 hours without access to legal advice, and also because I have heard a good few reports of minors who have been led into traps by interrogating officers (I don’t give a damn about real criminals). I was also very cross when the Justice Minister said that he had received advice from the police that their work would be more difficult if lawyers are present. Of course it makes their work more difficult, but then so does the ban on torture.
I still think the law is totally inadequate in that it does not allow you to have a lawyer by your side during interrogation, but you can only consult one before going in for interrogation – which, if you are not particularly bright, is next to useless. It is shocking that Malta took so long to do this, but I find it also shocking that Franco Debono is totally oblivious to decency, dignity and conflicts of interest, and that he should not be the lawyer doing this. Equally, it is shocking and disgraceful that Jose Herrera is discussing salaries with judges, while pleading cases before them, in anticipation of his becoming justice minister. My feelings about the myriad and interminable conflicts of interest of lawyers on both sides of the house are very strong and very well known at this stage. Doctors and architects and most unlikely to have such conflicts, but lawyers do so all the time. Even the fact that an MP who is a criminal lawyer is fighting to keep a criminal out of jail is a fundamental conflict of interest to my mind. In the house, he represents society and his constituents. Outside the house, he represents criminals.]
I can just imagine your writing had Anglu Farrugia been Minister of Justice (God forbid) and was responsible for such a shameful way of managing a ministry. Is it really possible that no one is accountable?
[Daphne – I don’t at all think that the ministry is being managed in a shameful way. I think that the main problem stems from the fact that the same ministry covers the police and the courts, which are two separate powers and often in conflict, as with this particular matter. Also, for Anglu Farrugia to be made minister of justice would be a shameful act in itself, and from shameful acts, no good things can spring. Carmelo Mifsud Bonnici, for all his other faults (of which I have no direct experience but only third party reports) is decent and correct, so there is no comparison in this regard. I would object to Anglu Farrugia’s appointment on principle.]
Also, I honestly believe that Dr Gonzi would do with your services in PR.
Can’t he call you up before he utters anything?
[Daphne – Of course not. Then I would have a conflict of interest. I need to be free to say what I think, and there were two major points of disagreement this year already: Libya and divorce.]
It seems that after finally waking up from his periodic slumber, he is quoted as saying that he refused Austin Gatt’s resignation. Is this guy serious? Can’t he understand that he is condoning irresponsible behaviour and a complete disregard in accountability.
[Daphne – I’m sorry, but I don’t agree with you at all. I don’t think Austin Gatt should resign. I think he deserves our thanks for finally seeing off those terrible bus-drivers. Nobody else could or would have done it. When things settle down, we’ll have better perspective.]
No matter how hard I try, I fail to understand your reasoning Daphne. I fail to comprehend how, with your strong opinions and way above average intelligence and quick thinking (not sarcastic!) you don’t find these things irksome to put it mildly.
[Daphne – Don’t push me to say it, but possibly it might have something to do with the fact that I’m supposed to be of above-average intelligence. Where others see a disaster and a minister who has failed, I see one who has succeeded in doing what no one even dared try to do and thanks to him, no one else will now have to bother. That out of the way, it’s now just a matter of sorting out the details. If I’m living in a hut and somebody comes along and builds me a nice house, I’m not going to rage and fume at him because the window’s askew and the pipes are blocked. I’ll say, look, let’s work on that window and fix those pipes and what a relief it is that I’m not in a hut anymore.
The same way that you can’t understand my reasoning, I can’t understand other people’s, or the way that what seems blindingly obvious to me is not at all obvious to them. When I look back, I see that I have actually built a career on spelling things out. Whether that has achieved anything at all is anyone’s guess, but at least it kept some people entertained. I find it astonishing how some people tie themselves up into knots at every general election, for instance. To my mind it’s obvious that once you’re going to get a government whatever you fo, you might as well work towards having the one you prefer and actually vote for it, even if you don’t like this or that chap or you find them boring. I never have any trouble choosing and I can’t for the life of me see what people get so worked up about. ]
Of course with Europe and the euro burning you will always want to argue that the present ministers are the ones you want in this time and hour. but seriously there is a limit to indecency and incompetence.
Of course, the usual elves who populate this and other blogs will entirely miss the grave consequence of delinquents being freed and sadly continue to focus on you, your sons and your husband.
[Daphne – That might be because they themselves are delinquents or have delinquents in the family, or lawyers who wish to free them. Has that occurred to you?]
But this government should really understand that it has been elected time and time again by people like me who have the intelligence to understand the meanings of competence, decency, accountability and responsibility. I seen none of these present at the moment.
[Daphne – Back to square one, Jean. The choice is between Labour and Nationalist, not between Labour, Nationalist and pie in the sky. You choose between what’s available. You don’t refuse to choose on the grounds that you don’t like anything of what’s available, and have the choice made for you by default. As for competence, I think this government is extremely competent. Look at the results, or haven’t you noticed that we’re not in the mire?]
Nismaghhom jghidu li hadd qatt ma seta jsib tarf tal-bus drivers, lanqas Mintoff.
I do not agree with you that architects do not have conflicts of interests.
Take MEPA as an example. This is an organisation set up by architects FOR architects and not for the planning of a better urban environment and even less, for the protection of the natural environment.
The end result is that Malta now looks like the Gaza Strip, that is an endless array of building and demolition sites (no wonder Suha Arafat feels at home here!) from which only the architects are benefitting.
[Daphne – Malta looks like the Gaza Strip for one reason only: Maltese people have APPALLING taste.]
I’m sure that if you were given 54 million euro not only would you have got rid of the old buses and drivers but probably captured Gaddafi and Bin Laden alive.
As to the issue on lawyers being present during interrogation, you conveniently gave my emphasis a different interpretation. Of course I’m in favour that this basic right has finally been given to us citizens, but Franco Debono has been insisting for months that the way this was implemented was lousy to say the least.
[Daphne – Yes, but unlike you, I don’t take Franco Debono seriously because I know, and you might not, that he’s only doing this because he wants to be made Minister of Justice. It’s also the reason he harps on about the need to separate the justice and police portfolios – not because that’s the way it should be done (and it should) but because he thinks he will get justice and Mifsud Bonnici will get the police. When a person is motivated by self-interest, I cease to be interested.]
You’re wrong about only two choices. Not voting is a choice, and no, it is not chickening out or indecision.
[Daphne – Of course it is a choice. Like passing by a drowning man and doing nothing is a choice. Whether it is a responsible or sensible choice is another matter. Not voting does not mean chickening out or indecision. I never said that. To me, it means a terrible and worrying sense of disengagement.]
I identify with none of alternatives available at the present time.
Unless I’m alone with sharing this sentiment, Dr Gonzi needs to understand that he has become a serious liability to Malta’s future and the promises of a new style of leadership built on accountability and responsibility never materialised.
And please spare me the pedantic argument of we not being in the ‘mire’.
[Daphne – I’m the very last person you could call pedantic. And no, we are not in the mire. I actually think we’re utterly ridiculous. Buses, buses, buses all the way, even as our neighbours in Europe and North Africa are on fire and we sit mollycoddled in our island bubble. Shades of Lilliput.]
I’m a professional finance person and perfectly understand that we have only been spared from the catastrophic consequences of this turmoil due to years of prudent and stringent Central Bank monetary policy.
The other thing that saved us is our financial services industry, and yes correct, that’s thanks to Bonello Depuis, John Dalli and agreement on both sides of the house.
[Daphne – Well, then, chin up and stop grumbling. ]
“Can’t he understand that he is condoning irresponsible behaviour and a complete disregard in accountability“.
You disparage an innovative and competent minister who had the courage to take the bull by the horns and tackle a sector which not even Mintoff – for all his tough talk and strongarm tactics – could handle.
Just because things are still being fine-tuned and may even take some time to do so does not mean that they will not eventually come round to being adjusted satisfactorily.
Rome wasn`t built in a day, for goodness`s sake. I mean, the Labour Party took one year- or was it two ? – to design and change its party emblem.
You overlook the fact that a huge stride forward has been made in overhauling the behemoth which was the previous Third World public transport system – and that, in my opinion, is good enough, for a start.
Do you mind a suggestion, Daphne?
MercyCroft
2 November 2011 10:20AM
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This is taken from: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/nov/02/greece-referendum-where-now
It is a form of name-and-shame … Could you use such a procedure on this blog? To name and shame abusers?
[Daphne – Yes, good idea.]
Suha Arafat is on Facebook. Can’t be as good as JPO’s, no?
She must tell us how she can afford to live such a luxury life with one apartment here in Malta and an other in Paris when she is suppose to be the wife of the ex leader of those poor Palestinian people.
” … from Christian to Muslim and back again”.
The return trip from Muslim to Christian would be a life-threatening situation in any Islamist country!
Francis, just being a woman in most Islamist countries is life-threatening, or at best, gives you quasi-animal status. Ah well, as long as its the Christians who the fundamentalists . . . anybody notice how quickly the French rag was torched, by the way?
I think the Blessed Virgin has less to do now as fewer people pray to her.
” … ora pro nobis peccatoribus, nunc, et in hora mortis nostrae …”
Mhux hekk tajjeb. Minn Kristjana qalbet Musulmana ghax izzewget lil kap ta’ l-istat Palestinjan. Issa ghax qeghdha Malta qalbet mal-Madonna.
Kulhadd ifittex is-sigurta’ f’Malta.
Aisha Gaddafi ppruvat ukoll u l-bella kumpanija Libjani li meta beda l-inkwiet spiccaw Malta fl-appartamenti li xtraw Tigne.
X’ghandu xi jghid Dr. Joe Mifsud?
She must be hanging around with Tonio Fenech of late.
She loves the democracy between the two parties?
Really?
If I were an acolyte of Alternattiva Demokratika or (God forbid) Imperium Europa, I’d be upset.
I would like to know if the diplomatic immunity would protect someone who is involved for example in a murder?
[Daphne – Yes.]
The country of origin of the diplomat can withdraw his or her immunity. The host country on the other can hand can expel the criminal diplomat.
“The Madonna of Malta”.
Is this a new devotion?
Like when we say: Il-Madonna tal-Karmnu, Il-Madonna tal-Mirakli, Madonna del Europa on Mount Lussari etc etc.
Be positive, for once please.
Daphne you keep saying that Dr. Austin Gatt rid us of the arrogant bus drivers we had before.
You make it sound as if it was difficult.
I would like to point out that they were paid millions and had an overall good deal. We the tax payers got the brunt.
So many people in Malta were given millions (Telemalta, Kalaxlokk, Air Malta and more) – when are we people in the private sector going to get anything?
[Daphne – You’re in the private sector. If you want hand-outs, get a job as a civil servant.]
We solve problems in this country by dishing out taxpayers’ money. Very easy for a while…I am thinking of Greece just now …….
[Daphne – Exactly.]
If you’re so much against Suha Arafat, why not tell us why? Has she done you wrong? Is it her deceased husband? Or anything to do with Palestine? Your love of Israel? What is it Daphne? Out with it.
Otherwise, you come out as just another empty-headed bigot – which is exactly what you are.
[Daphne – Shame you aren’t here, Kevin, so I can yawn in your face. ]
Links spanning almost ten years re to Yasser’s and Suha’s little nest egg;
http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/people/a/suha_arafat/index.html
Enjoy, Mr Kev.
I could gather similar links related to Blair and Cherie, but that’s too far off your little paradigm. Indeed, as Daphne said, what a long, drooling YAWN you lot are.
@ Mr Kev,
The subject of this thread on Ms DCG blog is Suha Arafat, NOT the Blairs.
How insufferably boring YOU are.
here is some more;
http://www.tomgrossmedia.com/mideastdispatches/archives/000737.html
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3479937.stm
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2004/feb/12/france.israel
Kelliex xi accountant/Nutar Malti din ukoll kif kellu i-ttifel ta Gheddafi?
Who’s going to be the one to tell her we don’t pray *to* Our Lady?