Jeremy Boissevain on the subject of Dom Mintoff
Published:
January 29, 2012 at 11:20am
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And so say most of us.
I’m sure that “ma tantx daqqitlu għal widnejh” lil Saviour. Boissevain was a witness to all the “ħniżrijiet” of the time, the degrading of a glorious University, the infamous għoxrin punt, the nepotism towards a select few who tried to terrorise students and exert their power to keep learning under control…
And who can forget the “bully boys” Boissevain mentions who
(1) smashed the Curia and the Law Courts, with KMB on the trucks “celebrating”, (even exclaiming absurdly that “tabernaklu vojt mhux tabernaklu!”),
(2) burnt the Allied Press offices,
(3) smashed Fenech Adami’s home,
(4) hit students and lecturers at the University
(5) terrorised supporters in various mass meetings (like at tal-Barrani, Zejtun, Floriana, Mosta, Birkirkara… name the place, they were ALWAYS there),
(6) went around branding iron pipes, heavy chains, brass knuckles, guns and rifles and were never disturbed (some were even identified to the police but NO action was taken, of course Anglu SMU was in the police force then),
(7) had the SMU and the police siding with them against unarmed civilians who were professing their right to free association (because at that time the Police Force was corrupt and vile, framing up people, torturing others, “far scappare il morto” and the rest)?
The list can go on and on. Whoever had contacts abroad with journalists or Amnesty International officers was considered a spy, a Nazzjonalist mahmug ready to destroy the MLP (mind you, not Malta!) I remember some of my friends were always uneasy when I opened a PN newspaper in public. Mintoff wanted to cow us all into submission, like his many regime friends did in their respective countries.
Yet the pen has always been mightier than the sword and this irked the MLP alias PL immensely. It still does today, which explains the barrage of insults and “invocations” by the laburisti hodor writing in this blog and on many Facebook pages. When they have no solid arguments, off they go into hysterics, writing nonsense, confirming Bernstein’s theories that they possess a very poor command of language, a deficiency due to their class and upbringing; an inability to present a coherent argument in elaborate speech. Apart from the big political divide, there has always been a huge cultural chasm between one side and the other. The laburisti always sniggered at PN sympathisers and supporters. We were to be annihilated as if we were some worm that crawled from under a carpet.
I can never forget how writing on Page Thirteen on Sunday was risky. Contributors were constantly threatened. Being Nationalist was clandestine as selling alcohol during the years of prohibition. There was nothing romantic about those times. Far from being golden years, they were “anni di piombo” and the spark of violence, be it physical or psychological, loomed around us. When all that changed in 1987. I can never forget how crowds took to the streets not merely to celebrate but to exorcise themselves from the demons of the past, to breathe once more that air of freedom after those long 16 years of repression. It was a long, suffered, emotional battle… the scars are still there. I have a couple of stitches in my head to remind me that no way may I ever trust the PL (or whatever they may call themselves in the future). I just don’t trust them.
Saviour shouldn’t be on TV. Not even Favourite Channel.
His constant stuttering when he asks a question…
“Can you, can you, can you, can you, errrrr, can you, can you tell me briefly what you, you, you, you think of, of, of, of, of, errr, of, of Dom Mintoff?”
…is SO annoying.
And don’t get me started on the beard (although he seems to have shaved it recently).
Maybe his new fling didn’t like it.
[Daphne – His accent is terrible.]
how about arrigo then mind you and with all due respect for him! on the same lines you mentioned should he be in parlament !? you asshole
[Daphne – This man’s email address is hadra@talbidnija.com]
How can Dr. Toni Abela reconcile his current position of Deputy Leader of the Partit Laburista, under Joseph Muscat, with his resignation, or was it a removal, (with Wenzu Mintoff) from the Malta Labour Party in the late 80s because of the party’s violence?
How can Dr. Toni Abela agree with Joseph Muscat’s return to Mintoffianism and to the Golden Years?
Another one for Jeffrey’s clinic.
A freedom of speech that only people like Salvu S-sejf can avail of to destroy people by lies and half lies, and economies with the truth. Its not available to others like Daphne. Le, dik m’ghandiex dritt tesprimi ruha.
For people not familiar with Jeremy Boissevain, he wrote Saints and Fireworks: Religion and Politics in Rural Malta.
The book amongst other issues documents not just the inner workings of local band club politics , but importantly – an unbiased account of the MLP under the leadership during the 1960s, by somebody who was there and lived it.
My view is that Mintoff’s impact during this phase brought a positive social change to the island, but I don’t expect everybody to agree with me or likewise agree with for the wrong reasons; that would be madness.
My grandparents, both from Sliema, voted for Lord Strickland at the time. But one can’t help thinking in a alternative universe how bizare the island would have functioned socially (a trip to Trumpton springs to mind) and in terms of sovereignty, Lord Strickland would favour Malta under NATO.
[Daphne – Zanzi, re your note earlier: you are never going to find ‘personal attacks’ on Mintoff in anything to which Saviour Balzan is connected, because Saviour too comes from a family of hardcore Mintoffjani.]
Daphne who exactly do you expect to know who Jeremy Boissevain is?
Jeremy Boissevain was even a consultant to Dom Mintoff at some point in time. He knows Malta and the Maltese better then anyone else.
[Daphne – Hence his belief that Mintoff did a lot of good in the first three or four years, three or four years which included the start of his reign of terror with the forced nationalisation of the source of independent business development: private banks. With banks controlled by Labour Party thugs and stooges, businesses could be destroyed overnight or prevented from starting up. Or, in the case of friends of friends, helped.]
A treat for you all :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6PVPHxB8oA&feature=related
They are only interested in his teets.
You should have asked Saviour Balzan. Start reading books please.
Mintoff was violent and abusive even in the first three years after 1971.
He was violent and abusive even before, in the 50s.
Mela ghalhekk l-ewwel haga li tghallimt meta kont zghir, kien dan li gej;
Le,le,le lill-Duminku Mintoff ma rriduhx, assassin tal-Maltin.
U malli telgha fil-gvern fl-1971 ikkonfermajtu bil-fatti.
I bet Saviour didn`t enjoy those honest replies.
‘Mintoff was violent and abusive even in the first three years after 1971.’
‘He was violent and abusive even before, in the 50s.’
I wish some of the police of those times talk about the riots they faced in the 50s. Many Police were grievously injured. Also police stations were set on fire.
I wish Mr. De Gray (Police Commissioner at the time) were still alive to tell about his experience with Mintoff. Mr. De Gray is the man that can explain how violent the Mintoffjani were.
Thank you Zanzi, that is a nice treat !