Oh great. We now appear to be back on the side of the Near Eastern terrorists. Well, this government has certainly got its Golden Years priorities right.
MALTA MAY BLOCK EU’S PLAN TO BLACKLIST HEZBOLLAH WING, Times of Malta headlines this afternoon.
And just look at William Hague’s face as he listens to George Vella in this file picture, way before he even received the engaging news.
“A proposal by the EU to add the military wing of Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shi’ite group, to its list of terrorist organisations may be blocked by Malta during a meeting of EU foreign ministers tomorrow”, the newspaper reports.
Sources in Brussels told The Sunday Times of Malta that during technical meetings held in preparation for the meeting, Malta was reluctant to back the majority of EU member states, including the UK, Germany, France and the Netherlands.
The sources said apart from Malta, Ireland and the Czech Republic are expressing reservations on the proposal as they fear that blacklisting Hezbollah might further destabilise the region’s political situation.
Sources said Malta’s stance has nothing to do with Prime Minister Joseph Muscat’s recent threat to use its EU veto sporadically to force member states help Malta on irregular migration.
Apparently, it’s because Malta is worried about further destabilising the situation in Lebanon, and if the problems are ironed out to Malta’s liking, then Malta may well join the majority of member states and vote in favour.
Underlining that Malta’s positions are ultimately motivated by its commitment to ensure the stability of the region as well as security in Europe, the spokesman indicated it may still join the majority of member states and vote in favour.
EU blacklisting means that assets held in Europe are frozen along with relations with the EU.
Hezbollah was linked to an attack on a Bulgarian bus. Blacklisting is a way of giving a strong but civilised response to terrorist attacks in Europe.
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It makes you wish we were bombed by Israel. And damn right they would be too. The veneer of Europeanness has worn off. We’re back within the Arab fold.
And the wrong side of the Arab fold – the terrorists – just like Yasser Arafat was.
And what about the Kazakh/China connection?
An appropriate speech cloud for Hague would contain the words “Wasn’t this moron heart and soul against EU membership – the nerve of some idiots”
Ireland’s concrete contribution to peace in Lebanon since 1958: 86 Irish soldiers killed there to date – hence their concern.
http://www.thejournal.ie/irish-troops-lebanon-mission-632466-Oct2012/
Malta’s contribution to peace in Lebanon – zilch… two military officers posted for 2 months each, solely for training purposes.
All hat and no cowboy…paroli biss.
This could be the part of Joseph Muscat’s not going along with EU mainstream-ness as part and parcel of his scuppered veto tactic.
William Hague is obviously saying to himself ‘where the fuck did this guy come from?’
Just imagine if they were in government during the Libya crisis! If the handling of that crisis was Gonzi’s finest hour, the josephmuscat.com alternativei handling of it would have been our damnest.
Your email please.
[Daphne – [email protected] ]
First it’s racism, now it’s terrorism. A great week for Malta.
Not surprised at all. What should we expect from someone who was part of Labour’s golden years. The presence of Arab terrorists in Malta was also part of Labour’s golden years as ably highlighted in your linked 2011 comment.
http://daphnecaruanagalizia.com/2011/04/gaddafi-used-malta-as-a-conduit-for-terrorists/
It has always baffled me how, notwithstanding the fact that Malta was for so long the bulwark of Christianity in the Mediterranean, coupled with the fact that many of our most common surnames are clearly Jewish, that the Maltese government always has a pro-Arab and blatantly anti-Israeli stance.
Not to mention the fact that Israel is one of the strongest democracies in the Middle East.
[Daphne – Israel is not democratic as we understand ‘democratic’ to be.]
But still far better than the Arabs and Palestinians in my opinion.
[Daphne – Which ‘Arabs’?]
Palestinians are Arab. There are Israeli Arabs too.
Daphne, what do you mean ‘non-democratic’. They have instituions, elections and all the freedom (speech, etc). Can’t say the same for the neighbours.
[Daphne – Democracy is not about elections. It all depends on what institutions and no, they don’t have freedom of speech. There are restrictions and Israeli newspapers are closer to Chinese newspapers than they are to British newspapers. They also have mandatory military service (hardly democratic, hence Italy and Germany…), and the general attitude is more fascist than liberal. Minority rights are not safeguarded and human rights violations occur regularly.]
Daphne, were it not for the fact that they have conscription they would not have survived as a nation in the first place. As for newspapers, have you ever read Haaretz? Minorities actually have the same rights that the Jewish Israelis do.
[Daphne – We know that. Minorities have the same rights everywhere in the world. They’re inalienable. Whether they are protected, safeguarded and guaranteed is another matter.
It makes no sense to say that Israel would not have survived as ‘a nation’ without mandatory military service. Israel has survived as a nation since Biblical times. As a state, we’re talking a lot more recently, and it’s the state, not the nation, which can organise and enforce military service. Israel neither came into being nor survived as a result of forced military service. The reasons for that lie elsewhere.]
I wouldn’t classify the obligatory military two-year requirement as anti-democratic.
It is necessary given that Israeli surrounded by enemies. Also, it was observed that military personnel, in particular leaders, turn out to be effective business leaders later on in their lives.
[Daphne – Anything that anyone over the age of 18 is forced to do, other than the obvious basics of civilisation like pay tax if they work and maintain any children they bring into the world, is anti-democratic. When this is something that involves matters of conscience and other value judgements – and participating in the military certainly does – there is an aggravation of the anti-democratic element. Forced military service has nothing to do with ‘being surrounded by enemies’. Apart from being a non sequitur in logical terms, it is neither the reason nor suitable justification. Malta was surrounded by enemies for six years during the Second World War and there was no conscription or mandatory military service. Fundamental human rights are inalienable: you cannot use ‘being surrounded by enemies’ to force 18-year-olds to join the army, jailing them if they refuse. As for military personnel turning out to be good business leaders later in life, you have cause and effect confused. It’s not having been in the army that does that. People who are highly disciplined and organised tend to be attracted to army life. They will take those qualities with them to other fields, and will still be disciplined and organised if they go into business without first going into the army.]
The military training and disciples induces Israelis to respond quickly to crisis and take effective and quick business decisions. The success of Israel in various fields stems from the discipline and to a certain extent, the military training.
[Daphne – Rubbish. See above. People either have certain personality traits or they do not. Forced military service has caused a great deal of distress in Israel, including young people fleeing the country to avoid it, and others who were unsuited to the life suffering from mental problems and pathological anger. And you conveniently ignore the ‘success’ of conscription in the United States during the Vietnam War. How many successful business leaders are there among Vietnam vets, and how many ended up as vagrants, in asylums, alcoholics, suicidal or on drugs?]
Just look at the successful agricultural, irrigation and water preservation practices. They have the same climate as their neighbours, and yet. Israel became on the most innovative and largest agricultural exporter in the region.
[Daphne – Exactly what does that have to do with the price of eggs? Agriculture and water conservation can and are developed independently of forced military service and even democracy.]
Just to state facts about Israel. I have been there many times and I can state the facts as I have seen them. There are 44 Israeli NGOs which supply legal aid to Palestinian people who need such help.
Haaretz is one of the newspapers which are highly critical of malgovernment and it is quite left wing. It is also very critical of rabbinical interference.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YEZcPBATHAo
Mario Vella with a major headache. Remember zenga zenga?
The hypocrisy of Labour’s ‘neutrality’ and talk of stability knows no bounds. Hizbollah wants Isreal eradicated.
Labour’s anti-semitism, derived from Gaddafi’s green book, can be perpetuated in the EU, no doubt why Lowell loves this Labour.
Then there’s this joker.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jBR9XiE-mok
Again, will Labour remain silent when Egyptians take to the streets to keep these sidelined?
Muscat’s feminism stops in Malta.
The neutrality caluse in the Constituion will soon be scrapped. The Chinese are desperately shopping around for ports and harbours in the world and particularly the Mediterranean for their upcoming (slowly and low-key but surelly) strategic military role in the world.
So now Joseph has become a Hezbollah supporter?
The next stop will be North Korea, as that poor dictator is much misunderstood.
This is exactly the right way to destroy Malta’s image. Joseph has absolutely no idea of what international relationships mean and how they effect the economy and public perception of a country.
Support Hezbollah and we can say goodbye to a great deal of what has carefully been built up.
Once again, we’re in the news for the wrong reasons. Slowly but surely, they’re steering Malta off the European course.
Lest we forget, Hezollah are currently helping Bashar al-Assad, Syria’s president, slaughter his own people.
People wondered what Malta would have done had Labour been in power during the Libyan war.
Well, now we have the answer. They would have supported Gaddafi to the hilt in the name of stability.
Incidentally, stability is what the Chinese are always harping on about. At home and abroad, stability takes precedence over individual rights, the rule of law and pretty much everything else. Anything which promotes stability is welcome and anything which threatens it is despised.
And now there’s this:
http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20130721/local/Malta-slacks-human-right-duties-in-China.478803
It all comes of not having a foreign policy. For we have none. We just have Begger-Bowl Diplomacy.
So Labour is against blacklisting Hezbollah because it would destabilise the situation in Lebanon?! Since when has Malta had a position on Lebanon? And does this mean we now have a position on Syria too? But I thought we were newtrali u hbieb ma’ kullhadd.
On China, I would expect nothing but the lowest grovelling from the government of Malta, for we will always be, at heart, a nation that whores itself.
But from the University of Malta, that nest of fine, upstanding academics signing declarations in defence of the rights of refugees, I would have expected better. In Juanito Camilleri’s place I would have sent the Maltese government to hell before setting up an institute of quack Chinese medicine. And if it was the UOM itself that sought the deal, well the, they’re worse than I thought. I’ve seen more moral fibre at the bottom of a petri dish.
Labour is going to resolve the problems of the Middle East. You’d better believe it. They put in their electoral programme, and this government says it delivers.
hmm.. “solve the problems of the Middle East”.. I wonder where that gem came from?
As to UOM, I wonder what any Ethics course would make of the current going-ons, or even Logic course for that matter. What does it say about a person heading an institution when that person accommodates compromise as a recompense and bolster for his position and not for the betterment of quality of that institution?
Joseph’s positioning is to me extremely deliberate: it is the only way he can give himself permission to do anything he wants. Ethics and Logic do not fit his style of “governing in poetry.”
“Why not?” policies do not fit with logic but with possibility and provocation: hindsight logic destined to be a chance benefit if it works, but one that would have pivoted on any convenient alternative with the most expedient mix of ingredients. Any time a new ingredient enters the mix, this becomes the license to switch to a new recipe or arrangement. Ethics are frowned upon as old-fashioned and conformist: weighing unnecessarily on the ‘change process’ for the movement.
“All options kept open” policy works on the same basis. He currently thinks this is being ultra-modern. He is not new to the process, but it’s another thing altogether to be directing your own? The shedding of existent values seems attractive initially, but the evil worms its way in from the start. The agenda of those providing the enticing mix of new ingredients very rarely undergoes due diligence in the excitement of all the newness, and leeway.
The sub-structure of mini-pyramids is formed. Quite an evolution already. The bottom forever open and the top already experiencing power push and pulls.
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The title “hypothesis of evil” is an interesting one. Here we have a “cacophany of evil” with almost all other journalists and media reporters shutting off and not having any interest in looking towards its roots and naming it for what it is. As a public figure and journalist, Daphne is the only one with guts, and with the courage to look at the nitty-gritty.
For that inconvenience she is brandished with slurs and insults. Only to be expected at a certain level. Only those on that other side cannot see the effect produced by such counter-productive and infantile insults.
If only Malta had more of her sort
Other journalists seem to have forgotten the reason for their existence.
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I always try to see which fairy tale would resemble a situation. In this case, I would say Malta resembles the fairy tale of Sleeping Beauty and that Prince Charming will have to cut through many acres of thorns to be able to plant that kiss and wake the nation from its poisoned 100-year slumber.
Many Arab nations (namely the UAE, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia) already recognize Hezbollah as a terrorist organization.
Refusing to back the blacklisting of Hezbollah isn’t ‘siding with the Arabs’. It is siding with terrorists who strap suicide vests to women and children and chant ‘death to Israel, death to America’.
George Vella has been a disaster since day one. Perhaps it would be in the national interest to smell the coffee and push him back to Zejtun.
Muscat clearly has a problem with Vella.
The previous US ambassador had underlined how Vella had done all the talking and Muscat just sat there, trying to get a word in edgeways.
I bet Qatar and other Gulf states, potential investors in Muscat’s energy strategy, won’t be too happy.
Labour going for ‘stability’ instead of sending the right messages to those people hijacked by Hizbollah’s blackmail, so what’s new?
Labour would have been capable of striking a secret pact with the mafia to ensure stability.
Universal human rights never outweigh political stability with Labour. Of course they’d have sided with Gaddafi, as they will with North Korea.
They’re different, an anachronistic alien cancer.
Potential investors in Qatar and the Gulf states are wasting heir time. The power station’s Chinese.
So what’s the gas? I mean, 80% of costs are related to shipping and interfacing with the supply terminals.
Which is why Qatar and Edison have reverted to an offshore network, reducing shipping to a minimum and gaining trading ground in northwest Africa.
Muscat has to come clear what he meant that he’s for both strategies, ie. having an LNG tanker until the pipeline’s in place. There’s one in drydock at the moment, albeit no more than 90,000 cbm. We’re looking at one twice its size then.
He may have fooled the Maltese, doing the opposite of what he promised, not so sure the Chinese will do the same.
Nothing surprising about the possibility of Muscat “striking a secret pact with the mafia” when a predecessor MLP Prime Minister declared publicly that he wouldn’t object to a pact with Lucifer himself.
Isn’t that the real reason why the electorate was cheated with the false promise that this is some “new” Labour and that it shouldn’t look back to the dismal record of the 70s and 80s? Well that is where we have already arrived after only a couple of months.
A dinosaur at an EU summit.
For the umpteenth time…ashamed to be Maltese..
A government of extremists. From stamping its feet, to pushbacks and violation of fundamental human rights, to allying itself with terrorists.
“L-aqwa fl-Ewropa.”
Imagine what could have happened if Joseph Muscat were Prime Minister during the Libyan crisis.
Malta would have been made to make an ass of itself (early, as it turns out).
We’d be entering our third year of international sanctions as the Maltese government refuses to hand Gaddafi over to the International Criminal Court. The evil Merkins and Frogs, bless ’em, would have baulked at bombing Malta.
What evil Merkins? http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=merkin
What took 30 years to build has been demolished in 2 months. This is truly sad.
Very well said, except it took this incompetent lot less than 2 months to demolish all the good work of GonziPN. No wonder, I have always felt I was born in the wrong place. What a sad island to live in. I have never ever understood those who felt proud to have been born here.
http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2013-07-22/news/black-economy-increased-after-introduction-of-vat-sant-2134245376/
Yes, and Muscat promised to reduce controls amongst which the removal of prison sentences for repeat offenders.
Anyone doubt what his ihalluna nahdmu meant?
Second time in a week Sant’s taking to the press, what’s going on?
Sant is planning to contest the EP elections. Labour plans to announce its candidates this week.
Ah, hence the evil merkin reference.
Doesn’t he remember the mess which there was after the introduction of his CET baby? That was when there was a real explosion of the black economy!
http://www.maltatoday.com.mt/en/newsdetails/news/national/Government-to-do-away-with-regional-local-plans-20130722
Basically, one can propose a business highrise next to the water tower overlooking Wied iz-Zurrieq, or a covered stadium adjacent to the Mosta dome.
On with the ‘showrooms’, business ‘regeneration’, multi storey car parks and mixed development which destroyed this country’s social fabric, making everywhere the ultimate non-luogo. Nowhere’s safe, unless you live in a gated community of course.
All, yes ALL, environmental organisations crying foul, AD in an utter panic and Martin Scicluna tripping over himself to spout all the ‘harsh’ terms in his vocabulary.
You knew this, all of you. Unless you were gullible enough to believe what he said and ignore what he wouldn’t.
Which makes all of you amateurs.
Sorry, amateurs? Idiots and blockheads suit them much better to me.
http://www.independent.com.mt/mobile/2013-07-21/news/malta-has-certain-reservations-against-eus-blacklisting-of-hezbollah-2124152840/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuqe_hyc_H0&feature=youtu.be&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Dwuqe_hyc_H0%26feature%3Dyoutu.be