Sorry, part of our nature. (culture?)

Out with Canadians! Bloody moose-hunting hockey-playing ice-fishing Canucks! Power-walking all over the place too! Can’t have that! And they’re taking over the traditional Maltese doughnut industry!

quote: [I didn’t write that, Leo. I am not qualified to comment, as I know no German. This piece was sent in by a Maltese reader who has lived and worked in Germany for around 15 years, hence his dual ‘Malta and Germany’ interest.]

Well, it was not my intention to insinuate that you wrote “systematisch zurückschicken”. I just wished to remark that the particular German expression, as written and reproduced by Regina Kerner, makes various philological interpretations possible.

quote: [.. have asked a couple of native German speakers, who share my feeling on this one ..]

quote: [Daphne – Again, not ‘my’ feeling. I am in no position to assess this.]

In which case it seems that I might be losing my command of the English language …..

As I wrote earlier, considering the 15 years of your reader, I have been working and residing in Germany for 15 x 3 years. A command of the German language was an imperative parameter in my profession as, in addition to routine duties, I often had to perform and write legally binding “Gutachten” (expertise report/s, perizja) for courts and insurance agencies. Hence, I wish to surmise that I was in a good position to fully understand the news article in the Berliner Zeitung in a rather unbiased way.

The words “Konzentration”, “Reich” & “Führer” are predominantly avoided only in one specific context.

As you most correctly write “Germans are very careful with their use of words, and especially so with words reminiscent of their inglorious past”. However, “Systematisch zurückschicken” may lead, licitly and legitimately, to various philological interpretations.

[Daphne – I didn’t write that, Leo. I am not qualified to comment, as I know no German. This piece was sent in by a Maltese reader who has lived and worked in Germany for around 15 years, hence his dual ‘Malta and Germany’ interest.]

It could of course be possible that the correspondent, who wrote the article for the Berliner Zeitung, wished to create a perception of Dr. Joseph Muscat using NSDAP methods.

In the English language, “Systematic pushback” might be a less controversial expression than in a context of inglorious German history.

I have applied Google to search for an authentic quotation of Dr. Joseph Muscat’s original words but my search was in vain. I would of course appreciate any help leading me to Dr. Joseph Muscat’s original words.

Regina Kerner, who wrote the article for the Berliner Zeitung, is a publicist based in Rome. She also contributes articles to the Frankfurter Rundschau. Both print media now belong to the M. Dumont Schauberg in Cologne. As from 1953 up to the re-unification of Germany, the Berliner Zeitung was under the control of the (communist) SED, the ruling party in former East Germany. The paper was only circulated in then East Berlin.

In the Frankfurter Rundschau, Regina Kerner wrote following: “….. Will there be any change after the Pope’s visit – to Lampedusa, in Italy’s policies, in European asylum-policies, for the refugees? Definitely not.”

Instead of policies, one could alternatively write “Politik”.

Ref: http://www.fr-online.de/meinung/papst-franziskus-besucht-lampedusa-lampedusa–die-insel-der-scham,1472602,23627160.html

You write that you “have asked a couple of native German speakers, who share my feeling on this one”. Well, in a “real existierende”, genuinely liberal democracy, it is very possible, if not probable, that other native German speakers might not share your feeling. Be it as it may.

[Daphne – Again, not ‘my’ feeling. I am in no position to assess this.]

Your reader has lived 15 years or so in Germany. I have worked professionally and I have resided in Germany since 1969. As a more or less independent political observer, I regard Regina Kerner’s article neither as negative nor as denigrating the Republic of Malta.

On a closing note, “aufstampfen”, in the context, does mean “put one’s foot down”.

A. Two years ago or so, the entire world was full of praise for Malta under the leadership of Lawrence Gonzi due to the way the island handled the Libyan crisis, in the interest of civility and humanity (contrary to the unwarranted advice of both John Dalli and Joseph Muscat at the time). Malta was considered to be a reliable country, with consequential reliability for other matters such as investment, EU partner, etc.

B. Roll forward two years, and the world is bashing us for using immigrants as human target in the immature and childish game against the EU (‘us and them’ instead of EU partners) of the amateur Joseph Muscat. This is no way different from how Hamas uses citizens as human shields against Israel,and the way the late Saddam Hussein used Western human shields to prevent intervention when he invaded Kuwait. It is the same state of mind. The international press, unlike the Maltese press, can easily read into this, since they are both professional and do not need to suck up to Muscat, for future favours. Malta is becoming a pariah state much faster than expected and will no longer be considered as reliable. This will have repercussions in other areas of the economy.

What a gem, this closing sentence.

And how on earth does he think this can be stopped? By deploying his navy?