Now there’s a nicely educated Lilliputian. I hope it truly is his Last Post.

@ Daphne.
You are 100 percent correct on this. Definitely!

That said, I’m surprised at how quickly some Italians forgot that their own government returned migrants to Libya a few years back, and were rapped for it.

@kev – You remind me of those dreary CNI so-called eurosceptics with a veiled sarcastic twist. Your widely generic assumptions and accusations, while partially correct, can only be meant to push the JosephPL agenda regarding the EU.

The Italian philosopher’s saying, in the context of what he said before, applies more to you than to ‘Lady Deafley’ even if you both happen to live on the ‘(is)land of (taparsi) Lillies’

As to racism and xenophobia, it is mostly in the last decade that Malta has become host to different nationalities. I remember growing up in the 70s when tourism meant fair men and women from the UK. Back then, travelling was not as affordable as it is now and my parents could never afford to send me on holiday. I had to save up and wait till I was 18 to go abroad.

This meant that I grew up in a sheltered society as did many others where I was for lack of access to diversity and information totally ignorant about the world around me. Though uncalled for but I recall on a trip to Tunisia where I found the image of a woman wearing a burka fascinating and was rudely told off by an English speaking person who said they were everyone in London. I had not yet travelled to or lived in London back then and the comment I made was a private one to my then Maltese partner. I felt humiliated by the condescending attitude of the person intruding on a private conversation and there was no way of explaining to him that what other societies take for granted may have been a novelty to the average Maltese during the golden years.

The first time I actually had a conversation with a coloured man was at university. I had never had occasion to cross paths with a coloured person in my life up to the age of 20 something.

I did not turn out to be racist because my intellect and natural disposition are not that way inclined despite the prejudice Maltese society tried to instill me at the time.

However, considering Malta only got a taste of normalcy from 1987 onwards, it is not so hard to imagine that the various forms of intolerance we are now experiencing are a direct result of the abnormal, backward way of life we lived before 1987 where we needed a visa to live in most European countries, there were restrictions on the amount of cash one could take out of the country on holiday, restriction on the importation of foreign goods etc. i.e. the golden years.

I’d say given time Maltese society will adjust.

“Vaffanculo i maltesi” is as uncouth and vile as the comments posted by the Maltese idiots on Malmstrom’s facebook wall.

I live in Italy and although I do not think that Italians generally look down on the Maltese, I do believe that this issue regarding immigrants and the way that Malta has handled them has never gone down well here and rightly so, it is in breach of international obligations. Joseph Muscat has somewhat aggravated matters by his arrogant and aggressive stance towards the European Union.

As for the comments on Malmstrom’s wall – very embarrassing. I’ve only read those copied on this blog. I feel too ashamed to go and read the rest.

Meanwhile, Western governments, including the EU, dish out billions of taxpayers’ money in aid that eventually gets lost in an audit trail that doesn’t exist.

Conflict and wars create economic and political refugees, of course, and these are forced down the throats of those same European taxpayers: ‘You take them in, you hearthless morons,’ they’re told, ‘they’re now your responsibility and you must comply with EU and Intercorporational obligations.’

Meanwhile in the Land of the Lillies, Lady Deafley is alarmed at little Joseph’s insolence towards our global overlords and EU patrons who write our most important laws.

And rightly so. As this most cherished Italian philosopher says: Affanculo i Maltesi.

Now, according to Google Translate, ‘vaffanculo’ (which is the correct Italian word) means ‘fuck you’.

According to WordReference.com, it means ‘fuck you’ or ‘fuck off’.

Principal Translations / Traduzioni principali
vaffanculo (volgare) (imprecazione per disprezzo, rabbia, irritazione) – (vulgar) fuck you; (vulgar) fuck off

Ma vaffanculo!
Well, fuck you!

Plus ….

‘vaffanculo’ found in these entries
Inglese:

bugger off – fuck off – fuck you – Fuck you! – screw you – Up yours!

http://www.wordreference.com/iten/vaffanculo