Xenophobe Joe’s great timing
I stand by what I said in 2009: let them drown.
Joseph Muscat and his advisers clearly think that now is a great time to speak out against illegal immigration, instead of against the racist murder of an illegal immigrant.
Is it so bad for a politician (or anyone else, for that matter) to speak out against illegal immigration? Yes, it is – for the simple reason that speeches against illegal immigration are ALWAYS interpreted and construed as speeches against illegal immigrants.
And that is hardly surprising, because in essence, it’s what they really are.
There is no need to speak out against illegal immigration. It is against the law already. There are systems to deal with it. Anything that goes beyond that is an indirect attack on the illegal immigrants themselves.
What is the point of such speeches? To make illegal immigration even more illegal than it is already? To get people to feel even more hatred and resentment towards other people who are extremely vulnerable?
Joseph Muscat’s hypocrisy makes me sick. He pretends to be tickled pink for gays, but then two days later comes out angry-black about illegal immigrants.
One lot have a vote, and the other lot don’t. But more to the point, those who hate Africans have a vote too.
Muscat’s behaviour and words are absolutely shocking. Yes, they shock even me, who grew up watching Labour do its worst. Speaking on his Super One radio this morning, he said that he continues to stand by the proposals he made three years ago, when he stunned the sensible part of this nation by saying that Malta should renege on its international obligations.
To refresh your memory, this was when he said that we should ignore our obligation at law to rescue those imperilled at sea. Let the Italians do it, he said, and if they don’t, we shouldn’t either.
In other words, let people drown while we watch television and go home to supper. Yes, even children.
Bastard. There’s no other word for somebody like that. You can take the man out of the village, but you can’t take the village out of the man.
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The implication is that he will stand by those who approve his proposals. Gvern gdid will drop charges.
Right or wrong he is going to garner a lot of votes from the Maltese of all stripes as most of them do not want Malta “fuxated” with negroes whether they are vocal about it or not.
“The sensible part of this nation”, where it concerns the plight of these unfortunate Africans, is a minority.
I would rather be in a minority of non-racists than in a majority of racists.
Perhaps you are already part of a minority with a sense of entitlement to privileges while others are excluded by systematic political apartheid and glass ceilings.
Crying racist is not convincing in your case.
[Daphne – Antoine is a university lecturer, Randon. How does that make him privileged?]
Excluded from what? Cleaning toilets and collecting and sorting other people’s garbage?
Qabda melodrammi.
Precisely, Daphne. It is only those with contacts that can become lecturers at the University. Qualifications, even at the highest academic level can be quite useless there unless you have the right contacts.
You cannot deny that the University has become a club restricted to government syncophants, with a sprinkling of oppostion MPs just to make the place look unbiased.
[Daphne – Don’t talk rot, Randon. It all depends on what subject or field. Surely you are not suggesting that Dominic Fenech is there because he is a Nationalist? Antoine Vella works in a field where there are relatively few specialists. Who would you suggest replacing him with?]
Minn mindu sar jivvota PN Evarist Bartolo?
The title you gave him in the last paragraph fits him like a glove.
It is not about ‘village’, but upbringing.
[Daphne – No doubt. There are some very open-minded people in Burmarrad.]
What a heartless pig.
Poor pig. In Maltese it is “Kemm hu bla qalb.”
Hey Ciccio, brings to mind the cartoon, ‘Porky the Pig’. Always in the dippity doo, but stupidly grins through it all.
Tubby little Joey surely must relate.
Bil-Malti ukoll ghandna kelma toqghodlu sew – “poxt”.
Why was the Hon. Joseph Cuschieri MEP, Stonzus Emeritus, brusquely interrupted by the President of the European Parliament during his speech yesterday?
Please, do tell us more.
Because he was delivering a sickening speech about “illegal immigration”?
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/ep-live/mt/plenary/video?idmep=110984&page=0&format=wmv&askedDiscussionNumber=0
That is some news.
Dear Reporter, please do keep us posted with all the doings of our Brussels Sprout. Please say where can I find more about this incident.
The President had probably just read his CV. ‘A no nothing, mental retard who gave up his local parliamentary seat to present it to the unelected, new Leader of the Opposition, and in return, finally, was awarded a EU seat where his gross incompetence was quickly and aptly displayed.’
You can always follow speeches on the official website, and then choose the name of the MEP you are particularly interested in. I suggest we start a JC Supporters Club, and follow his inimitable performances in the European Parliament. I think we owe it ourselves to have some comic relief.
http://www.europarl.europa.eu/ep-live/en/plenary/search-by-speaker/by-country?country=MT&legislature=7
Il-politika tal-immigrazzjoni mhux ser jaghmlilha sowxjil impekt essessmint?
U xi jghidu shabu s-socjalisti tal-Ewropa dwar din il-politika? Mhumiex ser johorgu jikkundannawh?
Tghid shabu s-socjalisti tal-PES se jtuh xi garanzija li jgorrulu il-piz tal-immigrazzjoni?
Jew din ukoll tidhol taht il-politika barranija gdida tal-Labour ta’ “X’nigi nitmellah x’jaghmlu l-gnus barranin…”?
Joseph’s “fair society” is just that: one where there is no place for blacks.
Bla mohh u bla qalb.
Racist bigots are not restricted to villages. They can be well-travelled, too.
Yes, Joseph Muscat is a xenophobe. We’ve known that ever since the MEP interview in 2006/7, when he shouted out “Ħalluhom għaddejjin! Ħalluhom għaddejjin!”
I was in agreement with every statement on this particular post, and then I reached the final sentence. “You can take the man out of the village, but you can’t take the village out of the man”. Classism, elitism, prejudice galore, anyone from a village (like myself) must obviously be a dumb, good-for-nothing brute. You are as bad as each other.
[Daphne – I’ve lived in a hamlet of 300 people practically all my adult life, Antoine. Don’t get hysterical. My sons grew up in that hamlet.]
With regards to migration policy, the only difference I see between the PL and the PN is that the PL’s xenophobia is visible for all to see, whereas the PN pretend to shy away from racism and yet, slightly more subtly, continue to implement policies based solidly on racist attitudes and views of the world.
Daphne – I think you are making a huge leap of faith here. Anyone who is against illegal immigration isn’t necessarily a racist. I do not see the correlation, sorry.
I have black friends who entered Malta legally and never had one single issue with racism locally, until the phenomenon of illegal immigration started and Malta was being overwhelmed by the numbers.
[Daphne – What is that if not racism, Wayne? Why do they feel overwhelmed “by the numbers” if not because they’re counting the black people and seeing them as outsiders? I feel overwhelmed by the screaming, shouting, vulgar Maltese chavs in every crowded place in this country. Tough. I avoid those places, or stay home.]
The real problem with illegal immigration is not the skin colour or genetic make-up of the person but the fact that these people come in numbers in our country with hardly any education and ‘an everything to gain, nothing to lose attitude’ that is recipe for crime.
Yes you can be staunchly against illegal immigration and not being racist. I am one of them. Correlating the two, quite frankly fosters further hate and does not subdue it.
Flagging the racist flag every time someone talks about illegal immigration is what is actually adding to the frustration and dissent on this subject. If we have to bridge the divide, we have to start treating both subjects separately.
There are plenty of people here with hardly any education and ‘an everything to gain, nothing to lose attitude. Many of them are seen screaming and waving red flags at political meetings. Should we deport them or two them out and let them drown?
What do you propose, Wayne. To let them drown or send them back?
1. Put pressure on the new Libya to join the Geneva Convention, effectively making Libya internationally responsible for the well being of these immigrants.
2. In the absence of (1) or together with (1), agree with Libya on joint Italian – Maltese – Libyan patrol so that boats are intercepted in Libyan waters, and legally returned to Libyan shores from where they would have left.
Both perfectly legal and within Geneva Convention/Dublin II Treaty obligations.
I am not against legal and controlled migration but I am absolutely against illegal and uncontrolled migration.
I have a black friend of mine who has a PhD in Geophysics and entered Malta legally and works/lives here. Is he welcome in Malta? Of course.
Whoever puts skin as a reason on both sides of the argument is simply equal in fomenting irrational hate.
@ Wayne Hewitt:
You do raise some good points. However, what would you do, in the meantime, if people escaping persecution and/or certain death, enter Malta illegally? Would you let them drown or send them back because you are absolutely against illegal and uncontrolled migration?
I only ask again because you have evaded the question.
Regarding your black friend that entered Malta legally, good luck to him, and I wish him all the best. Others are not so lucky, and have to choose between risking death and “illegal immigration”. But perhaps, unlike your friend with his PhD in Geophysics, you would not welcome these other people. Why did no one ever tell me that altruism is conditional on what you can get in return?
Hardly any education?
I’m afraid you’re not familiar with the realities out there. Even the most menial of tasks are done with a sense of pride.
Add a pinch of Labour’s paranoia about jobs being pilfered from their ‘legitimate’ owners, a dark skin, a good knowledge of English, and you have it.
Trust me, I am extremely familiar with the realities out there.
The pro-rata crime rate within the immigrant community is increasing at an alarming rate, not because of their skin colour but precisely because of the ‘nothing to lose, everything to gain’ situation they find themselves into.
“Flagging the racist flag every time someone talks about illegal immigration is what is actually adding to the frustration and dissent on this subject.”
I agree with you here, Malta at 314 square kilometers cannot afford the luxury to accept thousands or millions of illegal migrants regardless of their race, even Canada or the USA will take so much per year and they have the resources to care for these people as most of them are not engineers, geophysicists or doctors no matter how much the JRS wants to hype their worth.
This is a very important matter, more so than nearly anything else these two political consider important.
I do consider the tiny and fragile and unique maltese culture worthy of existing and being swamped with other cultures and we have no say about it is no benefit.
Shouting “racist” at anyone who does not share your point of view is like the Lancomb Lady that MAD TV used to do as a skit when someone annoyed her; she would cover her ears and yell, “LA LA LA LA I don’t hear you !!”
The maltese psyche has always been of “What have to got to offer” be it the Knights of Malta or British Imperialism or the EU as these can yield some goodies sooner or later but anything south of our island is held with disdain even a Gaddafi bearing gifts.
This was not racism, it was practicality as even our 19th/ early 20th century maltese immigrant brothers had to leave North Africa because of cultural and religious persecution that was always present but it escalated to a boil once these nations got their independence, so right or wrong to the maltese, these places and their people have little worth and who can blame them.
that should read: ..these two political “parties”… in the third paragraph.
@ Ken il malti:
“I agree with you here, Malta at 314 square kilometers cannot afford the luxury to accept thousands or millions of illegal migrants regardless of their race…”
Millions? It’s this kind of talk that fans the flames of xenophobia and racism
“…even Canada or the USA will take so much per year and they have the resources to care for these people as most of them are not engineers, geophysicists or doctors no matter how much the JRS wants to hype their worth”.
Their worth. Again, its this kind of talk that fans the flames.
“I do consider the tiny and fragile and unique maltese culture worthy of existing and being swamped with other cultures and we have no say about it is no benefit”.
You should have no say about it. I am a Maltese vegetarian atheist liberal humanist. Not exactly the culture you have in mind. What if the number of people like me increase exponentially in the coming years? Would you see me as a threat to your culture? And what would you do about it?
“Shouting ‘racist’ at anyone who does not share your point of view is like the Lancomb Lady that MAD TV used to do as a skit when someone annoyed her; she would cover her ears and yell, ‘LA LA LA LA I don’t hear you !!’”
Red herring. The people that are being called racists, usually are. How otherwise would you explain the thousands of calls for freeing without trial (there is a facebook group) the Maltese soldiers charged with the murder of an immigrant while in custody, just because they are Maltese and because “no one asked the immigrant to come here”?
“The maltese psyche has always been of ‘What have to got to offer’…This was not racism”.
It wouldn’t be racism were it applied across the board, even to Maltese citizens. The last time I checked, social benefits haven’t been abolished, and I see no one complaining.
“…so right or wrong to the maltese, these places and their people have little worth and who can blame them”.
Bingo. To the Maltese these people “have no worth” and “who can blame them”? I do. My oh my. It appears you are more alien to me than most immigrants, and we’re both Maltese. Then again, we have to preserve our cultural identity, don’t we?
Isn’t it amazing how so many of these people are xenophobes and xenophiles at the same time?
Fear and loathing of some cultures, unequivocal adulation of others. Fanatical flag waving and fisticuffs for another country’s football team, (the deluge of facebook statuses in broken Italian are my personal favourite) yet willing to look the other way when people are drowning at sea because they are black or Muslim or Arab or all three at once.
Because that’s what it all boils down to – whether to save human lives or let them perish. This is not a theoretical and academic discussion of whether multiculturism works or is a good thing, this is all about “I’m all right, f**k you Jack”.
To think that we like to think of ourselves as kind-hearted and hospitable…
When their party implies the country belongs to others and that government alone can give them a sense of belonging, being a xenophobe and xenophile is one and the same.
Joseph happens to be a curious phenomenon, uneasy with British culture, adopting the worst facets of Italian contemporary culture, with his ragazze immagine straight out of Canale 5, barely hidden menefreghismo, vulgar flashy labels and admiration for the macho cliche’ who has taken to pink polo shirts to expose his softer side.
He thinks he’s an Alfista, problem is, at thirty something, he drives the wrong model, in the wrong colour. It means he couldn’t commit himself. Getting a driver is even worse.
Is Wayne Hewitt going to be an election candidate on the PN list?
Check out the story on timesofmalta.com about today’s rescue of some sick migrants on a boat. The ones not being taken to Mater Dei have insisted on the ‘right of passage’ to Sicily.
There are some prize comments beneath.
Dear Daphne, while I agree with most of what you say in the above article, I stand to differ on your conclusion when you state, “instead of against the racist murder of an illegal immigrant” in the first paragraph.
We still don’t know if this is a racially charged murder. We have had many occasions the past year where we had street protest against racism after a presumed murder of a black person only to find out after courts concluded its investigations that racism had nothing to do.
I believe such conclusions instigate racism on the minority side.
“We have had many occasions the past year where we had street protest against racism after a presumed murder of a black person only to find out after courts concluded its investigations that racism had nothing to do”.
That is one occasion, not many. As for the conclusion, that’s the jury system for you.