Allan Gatt, Birkirkara
Degradation of immigrants
Maurice Mizzi, in his letter titled Immigration Dangers (October 23), deals with immigrants the same way housewives do with mice in the pantry: "Eek!! Filthy little beasts! Somebody do something!" I am sorry to have to interrupt his potpourri correspondence with his pen-pal I.M. Beck, but I feel he has molested the laws of reason far enough.
Somali Islamists whip women for wearing bras, explains Mr Mizzi, so it stands to reason that illegal immigrants are sub-human misogynists who should be kicked out of Malta. Apart from being an untested assumption of agreement, this is an example of a rhetorical fallacy known as "seeking proof in anecdote", and all it demonstrates is that Somalia has its fair share of bigots and religious fanatics; a reality true of most countries, including ours. Another instance of this fallacy is culled from one of Mr Mizzi's earlier letters: "In which religion are women given 40 lashes just because they wear trousers or are seen kissing a man in the street? In which religion do people plan to blow up three airliners killing thousands of innocent passengers including women and children?" I could very well counter with: "In which religion is it common practice for a man to be a saint on Sunday and a hypocrite on Monday?" or "In which religion has most propaganda, persecution and war been levied?" Mr Mizzi should get a hold of his prejudices, or - oh happy thought! - quit spewing them altogether.
The Consul General of Iceland also moonlights as a private investigator: "Immigrant women are arriving in Malta in a pregnant state. Is there more than meets the eye to this?" Don't waste time looking for clues, Sherlock Holmes; I have your answer right at hand. They are so desperate to ensure a decent standard of living for themselves and their children that they are willing to risk a dangerous sea journey to give birth on Maltese soil. If you can't see that for yourself, then you should fix yourself up with a stronger magnifying glass.
"[Another] worrying aspect is the lack of people writing about these immigrants. Am I the only Maltese who is seeing the danger?" "About" them? Try "in favour of". The final degradation immigrants must face is the image people like Mr Mizzi have of them. It pits them against the assembled forces of public resentment and keeps them in the dirtiest and lowest-paying jobs. Having imposed this indignity, lotus-eaters like Mr Mizzi then theorise about it. They do not see it as the tragic work of transnational corporate hegemony or as a social product. Rather, the racial segregation of the immigrants reflects their "natural" character: aggressive, shiftless, irresponsible, and so on. So prejudice becomes self-justifying. It creates miserable conditions and then cites them as a rationale for unfounded judgment calls.
Mr Mizzi quotes Giovanni Falcone saying that: "He who is silent and bows his head dies every time he does so". He would do better to remember David Carradine's advice from the TV series Kung Fu: "The wise man always walks with his head bowed, humble as the dust".
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Joe Xuereb
Nov 1st 2009, 11:37
3) Cont./
Just so as to show how the manipulator's mind works, please allow me. When I commented on the girl's murder I mentioned she was a Turkish Kurd. After I went into the Iraq question, my detractor threw in her red-herring and tried to deflate me by pointing out the girl was a Turkish Kurd not an Iraqi Kurd. Rage blinds people even if facts stare them in the face. Turkish or Iraqi or Syrian or Iranian, a Kurd is a Kurd is a Kurd. An unfortunate people occupying the four adjoining corners of four troubled countries. Remember Halabja, in Iraq? Quite.
And no, I do not believe that America's scramble for oil is the cause of the world's problems. Any more than I believe that 9/11 was an inside job.
Joe Xuereb
Nov 1st 2009, 11:35
2) cont./
I recently had the temerity to comment on an honour-killing in London. A young girl of 15, a Shia Turkish Kurd, fell for a Sunni man. She had to die. I foolishly drew a parallel between this and the American and British troops in Iraq and what would happen if they left. The counter-attack came fast and immediate. I was called a rightwing, warmongering, racist propagandist. The attacker, a Christian, went on to say that Saddam was strictly secular. I posted these three links in reply awaiting an apology. None came. These Christians are hard-wired. They still hark back to the times of the Crusades and to them, all this is payback time. Give me a Bush administration over a Saddam any time. Not perfect but hey! I have to survive somehow.
I dare anybody to tell me that the troops in Iraq should be withdrawn so the country may stabilise. The only good thing about religions is that they can be at loggerheads with other belief systems or within the one system itself. As in this case. This proves, if any were needed, that the whole tooth-fairy business is indeed a tragic farce.
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/487661/9_11_ruien_saddam_hussain_praying_to_allah/
http://www.metro.us/us/article/2009/10/25/20/3704-72/index.xml
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/gallery/2009/oct/29/pakistan-terrorism
cont./
Joe Xuereb
Nov 1st 2009, 11:30
1) Terrorism is not monopolised by Arabs/Muslims/whoever. My mother terrorised me when she threatened 'il-bambin igiblek in-nar jekk ma toqghodx' or Ronnie ta' Mananni who stole my chocolate in the schoolyard. Major terrorism at that age.
I think we are wired to terrorise. And to overcome such. Maybe to choose the lesser of two evils.
continued.
Raymond Sammut
Nov 1st 2009, 11:02
Allan Gatt -- "If you can't see that for yourself, then you should fix yourself up with a stronger magnifying glass." It is you, Mr Gatt, who needs the magnifying glass. You need to do some reading of the many reports issued by the BBC on trafficked women from the Horn of Africa, and how they get pregnant by the time they reach the EU. That you should make such an ignoble reference to a diplomatic official on Malta. Let's hope Iceland can steer clear of the EU and save itself from another catastrophe. Iceland has had the wisdom, for example, to expel McDonald restaurants, and for the first time in years, the new restaurants are now sourcing onions from local farmers instead of from Germany. Well done Iceland. This is truly the way forward for you. Be in charge of your own economy, and laws and regulations. Take no orders from Brussels or from anywhere.
gaffarena joseph
Nov 1st 2009, 10:51
I, have to thank Mr, Mizzi, for the way he expressed how he feels about these illegal invaders
that are causing this great dilemma to our economy and our culture.
Is, Mr Gatt living in Malta or in a paradise island.What else these illegals want,?
Now we are seeing them working in nearly all sectors ,yes, they have bank accounts,yes they have a car, and yes some of them are living a better way of life than some of our locals.
Joe Xuereb
Oct 31st 2009, 19:42
It is said 'pigs might fly'. And rats too. I smell one high up in the firmament, a promised space.
ISur Gatt, if I were struggling to manage, with kids, bills etc. and paying taxes so that immigrants (legal or not, no matter) lounge on village benches and go to the bank to deposit their money, I think it would be understandable for me to resent them. Yes, for them to put money in their bank Iwould be my business. And that, only assuming they are working (illegally?) and earning 'substantially', if exploitatively. Enough to open deposit accounts in any case. More to the point, if they are NOT
employed. In which case their deposits, albeit less, are from handouts. The first take my jobs (therefore richer), the second live off my taxes. Which is worse? Take your pick. I'd be angry Mr. Gatt. And I can afford to have this perspective because I am not blinded by a promised heaven, and for me, ways of getting there, or not getting there, aren't an issue. Atheism gives a clarity of vision afforded to few. Problem solved. And not a guilt feeling in sight. As pragmatism wins the day. Every day.
Emma Xerri
Oct 31st 2009, 16:29
It is safe to say that Allan Gatt and the like do not have any children, otherwise they would be whistling another tune.
The money 'earned' and 'spend' in our country many times comes from taxpayers’ money or from jobs that could have gone to a fellow Maltese at a decent wage. Instead we have the immigrants to undercut the price of labour.
This is the reason why immigration is so beloved of the business classes - they do not care where the money comes from as long as it is being spent in their establishments and when they want to find cheap labour, they can also.
In a nutshell, this is the true reason for immigration. All the hiding behind the pious charity is just a front to deceive the gullible. Simply put, immigrants are good business.
The ones that are being short-changed in this deal are the hard-working honest man and women in this country their children and all their descendants into perpetuity. They are the ones who will have to compete for jobs in a dwindling job market with the children of these immigrants in the future.
The proverbial rug is being pulled from underneath our feet.
lgalea
Oct 31st 2009, 10:10
Allan Gatt
They should not have earned it in Malta in the first place because it should have been earned by Maltese workers in our own country.
Secondly it is money going out from our economy to other countries.
The WE is the vast majority of Maltese citizens who have time and again shown they are against illegal immigration and want all illegal immigrants expelled out of Malta.
Its protection for ourselves and our families not hatred as you refer to it. Charity begins at home Allan. If you don't believe in it then go to the illegal immigrants countries and help them there. For the vast majority of true Maltese citizens they are simply invaders who must be repelled at all costs.
C.Zarb
Oct 31st 2009, 00:41
We should open the gates to all illegal immigrants while making their/our former colonists happy by forcing them here and send them to prison if they try to leave. If we don't have neither the space nor the resources to integrate these poor beings well, tough luck. As long as we don't allow them to go to Europe then we should be happy..
Allan Gatt
Oct 30th 2009, 23:25
"Mr Gatt from Birkirkara, I suggest you come down to Tower road in Sliema and watch the illegal immigrants shopping ,and depositing their wages in the bank or sending money earned here, abroad."
SO WHAT? What do you care what they do with their money??? It's their money, isn't it? They earned it!!! I couldn't care less if they spent it all on shoelaces and Hot Wheels trucks.
"We have no room for illegal immigrants African, Russian or otherwise."
Who's this WE you talk about? Please specify. I hope you're not counting me in on your little party plans. I want no part in them.
"Whoever feels strongly about their plight should pack up their bags and get down to the nitty gritty in African or wherever their help is needed.Perhaps you can join that very wonderful organization, Medicin sans Frontiers."
There's something else that's without frontiers it seems...and that is the blind and rabid hatred of man against man.
Joe Xuereb
Oct 30th 2009, 22:45
Medecins sans frontieres does not have much good to say about the way Malta is running the Detention Centres. However, MSF, of all people, should be familier with Gericault's masterpiece 'The raft of the Medusa' (the Louvre, Paris) and its terrifying isssymbolism.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Raft_of_the_Medusa
Gatt, for someone who writes a 'decent' letter, I find it very strange and disturbing - so to speak because nothing disturbs me - that you should seek to detract and demolish the issue by saying, among other things, 'babies cost money too. Should they be culled?' Very weird indeed. You will not convince many with that sort of take. I presume you find it quite easy to convince yourself though. Gosh!! Bottoms up indeed. Becoming ever so familiar in Malta, that from what I understand.
Bill Khan
Oct 30th 2009, 21:12
The BBC panorama program recently showed the Libyan desert route littered with bodies of young men trying to make it to the west. Some were only a few days old.
Allan Gatt has highlighted the fierce opposition to these immigrants and the treatment meted out to them as if they were rodents.
The plight of the immigrants is horrendous. The plight of our society full of hatred is even tougher.
Ryan Dalli
Oct 30th 2009, 20:38
Good work Allan Gatt :)
pat camilleri
Oct 30th 2009, 20:27
MR mizzi is as usual spot on with his comments. He speaks for a lot of us. Allan Gatt should go to the various countries these illegal immigrants come fro, and do a bit of voluntary work. We do not want illegal immigrants on these islands no matter where they from.
Allan Gatt
Oct 30th 2009, 18:19
"Their desperation or otherwise has nothing to do with overpopulating a small island with aliens who become a burden on resources."
As opposed to what? Fanny-packed English yobs getting horribly drunk and singing rugby songs until the early hours? Those are always welcome, of course.
"THE VAST MAJORITY OF MALTESE CITIZENS WANT THEM EXPELLED."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_they_came...
"These people are cutting into Malta's resources and if you happen to look at the budget report this morning, it doesn't look too good."
So do babies, buddy. They contribute nothing to the economy. Why don't you get rid of THEM?
"I guess you are too young to remember WWII, and know what the Maltese people had to go through to hang on to their freedom."
I am also too young to remember when our country turned into a nation of hate-mongering racists with ostensibly Catholic pretensions. But perhaps you can remind me, old timer. Tuck me in and read me a story.
Bottoms Up!
clare spiteri
Oct 30th 2009, 17:48
Degradation of Immigrants?Are we talking about the same illegal immigrants that have invaded this small island.?Mr Gatt from Birkirkara, I suggest you come down to Tower road in Sliema and watch the illegal immigrants shopping ,and depositing their wages in the bank or sending money earned here, abroad. People are engaging illegal immigrants to work without permits. Why not Mr Allan Gatt, pop up to Balzan as there, sitting on the benches which used to be occupied by the local old men and passing tourists, you will see illegal Africans slouching , looking remarkably well dressed and well fed by the nuns of Good Shepherd, the same nuns who used to look after needy Maltese.Mr Mizzi you espress what a lot of people feel.We have no room for illegal immigrants African, Russian or otherwise. Whoever feels strongly about their plight should pack up their bags and get down to the nitty gritty in African or wherever their help is needed.Perhaps you can join that very wonderful organization, Medicin sans Frontiers.
Joe Xuereb
Oct 30th 2009, 17:10
The Crusaders, I believe, were about reclaiming places sacred to Christendom. And yet some condemn this and apologise for the spread of Islam. Tit-for-tat kindergarten schoolyard stuff. Apologists are, I'd dare presume, Christians (of sorts). They do not see the irony of their stance. Bizarre. Very bizarre. Maybe they really believe that when it comes to the crunch, they will be permitted to go happily on their way, unmolested. We are told that this is what happened a thousand years ago. My feeling is that, this time round, things will be somewhat different.
DVella
Oct 30th 2009, 16:40
Allan, you left out the bit where the housewife jumps onto the table before screaming!!
Allan Gatt
Oct 30th 2009, 15:42
Necessity knows no law, Mr D. You gotta do what you gotta do.
Let's see YOU going through the proper channels if you were as desperate as they are. Hah!
Allan Gatt
Oct 30th 2009, 15:37
Hey, Joe, I'm sorry I don't have a pretty picture for you to moan about this time round. A thousand apologies, o illustrious one.
Phil Humphries
Oct 30th 2009, 14:45
This was how the UK's intellectual classes used to think in the 1950's.... and look what happened there.
Eric Soames
Oct 30th 2009, 14:26
Allan Gatt: Their desperation or otherwise has nothing to do with overpopulating a small island with aliens who become a burden on resources.
Joseph Calleja
Oct 30th 2009, 13:28
Mr Gatt if you are so concerned and want to help, why not go to Iran, Somalia, Iraq, China and all the other countries and ask them why they mistreat their men and women. When the Maltese wanted freedom, they fought for it and so do other citizens in other countries. I guess you are too young to remember WWII, and know what the Maltese people had to go through to hang on to their freedom. All freedom comes at a price and so does illegal immigration. These people are cutting into Malta's resources and if you happen to look at the budget report this morning, it doesn't look too good.
lgalea
Oct 30th 2009, 12:49
Allan Gatt
Are we supposed to feel pity for the economic invaders who are invading OUR country and living like leeches on OUR taxes and destroy our social services, bringing their tribal warfare to Malta and possibly also cater for the potential millions that want to do so?
NO WAY ALLAN. THE VAST MAJORITY OF MALTESE CITIZENS WANT THEM EXPELLED.
martin borg
Oct 30th 2009, 12:38
@ allan gatt
well done for a balanced criticism of Mr. Maurice Mizzi's latest offering on immigration (of the African kind).
@ maurice mizzi
Dottor Falcone was referring to the omerta' surrounding the Mafia in Sicily when he said the famous words you quoted in your latest contribution.
Perhaps you may find the quotation below to be more apt to the local scene.
'A nation is a society united by a delusion about its ancestry and by common hatred of its neighbours.' William Ralph Inge .
As for your equating Islam with lashings terrorism etc. may I remind you of the innumerable victims of Christian instigated Crusades, pogroms and dulcis in fundo the Inquisition.
No Mr. Mizzi, people in glass houses should not throw stones.
H Dempster
Oct 30th 2009, 11:56
Illegal Immigrants remain illegal since they have come to our island without passport, so mr gatt it is useless beating around the bush.
Joe Xuereb
Oct 30th 2009, 10:49
And the very, very wise man could go one further. He could bury his head that much deeper in the sand and sleep easy at night.
James Ghirlando
Oct 30th 2009, 10:48
Well said!