The year which is now in its swan song was bitter/sweet but undoubtedly with a larger dose of bitter. December had a sweet taste thanks to the Paris agreement on climate change. Present and future generations could perhaps be spared a climatic catastrophe. Our planet’s resources will perhaps be better used due to two less known accords about sustainable development signed in July and September. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon hailed this as a universal, integrated and transformative vision for a better world.

But during 2015 the dark clouds have undoubtedly overshadowed the proverbial silver lining. This year will be remembered more for the rampant terrorism by Isis and ethnic or religious persecution rather than for these three international accords.

Europe had to face the biggest refugee crisis since World War II. A number of visionary political leaders, particularly Angela Merkel, prevented Europe from completely reneging on the basic values which are entrenched in its foundations.

While all persecution is to be condemned and resisted, and in several of my articles I highlighted the plight of different religious and ethnic groups, I would like, in the last commentary for this year, to make a heartfelt appeal for Christians of the Middle East who are facing extinction.

On December 17, Lithuania become the first EU country to legally describe as genocide the persecution of Christians in the Middle East mainly by Isis. The Lithuanian Parliament almost unanimously approved a resolution calling on the UN and the European Parliament to recognise the plight of Christians in the Middle East as an act of genocide and to act in accordance with the UN Human Rights Convention. This is considered to be a very important diplomatic step which is expected to put pressure on the European Parliament to debate the persecution of Christians as a genocide.

Last Monday, 66 UK MPs and members of the House of Lords wrote to Prime Minister David Cameron urging him to “use all the influence of Her Majesty’s Government at the United Nations to obtain an agreement that the word ‘genocide’ should be used” in relation to the atrocities being committed in Iraq and Syria.

Will the Maltese government present a similar motion before our Parliament to apply more pressure so that the UN and EU would help Christians in the Middle East? If the government is not forthcoming, will the Opposition or some independent MP present a private members motion? Will Maltese MEPs join others to force the European Parliament into action? Can they please declare their positions and intentions?

Newspeak is now the official language of Malta

The local front was characterised by an economy that continued to perform well and by a decrease in the number of jobseekers. Both aspects are most important but since humans do not live by bread alone, these successes should not alienate people from serious outrages happening around us. As the head of the Chamber of Commerce said, good governance is in freefall, while, one could add, meritocracy and transparency have been thrown out of the window.

But the worst development is the systematic and planned corruption of public discourse. The ambiguous use of words, never allowing clear and definitive meaning so that one can shift their meaning according to circumstances has been raised to the status of an art form. Newspeak is now the official language of Malta.

The year will undoubtedly end on a very bad note for the workers of De la Rue who will lose their jobs as a result of a multi-million investment programme by the company. There are many other people who because of their personal difficult situations – just remember that the number of poor people in Malta is on the increase – will find it difficult to enjoy Christmas or look forward with optimism towards the new year.

Faced by the bad and the ugly on the personal, local and international fronts, one can tend to forget the good and resort to apathy, cynicism and indifference as a way of keeping one’s sanity.

In this year’s message for the World Day of Peace, Pope Francis warned against destructive cynicism and suffocating indifference.

I particularly found relevant the Pope’s comments on the way people manage their media use, as this highlights one on the inherent contradictions of contemporary media-dominated culture. We are soaked in media coverage which should, at first blush at least, make indifference a non-option. We know and can therefore get involved, the theory states. But this is not always the case.

“The information glut can numb people’s sensibilities and to some degree downplay the gravity of the problems,” says Pope Francis. Years ago, sociologist Charles Wright had also warned that too much media usage could make one become apathetic and indifferent. He had used a tough word: narcotisation.

This process is happening among us. Evidence of this was handed to me by a senior local journalist, who admitted that people are so getting used to stories about scandals that he sometimes faces the temptation not to give the deserved coverage to reports about them since they mushroom every week. As the Pope notes, there are cases where the media glut-induced indifference shows itself in lack of concern for what is happening around us, especially when it does not touch us directly.

Others, the Pope says, prefer not to ask questions or seek answers. This happens when such answers challenge choices we have made in the past or which we are benefitting from in the present. Others prefer to know without really caring as they watch “mechanically and without engagement. Indifference towards what happens around us leads to lack of commitment”.

All this has to be aggressively resisted if we really want a better new year. So here’s looking at you, kid!

PS: The title is adapted from the 1942 film Casablanca. The concluding line is as found in the film, before my adaptation in the title.

joseph.borg@um.edu.mt