Two weeks now have passed from the most shocking tragedy which Malta has ever seen: the assassination of Daphne Caruana Galizia. Already you can hear murmurs in the streets trying to compose a calm and soothing tune, trying to make us believe everything is ok. Things are not OK, these murmurs are lies. Let’s start with the biggest lie of all: “We don’t have to worry about Malta, the actions of one individual don’t speak for a whole country.” Perhaps if we had no memories, no paper and no electronics someone might slide this sly lie by. Alas, no. There have been five car bombings in Malta in this last year alone and nineteen car bombs since 2010. And every single time we whisked our worries away with “Oh but they’re criminals, they got what was coming to them.” Ah, the rot. The rot does not sit neatly along the sides unabated. While your eyes are averted it creeps slowly but surely towards the centre. The rot has crept up from the criminal underworld to kill a journalist – how long before it kills a policeman? In the same week as Daphne Caruana Galizia was assassinated, another man fired shots at a police officer and turned up in court with a blood-stained shirt. Who has to die before we accept this is a problem? Perhaps before we could claim the naivety of a young nation not knowing that if we sweep criminal violence under the carpet the blood will just seep through. But we can’t plead ignorance any more. The writing is on the wall, clear as day. It is not the action of one individual here that’s the problem (assuming always, that there is only one assassin). It’s the fault of a violent, turbulent underworld which we have pretended doesn’t exist for too long. It exists, and we can only turn our gaze away so far before we break our own necks. Let’s go for a second lie, more rare due to its disgusting nature but out there all the same: “She had it coming to her. Maybe not a car bomb, but when you write like she wrote, you’re asking for ‘trouble’.” Right, not a car bomb then- but ‘trouble’. How much ‘trouble’ would be ok? And, while we’re on the topic, does it scale down? If I make fun of a politician do I deserve to get slapped? What if I point out the uncanny likeness between our Police Commissioner and Pepe the Frog, do I get kicked in the crotch? How much ‘trouble’ is the right amount? It’s ludicrous of course, and so is anyone who believes that the right course of action in the face of speech is to assault the speaker. If someone says something you don’t like, use your words to defend yourself. After all this is a civilised country not a mafia sta- oh, wait. Now as good as a closing line as that would be I really must mention one last prevalent lie as it is so deviously easy to confuse it for a truth. The most compelling form of false-truth; the false-hard-truth, well loves because people can feel wise and stoic while spouting garbage. It goes something like his: “What happened is tragic but we can’t lay the blame at the feet of our national institutions and call them weak. Tragedies happen, and we now have to band together in this time of crisis.” Ah yes, I forgot the self-righteous bit at the end, the sheepish defence of the status quo masquerading as some kind of proud nationalism. So, firstly, are the national institutions weak? Well, no car bombing has ever been solved, tax evasion is rampant, there may or may not be (read: is) a human trafficking route going through the country, the Prime Minister did nothing about two PEPs being tied up with the Panama scandal (not to mention, of course, the ever-looming possibility that he was involved himself), foreigners are buying passports while we’re not allowed to know who they are and don’t even get me started- don’t get me started- on how our courts handle rape and paedophilia. Even the public transport is in shambles! Oh, and people are taking kickbacks from our healthcare system and clean energy so even the little we got right we got wrong. I’m going to go with a concise “Yes” on this one. Now, did it lead to our second Black Monday? Catching criminals and confiscating military-grade explosives certainly would have. And while not every problem we have may have lead us here, they are certainly leading us somewhere and I fail to imagine that it’s somewhere good. There will be more tragedies down the line, and every time we’ll point back to our faults and say “we should have fixed this!” and doubtless someone will call you partisan towards the opposition and bravely state that the status quo, regardless of who’s in power, is a golden age of peace, justice and- the most coveted of all- prosperity. I don’t know how to get this point across without making it seem blindingly obvious: this is about politics. Nobody is “making” it about politics any more than people make climate change about the weather. An investigative journalist who wrote about both political parties was victim of yet another car bomb on the anniversary of the first Black Monday – the day when a politically motivated crowd burnt down a newspaper’s offices and then beat up a rival politician’s mother. What did you think we were going to talk about? The state of the road she was on when it happened? The only way this could be more about politics is if the last story she wrote was also about politi- nope that happened. If her source for the most politically scandalous story of her career claimed to be threatened by- oh, also happened. Ok, what if her son was also involved in the story which- oh, man, there’s no way this could be any more about politics. So stop complaining about it being political! Of course it’s political. In a country where everything is political this struck you as odd? There are many national problems in this country, as outlined above, and they need to be addressed. So yes, we’re talking about politics. Deal with it. And before you even say it: it’s not divisive to criticise your country unless you make it divisive. If you take issue with the slightest change to the status quo, then yes what is coming is going to divide us. And if that’s what’s needed, then that’s ok. Unity is in no way sacred: you would not drink wine mixed with vinegar, or a sandwich with one mouldy slice. We have to cut the rot away, and if you can’t see that, well then be offended but it’s not going to make you any less wrong. You have the right to your opinion (for now) but so do all of those around you. How high is their opinion of you going to be, if you refuse to see reason? Jonathan EbejerSIERA President
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Article 3.3 of SIERA's statute, amongst other things, states that "...it believes in the following values: tolerance, inclusion, peace and respect for human rights. It shall respect as well as refrain from acting contrary to the democratic principles and fundamental human rights as embodied in the laws and constitution of the Republic of Malta". Freedom of Speech is a basic Human Right that our country and citizens ought to respect. Unfortunately, on Monday, this right was tested. The barbaric act on Daphne Caruana Galizia has impacted everyone and reactions have been mixed. Some have said the Freedom of Speech is dead, others have said it's not. I believe that freedom of speech is up to the people who wield it. . Without this fundamental right, organisations like SIERA and many others would not exist in the present day. As history denotes, all the rights we have in this day and age have come through others' sacrifices and exercises of free speech, even when society tried to take it away from them. Democracy in itself as we see it today has come through countless wars - civil and otherwise. As stated above, today we are tested. Today actions do not speak louder than words. Today our actions are our words. Words create discourse, and social changes have been built over that discourse. The discourse we shape today will impact the Maltese Islands not only in the present but in the future. That makes it our duty to remember and state that freedom of speech is not dead, because it can be found in each one of us. It is not about agreeing with someone, but about having the basic right to say 'I disagree,' or 'I agree'. Taking action means more than attending a vigil, planning or attending a protest or writing an article. It means how we act in our day to day lives. On Monday I learnt activism comes in different forms. When my mother heard the news, as soon as she saw my brothers, she set them down, and explained to them why she should have not been killed and why it is important to respect everyone's opinion, even if you disagree with them. My mother did not attend any vigil and did not go to a protest. She probably did not know that these events were being planned because she does not follow posts related to them. However she spent the time to teach her children an important lesson; a lesson of respect, tolerance and freedom of speech. That is its own version of activism. These two kids will eventually grow up and might teach this lesson to other people in their daily lives. Action starts from what we do in our day to day lives, how we treat others, and how we act when facing dark moments in our lives like the one that happened on Monday. This is why I believe it is not only our right but our duty to honour Daphne Caruana Galizia and others who throughout history have lost their lives fighting for this right. We must stand up ourselves, speak up where we see wrongdoing, voice our opinions when others attempt to silent us, and most of all exercise this precious right that each one of us should have. We Stand in honour of Daphne Caruana Galizia, We Stand for Freedom of Speech! John Charles FenechSIERA general secretary. |
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