Malta Tourism Spot: Vice News interviews Joseph Muscat and Norman Lowell regarding the Mediterranean Migrant Crisis

Vice News is an American based broadcasting channel that regularly covers contentious topics that are often ‘overlooked’ by other main media outlets. With documentaries and news updates on key issues such as the Ukrainian crisis, North Korea and Islamic State, this channel has recently released a documentary on the Mediterranean Migrant crisis, in which Malta and Norman Lowell feature prominently in it.

This would be the time where you duck under your desk or coffee table and cringe tightly at the next twelve minutes or so. Vice News has just brilliantly covered the harsh reality of the Mediterranean migrant crisis, and includes phenomenal marketing for Malta as an Island nation that does not do much for these migrants, but instead focuses on the foreigners that are assisting these stranded souls at sea. Oh, and make sure that you watch the extra YouTube interview with Norman Lowell, the cringeworthy one where Maltese people appear to be racists…or as Norman Lowell brands it ‘Racialists’.

However, I secretly really wanted Vice News to interview the other radicals in Malta, such as those environmentalists that rallied to stop the imminent construction and destruction of Zonqor Point. Alas, Norman Lowell will have to do for now.

Below is the link to the full 12 minute short documentary called ‘The Smartest Guy in the Sea’ by Vice News. It includes interviews by Simon Ostrovsky with the Mediterranean Offshore Aid Station (MOAS) crew and founders, and Maltese Prime Minister Joseph Muscat.

https://news.vice.com/video/the-smartest-man-in-the-sea?utm_source=vicenewsyoutube&utm_medium=video&utm_campaign=relatedvideo

Below is the interview with Norman Lowell, or as Simon Ostrovsky describes him “a White Supremacist”, with beautiful comments such as ‘treason’, ‘gun boats’. ‘the church started this business’, and (my personal favourite) ‘Terraform Mars‘.

Bigotry and Selfishness: What the last two weeks have taught us about the Maltese

They say that bad situations bring out the worst in people. Truth be told, I agree with this statement, but I would never have imagined it to be also relevant to an entire nation. The past two weeks have exposed some truly unsettling aspects of the Maltese demeanour.

Photo credit: MaltaRightNow

I have personally had a hard time this April. First and foremost, we lost the spring hunting referendum, a very personal blow which left a bitter taste in my mouth. This week was also extremely frustrating, with the horrific news circling the tragedies happening in the Mediterranean, leaving me with a helpless feeling at the face of absolute tragedy.

However, the cherry on this not-so-edible cake has to be the intolerance some Maltese people have been churning out on various online platforms.

The tale starts with the aftermath of the spring hunting referendum results. While this issue and illegal immigration are totally unrelated, it did not stop the Yes voters from throwing these poor souls in the crossfire. I had written about that colourful instance in which Yes voters berated foreigners who threatened to boycott Malta, by comparing spring hunting to abortion. At the time, these people felt that the international media should not focus on the issue of spring hunting, but instead focus on more interesting issues such as immigration.

I have reproduced some of these comments below, showing the way these people dehumanise immigrants.

Comments reproduced under a Newsbook article.

Comments under a MaltaToday article

It is unfathomable that there are still people out there that can be so hateful in the face of such tragedy. These self-stylised ‘patriots’ (such as that twat who is afraid of eating fish as they might be contaminated with drowned immigrant ebola) just keep on coming of the woodwork, with their racist rants about how we should leave these ‘cockroaches’ to drown, and how much it is going to costs us to clean up OUR seas from their bodies.

We pride ourselves as being one of the most generous nations in the world. We donate money to L-Istrina and to Puttinu Cares, and we brag about it on social media to bully others into being more philanthropic. But how many of us out there are truly generous and selfless? How many of us would actually go to a detention centre in Malta and give a hand to those in need? As opposed to pretending to sympathise with the plight of these immigrants, why not do something tangible about it?

While good gestures are always welcome, it is useless donating bouquets of flowers to the decaying corpses of these immigrants, and for the President to visit the morgue and observe a minute of silence. It is useless pretending to care when deep down the vast majority of Maltese people harbour a deep seeded sense of hatred to these so-called ‘invaders’.

Immigrants have been drowning at our shores for decades, but the sheer magnitude of tragedies reached a pinnacle in this recent week. While the Prime Minister may call this a genocide in the international media, Maltese people have been committing character assassinations of asylum seekers in Malta for years.

If anything, these past two weeks have exposed this class of selfish and racist people in Malta. They may walk behind the Qalb ta’ Gesu, celebrate their village feast with four gallons of beer in their system, and donate money to cancer ridden children, but they are completely rotten to the core.

These are mostly the same people that voted yes to keep their addiction, by standing next to those genuine law-abiding hunters and calling it a tradition. These are probably also the same people that would leave a black child to drown while they joyfully suck at their beer bottle and polish their shotgun.

Will the Maltese government sanction the destruction of Malta’s ‘Tropical Rainforest’?

In December of 2013, the Maltese government received 21 proposal following a call for expression of interest in land reclamation. Amongst the most desirable areas is Bahar ic-Caghaq, an area in the north west of Malta which houses protected Posidonia oceanica seagrass meadows and a Marine Protected Area. Do you think the Maltese government will sanction such a development?

Posidonia oceanica seagrass meadows are the Mediterranean’s equivalent to the Amazon’s tropical rainforests: they provide a unique habitat and ecosystem for countless endemic marine species, they absorb considerable amount of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere offsetting climate change, the produce oxygen that supplies coastal ecosystems, and they have been found to be the oldest living organisms in the world at a recorded age of 100,000 years off the coast of Formentera and Ibiza. All in all, they are a spectacular wonder of the Mediterranean sea, that according to the IUCN Red List, are protected by the EU Habitats Directive, the Bern and Barcelona Conventions at the European level, and by national legislation in every country they inhabit  including Malta.

Posidonia oceanica seagrass meadows are often considered as tropical rainforests of the ocean, supporting a rich biodiversity, providing oxygen to the coastal ecosystems and absorbing considerable amounts of CO2 from the atmosphere (Photo credit: Aix Marseille Université)

A recent article on local newspapers has revealed that developers want to construct an artificial island in this protected area, complete with luxury villas and a resort. The reason why developers are targeting this area is because it is mostly unspoilt, and consists of virgin land that is protected as a result of the characteristic Maltese ecosystems that inhabit it. To quote the article, the area is being considered as it it:

“the most commercially viable due to its potential for upmarket real estate through which developers can reclaim massive construction costs”.

Baha ic-Caghaq, the area being targeted by developers in their mission to rape and pillage the Maltese environment (Photo credit: maltatoday)

The only reason which the government can use to justify the elimination of protected Posidonia meadows is if the project has “overriding public interest”. It is essentially a no-brainer in this case, as upmarket real estate provides absolutely no value to the public, but only seeks to line the pocket of developers, who want to build in a protected area to reclaim their costs.

However, this is Malta we are talking about, a country where the Malta Developer’s Assocation (MDA) president calls NGOs a “threat” to the construction industry and who sees no conflict of interest in openly supporting the political party in power – so what do you think will happen when the MDA president insists on the Prime Minister to turn a blind eye on this issue for the ‘benefit’ of the county’s economy?

Whilst I commend scientists such as Alan Deidun on protesting such an issue, I am quite disappointed that other academic professionals have not yet voiced their concerns – most notably the current Head of Department for Biology of the University of Malta, who dedicated a career studying and working on Posidonia meadows. Yet again, this is Malta and people still fear retribution if they challenge government action, even if their morals and beliefs are stifled.

Fifty.

This blog is merely a recreational venture of mine, allowing me to share my views on various environmental issues currently happening all over the world. However, writing such material is itself a daunting task, requiring much time and patience to adhere to. Reaching the 50 post milestone is a small step in the blogging world, but undeniably one in the right direction.

To celebrate this milestone, I will share with everyone the following video I made whilst in Malta for a recent visit. The title is a portmanteau of “holiday” and “home”, since visiting Malta provides me with an exquisite combination of both.

List of filming sites (in chronological order)

01 – San Blas Bay (Gozo) (0:00 – 0:24)

02 – Mgarr Road (Gozo) (0:25 – 0:28)

03 – St George’s Basilica, Victoria (Gozo) (0:29 – 0:39)

04 – Xlendi Bay (Gozo) (0:40 – 0:47)

05 – Independence Square, Victoria (Gozo) (0:48 – 0:56)

06 – Xlendi Bay (Gozo) (0:57 – 1:08)

07 – Blue Lagoon (Comino) (1:09 – 1:26)

08 – Ghadira Bay – Starfish (Malta) (1:27 – 1:32)

09 – Blue Lagoon (Comino) (1:33 – 1:42)

10 – Lola the Cat (1:45 – 1:49)

11 – San Anton Palace (Malta) (1:50 – 1:56)

12 – Maltese wall Lizard (1:57 – 2:00)

13 – Pippin, the other cat (2:01 – 2:04)

14 – San Anton Palace (Malta) (2:11 – 2:18)

15 – Fungus Rock, Dwejra (Gozo) (2:19 – 2:22)

16 – Azure Window, Dwejra (Gozo) (2:23 – 2:25)

17 – Sunset (2:26 – 2:42)

18 – BBQ time (2:43 – 3:00)

19 – Mdina – Mdina Gate (Malta) (3:01 – 3:03)

20 –  Mdina – St Paul’s Cathedral (Malta) (3:04 – 3:15)

21 – Random Village Feast Fireworks Display (3:16 – 3:34)

Jelly invaders from space?

There is nothing better than a vacation in a hot and sunny climate over summer, especially one which involves the beach and tanning lotion. However, this idyllic scene can become painfully interrupted by a sharp sting from an elusive marine culprit!

The mauve stinger, Pelagia noctiluca (Photo credit: Arn@ud Ab@die)

For the past decade, Mediterranean shores have been plagued by blooms of jellyfish, specifically the mauve stinger (Pelagia noctiluca). These pelagic stinging sea creatures travel with ocean currents, where they can move from the French Riviera as far east as the coasts of Cyprus. The mauve stinger is one of the dominant jellyfish types that have been observed to boom in very large numbers in the Mediterranean for a few years. In the past, such large waves of jellyfish were only a problem every 10 years or so, making the last thirteen years an inconvenient phenomenon. While there is no clear indication as to what causes such blooms, many scientists have attributed this to climate change due to increased water temperatures, lack of top predators due to over-fishing and habitat degradation.

Jellyfish bloom in Maltese waters (Photo credit: MaltaToday)

Jellyfish blooms happen in warm waters, where they find abundant food (generally suspended organic matter). Habitat degradation and pollution leads to more suspended particles, and over-fishing during summer removes many key jellyfish predators. This results in a large jellyfish bloom that persists for longer over summer, which can be quite inconvenient for Mediterranean countries. The mauve jellyfish’s sting is painful and can be dangerous to some people who are sensitive to them, so they annual repeated presence is cause for concern.

The Maltese Islands are no exception to the presence of such a jellyfish invasion, so in 2010 a group of research launched a ‘Spot the Jellyfish’ campaign. This campaign, coordinated by Prof Aldo Drago, Dr Alan Deidun and staff of the International Ocean Institute – Malta Operational Centre (IOI-MOC), follows a citizen science approach. The campaign strongly advocates for the education of the public, by recruiting their assistance in the recording of the presence and location of different jellyfish species through the presence of information panels and leaflets at bathing sites.

Since its inception, this campaign has yielded over 600 reports of a total of 18 gelatinous plankton species (12 cnidaria, 3 ctenophora, 3 ascidiacea/thaliacea), with the findings being published in a scientific paper. This initiative was also instrumental in providing the first ever recordings for numerous species in Maltese waters, including the blue button (Porpita porpita), the crystal jellyfish (Aequorea sp.), the moon jellyfish (Aurelia aurita), Cladonema radiatum and most notably Rhopilema nomadica, for which the Maltese Islands represent the westernmost record within the Mediterranean for this invasive species.

The next time you visit Malta over summer, make sure you look out for this campaign at any bathing site on the Islands, and you too can contribute to this interesting and innovative research programme!