The cultural crisis
In his book ‘The Tyranny of Silence’, Flemming Rose, the editor of JyllandsPosten, says: “I have become a figure many love to hate. Some would like to see me dead. I have wracked my brain trying to figure out why. I am not by nature a provocative person.
Rachel Borg is an independent columnist based in the tourism industry
How did that happen? To the world, I am known as an editor of the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten. In September 2005, I commissioned and published a number of cartoons about Islam, prompted by my perception of self-censorship by the European media. One of those cartoons, drawn by the artist Kurt Westergaard, depicted the Muslim prophet Muhammad with a bomb wrapped in his turban. Among the other cartoons we published was another that mocked the newspaper and even myself for commissioning them, but it was Westergaard’s image that would change my life.
The Cartoon Crisis, as it became known, spiralled into a violent international uproar, as Muslims around the world erupted in protest. Danish embassies were attacked, and more than 200 deaths were attributed to the protests. I came to symbolise one of the defining issues of our era: the tension between respect for cultural diversity and the protection of democratic freedoms.”
He goes on to say: “Free speech makes sense only in a society that exercises great tolerance of those with whom it disagrees. Historically, tolerance and freedom of speech are each other’s prerequisites rather than opposites. In a liberal democracy, the two must be tightly intertwined.”
Now we face the situation in Malta where a prominent and outspoken journalist – who, practically alone, faced the wrath of the offended, annoyed or irritated people who may have been the subject of her criticism and opinion – was brutally and publicly mutilated and killed for exercising free speech.
You could not say that the society in which she lived was a tolerant one. On the contrary, she was hounded and people questioned how she could have been left without 24-hour police protection.
The worst came to pass. Her crime, if you wish to call it that, was to exercise freedom of expression for the purpose of defending democracy in her country and upholding the standards she deemed essential to a properly functioning state, holding its officials and those of interest to the public to account.
The Honourable Minister Owen Bonnici this week travelled to Leeuwarden-Fryslân in the Netherlands, Valletta’s sister European Capital of Culture, where he was grilled by journalists and cultural authorities about remarks made by the chairman of the Valletta 2018 Foundation, Jason Micallef, in relation to Daphne Caruana Galizia’s last words and the way he ridiculed them and her in the process, causing grief and hurt to the many still grieving her tragic loss.
That the minister went there to reply in person to the grievances raised is testimony to the fact that this was more than just a minor incident. Its repercussions continue to be felt and still need to be addressed.
He went there to deliver the same reply given by his boss, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat, by Jason Micallef, and by himself on earlier occasions when questioned about the incongruous position that the chairman has found himself in as a result of the remarks.
Basically, his reply was that the chairman had every right to express himself in that way, as an expression of his freedom of speech.
Had Mr Micallef understood and tolerated that same principle himself, respected it and upheld it, then he most likely would not have felt the need to reject, rebut and regurgitate the murdered journalist’s last words in that way. He was still, however, smarting from the comments made by Caruana Galizia – “The situation is desperate, there are crooks all around us” – and his impulse was to inflict a sarcastic and insensitive, below-the-belt comment, calling it ‘just a bit a fun’.
What he fails to understand is that this was not at all in keeping with his role as a protector of culture and freedom, as the the chairman of the V18 foundation. As chairman, he should be the first to stand up for EU values and democracy – which is the entire point of the European Capital of Culture to begin with. Instead, he’s thrown these values right out the window, misrepresenting the right to freedom of expression to excuse the inexcusable.
The Capital of Culture resembles more a city of peasants, with Minister Bonnici as their regent. He now joins the ranks of those who, like Micallef, have used freedom of expression to justify this sad farce.
This they could not copy from another country; it’s a truly ‘Made in Malta’ event, managing to draw the ire not just of the committee monitoring the V18 events, but also of the many artists participating in them.
This, Hon Minister and Mr Chairman, is not a matter of freedom of speech. It is a matter of culture and education, something you completely fail to grasp, making you unfit for the roles you hold and requiring your presence before the committee.
To go on occupying such a position while denying the obvious is nothing more than an insult to the European Capital of Culture’s visitors and citizens.
On the V18 itself, it seems tables and chairs have won the day – as though they’re the only thing that could possibly make Valletta more vibrant. Still, I’m sure people will simply love pushing their way through the crowds, weaving through what little space is left, as they try to escape the trap they find themselves in.
Again, it is hard for this government to understand that space – quiet space, mind you – is a luxury and allows for both reflection and the interaction of cultures. Just take Jemaa el-Fnaa in Marrakesh, for example. By day, most of the square is just a large open space, but as dusk falls, the stalls begin to come out, offering refreshments and speciality foods to the many enjoying a stroll. It is then that all the culture and storytelling comes to the fore.
Meanwhile, our container-like food stalls have been dumped in Triton Square, lest we’re feeling a bit peckish and can’t find some pastizzi without having to actually walk into the capital.
To admire Valletta, one needs to look up at the baroque buildings and appreciate the history and valour of the place. It’s a lot more than Strait Street and a sanitized revival of the revelry once enjoyed by sailors.
There can be place for more establishments, of course, but Valletta’s value should not be judged by the number of patrons at bars and restaurants alone. Valletta has its limits, its residents (giving it character) and its nobility, which can only be appreciated by keeping it intact.