Don’t shoot the messenger

Talking to a close friend of mine, a long time activist, I asked him what he thought still needed to be said about the ongoing political crisis.

What was missing from the national debate? He told me how some years ago, he had shared some articles by Daphne Caruana Galizia, and was attacked by his peers for doing so. Although she was right about the various problems of corruption plaguing the country, and although her readership was very high, she was still socially isolated and the people who should have listened the most were the ones who ultimately ignored her.

Daphne Caruana Galizia spoke many brutal truths which people did not want to hear because they were uncomfortable. While her personal attacks rubbed many the wrong way, her style was used as an excuse not to address the very real problems she was highlighting. In other words, those most critical of her work did not read her writing and did not try to fight against the corruption which she revealed. Many who did break ranks to say she had a point were bullied into silence.

As a result of the permissive attitude in the country, corruption grew unchecked and Daphne Caruana Galizia was killed. She was killed in a clumsy fashion, with the middleman, Melvin Theuma, allowed to speak to the alleged assassins in prison and give them money. The masterminds felt arrogant and overconfident, so sure were they of the weakness of our institutions, that they did not need to make a major effort to cover their tracks. So it remained, until Europol spoiled their plans.

So what lessons have we learned from the isolation of Daphne Caruana Galizia? For one, we must always speak up for what we believe in, even when social pressures dictate otherwise. Evil thrives on fear, weakness and submissiveness. One must be strong to face authority and defy it on principle. It takes guts to resist peer pressure.

It is also a wake-up call for us all to be active citizens and take responsibility. The truth was hiding in plain sight, but people who could have made a difference chose to ignore it. People preferred to shoot the messenger; until the messenger was actually assassinated. Such was the extreme it was taken to. People we may not share political beliefs with may make pertinent arguments, and it is our duty to listen before we judge.

In choosing to see the whole picture, we will find wisdom and depth in our perception. We will understand that those who we judged have reasons for being the way they are, and we will be empowered to seek higher ground. Daphne Caruana Galizia’s own dislike of Labour arose from being abused by Labour when it was in government. Let us therefore seek to end the abusive political system, rather than attack its victims. After all, in the end, Daphne Caruana Galizia ultimately opposed a system, and