Il-kriżi tar-refuġjati se tibqa’ magħna għal żmien twil. Ir-raġuni hi li l-kriżi tpoġġi lill-Unjoni Ewropea quddiem sfida li tmur lil hinn minn dak li l-istrutturi tagħha tfasslu biex jilqgħu għalih.

Sa mill-bidu nett tagħha, l-Unjoni tellgħet strutturi li jdaħħlu l-għaqda bejn il-pajjiżi differenti pass wara l-ieħor, skont l-esperjenza li tkun inkisbet sal-waqt li jittieħed pass ’il quddiem. Biss, naturalment kull ċaqliqa lejn tkabbir tal-għaqda seta’ jkollha konsegwenzi li mhux dejjem kienu prevedibbli, u li mhux kull min jinsab fil-għaqda se jqis jew jaċċetta wara bl-istess mod. Dil-biċċa toħroġ fiċ-ċar meta tqum kriżi li tittestja bil-qawwi l-limiti tal-ftehimiet lejn l-għaqda li jkunu saru.

Bla dubju, hekk qed jiġri llum bil-wasla tar-refuġjati fl-għexieren ta’ eluf minn tagħhom. Hi ġrajja li ġejja minn barra l-Unjoni u allura l-Ewropej iridu jaqblu flimkien kif se jilqgħulha, la ma jistgħux iwaqqfuha. Hi dwar kif se jqassmu piżijiet bejniethom li minnhom ftit jaraw kif jistgħu jieħdu xi benefiċċju.

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Trump

Bir-raġun, ħafna jinsabu mħassba dwar il-prospett li Donald Trump jispiċċa fil-White House. It-tip ta’ politika li jirrapreżenta – jekk tista’ ssejħilha hekk – hi l-verżjoni populista Amerikana fl-agħar fasla tagħha. Fiha r-razziżmu, x-xenofobija, l-vulgarità u l-injoranza dwar id-dinja barra l-Istati Uniti. Allaħares li dawn il-kwalitajiet jispiċċaw jiggwidaw il-politika tal-akbar potenza tad-dinja.

Veru li hawn min jgħid li Trump hu bniedem ta’ ħafna lwien u għad jista’ jibdel diskorsu aktar ’il quddiem biex jirbaħ il-voti tal-“moderati”. L-estremiżmu tiegħu sa issa madankollu qabeż kull limitu. L-agħar hu li qed iġib is-suċċessi tiegħu fost il-votanti republikani bid-diskors li ħaddem sal-lum.

Hu diskors tassew bogħod mill-aqwa virtujiet li tipposedi s-soċjetà Amerikana, virtujiet li naf li jeżistu għax personalment rajthom jitħaddmu.

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Każini tal-banda

L-istatistika li ħarġet dil-ġimgħa dwar l-operat tal-każini tal-banda tikkonferma l-firxa impressjonanti f’pajjiżna ta’ dawn l-organiżazzjonjiet. Qed jagħtu kontribut vitali lill-kultura popolari u l-koeżjoni soċjali f’pajjiżna, għalkemm ftit li xejn nagħtuhom l-għarfien li jixirqilhom għal dan.

Matul is-snin, meta żort każin tal-banda wara l-ieħor mal-irkejjen kollha ta’ Malta u Għawdex, kont nibqa’ impressjonat bil-ħila organiżżattiva u d-dedikazzjoni li biha grupp ta’ voluntiera jżommu għaddejja proġetti komplikati u diffiċli. Impressjonanti wkoll kien il-mod kif każin kien jimmobilizza żgħażagħ u xjuħ, nisa w irġiel biex imexxi dawn il-proġetti.

Fl-2014, il-każini kellhom 37,175 membri, jew 9 fil-mija tal-popolazzjoni, żieda ta’ 7,000 fuq erba’ snin qabel. Bħala protagonisti fix-xena tal-kultura popolari, il-każini tal-banda jixirqilhom aktar għarfien u appoġġ.

English Version – Refugees

The refugees crisis will not go away soon. One reason for this is that it places the European Union before a challenge with which its structures were not really designed to cope.

As of the very start, the Union sought to build structures that brought the different member countries together on a step by step basis, according to the experience accumulated by the time a further step towards unity was to be taken. However every move towards further unity could have consequences which would not always be foreseeable. At a later stage, these would be evaluated and accepted by members not necessarily in the same way. The problem becomes clear when a crisis arises which strongly tests the limits of the agreement achieved by a given point in time.

Obviously, this is what is happening today as refugees arrive in their scores of thousands. Events are happening outside the Union, and the Europeans must together agree as to how to respond to them, since they cannot stop them. How can they distribute among themselves burdens that few reckon will bring any benefits in their wake?

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Trump

Many are rightly worrying at the prospect of Donald Trump ending up in the White House. The kind of politics he stands for… if you can call them that… is the populist version, American style, at its worst. It includes racism, xenophobia, vulgarity and ignorance about the outside world. God forbid that these qualities become the ones to guide the policies of the world’s biggest power.

True, there are some who argue that Trump knows how to wear multicoloured coats and he could still change the nature of his discourse later on to woo “moderate” votes. His extremism up to now has however known no bounds. What’s worse, he is succeeding with Republican voters precisely because of the language he has employed up to now.

It’s a language that is really distant from the best virtues that, as I know from having personally seenthem in action, belong to American society.

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Band clubs

Statistics published this week about the activities of band clubs confirm the impressive spread of these organizations in our country. They are making a vital contribution to the island’s popular culture and social cohesion, even though it is hardly being given the recognition it deserves.

Over the years, having visited band clubs all over the length and breadth of Malta and Gozo, I would be impressed by the organizational skill and dedication with which groups of volunteers run complicated and difficult projects. Impressive too would be the ways by which a band club would succeed to mobilise young and old, men and women, to help in the organization of projects.

As at 2014, clubs had a total of 27,175 members, about 9 per cent of the population – an increase of 7,000 on 2010. As protagonists in the field of popular culture, band clubs should be accorded greater recognition and support.

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