I'm an english exchange student from UK, and I exchanged here to malta, because my mother is maltese, and I heard the most racist thing I probably heard, in the classroom students continously bully the arab kid, for being arab, not in a mean type of bullying, but they kept saying stereotypical stuff, such as 911, Porche 911 and so on, and they kept calling, arabs, indians dirty and arabs bombers, in the classroom more racism towards arab was frequent, but in my eyes literally, maltese people look the excat same as arabs.
English is a Germanic language, with 45% of its words originating from French. The English though still have a tradition of calling the French 'frogs' and the Germans 'krauts' and take the mickey out of them all the time and make jokes about them, and they look about the same as them as well. The same thing could be the case in Malta, especially as Malta was once part of the British Empire and was culturally influenced by them. In the UK such teasing is called 'banter' and some may see it as racist, but the English do not regard it as such.
Are you part of the national mental gymnasitcs team?
Ohhhh trust me, this wasn't banter lol
I’ve never heard anyone in the UK use the words frogs and krauts to insult people 🤣
To be fair, I do call the French frogs and the British every name imaginable
You must be the type of person that does not read the 'Daily Mail' 😂
Maltese person here. This is unfortunately a sad reality not only in Malta but across the world. In America you have trump supporters, in Israel, you have hardcore Ultranationalists. As for Malta, I guess we're getting overpopulated and for that reason, people want to blame someone not only for overpopulation but also for other economic issues, so they pick foreigners to target, especially Indians and Arabs. This is absolutely fucked up because when foreigners come to Malta, the first thing you expect them to do is work if they're here to live a life, you can't expect them to come to Malta and just be lazy. So of course they look for jobs, in fact, they take many jobs that Maltese people don't want. So, in conclusion, our "few bad apples" that just so happen to be many people are those who think hate speech is appropriate and will fix their problems or think that Arabs, Pakistanis and Indians are the cause for all world issues when that isn't the case and it's just a result of racist bullshit
I agree, but I do think the percentage of Maltese who are ok with racism is higher than in other places. Like, I was talking to someone in a bar and he said “Malta isn’t racist we take all people in from all these piece of shit countries that’s how you know we aren’t racist” and the entire bar agreed with him, and it was kinda telling that an entire bar full of Maltese people didn’t find the term “piece of shit countries” problematic at all
tbh theres no such thing as 'piece of shit countries'. but there sure as hell are 'piece of shit politicians'
I'm Canadian born Maltese. I've spent a fair amount of time in the US, and a bit of time in London, and I've never encountered more overt racism than in Malta.
Not trying to make a big deal out of it, but I have a lot of Trump supporter friends in the US. They're not racists in public, nor in private conversation (unless you consider not wanting an open border, or jokes to be racist.) Either way, the way they think/ act is far far tamer than what I encountered in Malta, which were just blatant rants "I f*cking hate X ethnicity, because..."
Just not something I've really encountered in North America, was a bit of a culture shock. The media here is very politicized, and racism sells, so you'd think there's more here than there actually is.
what pisses me off about trumpists is how hardcore christian they are but the moment gender or race is involved they blow a gasket by saying shit like calling pro-palestinian protestors 'HAMAS SUPPORTERS' or calling lgbtq people pedophiles when im certain there are more priests and pastors that have been convicted of pedophilia (search r/NotADragQueen )
Just because someone likes trump does not mean they are racist. Do you know how many racist things biden said before?
All racists are not trump supporters, but all trump supporters are racist.
You're welcome!
You are very ignorant
Eh, I just think he's an idiot more than a racist
Imagine saluting a north Korean general lmao
dont worry, i hate biden too
Are they racist towards Arab tourists or just Arab migrants in particular? Or all Arabs?
Particularly, it's more towards the Arab migrants, but Arab migrants and their children try their literal best to fit in, they discard them religion while calling themselves Proud Muslims Arab men in my school whilst kissing a girl on their story, but at the end of the day, one look at their surname, or anything Arabic and back to talking behind your back.
Maltese here. Unfortunately you are right. As a people we are very racist. What amazes me is that we look down on Arabs/Indians and Africans while we give a red carpet treatment to North Europeans or Americans.
And please don t come up with the excuse that only a small percentage is racist .. just read a couple of comments on Facebook and you realise the situation.
Red carpet? LOL
Oh yeah I forgot to mention Africans, there's only one African kid, they don't bully him much, since he's pretty chill, but probably because he's only one African at school, but they still make stereotypical jokes about him, such as BBC, Blacks defend their friends, That he runs fasts, but in return cannot swim properly, but more as an inside joke between their particular group of friends.
Mind you one has to distinguish joking in good spirit and actual hate speech.
Yes, there's not much hate speech about the Africans in the school I go to, not from the girls anyway, but there is racist terms, that seem to the annoy the one African kid such as "Mela jien iswed" when he's the only black guy in the classroom and sometimes they all look at him, it's embarrassing at times, the hate speech in my school is mostly directed towards indians for taking jobs, and dirtying tallinja, and arabs for basically immigrants in general.
maltese claiming others to be dirty is funny af
Again. No ethnicity is exempt from filth. Maltese peoples homes in Malta though on the whole are very clean or you would be looked down on or as a cray person.
Straight to the point 😅
Try being half Maltese/Lebanese like I am. That really fucks with them!
As someone that lives in Malta I can say that
Indian females are clean .
Indian males , however if you ever taken a bus ride , then you will know that they are the smelliest of people and it's as though that they have no idea on how to wash or put deodorant on. The buses in Malta are smelly because of them!
I don't get it though, why are Indian females clean but males stink like hell- even first thing in the morning?
So in part they DO deserve their reputation for being dirty.
Next if you have examined the history of Malta, then you will know that Arabs invaded and then attempted to do so in the 16th century (Ottoman Empire you know the same empire that liked to m*lest little kids) this is a FACT! THANK goodness for the Knights of St John.
So please do not enforce your WOKE views on the Maltese people, it's their island and their nation and you obey THEIR rules! You have zero right to complain about Maltese philosophy and morals as you are a guest in their house, as am I-ev n though I live here.
Btw I'm a dual national of British and Irish and I am proud to live here.
When In Rome comes to mind
Edit:
Do you see Islamists going around with Swastikas and shouting Jihad to the west in Malta? Do you see low-born Communists and, victim. Mentality woke identity politics in Malta?
So with that in mind have you ever considered what the Maltese are doing right and what the British are doing wrong?
The UK is now a morally third-world nation and frankly people like you have caused it to be so.
You are still a child and perspective will bring wisdom (I hope) and you will realise that differing cultures have different opinions and it's their nation do please at least attempt to put yourself in their shoes and see things from their viewpoint.
All cultures have racists including the English.
Be the change 🤷🏻yourself. You don’t realise your own racism when you say “Maltese people look the exact same as Arabs to me”.
This is so true yes maltese educated and non educated are majority racist and the political parties dont help all they do is go with the flow for populism and votes Hence my vote will go to Adpd
Not the English?!????!
I went to a party here in australia, I am maltese born here.... at the party there was an old australian man who asked me my origins, I quickly and proudly said " maltese".... he proceeded to say " back in my days we used to stab you dagos in the neck"!.... now, this is not banter as you see but this is real racism.
A lot of English service people were very racist to the Maltese people. Probably not any more, times have changed since Malta went independent.
Damn he really said dagos 💀💀
“What a crusty old cunt you are” - you said I hope? His type takes it as a compliment. Trash. Was he a Queenslander ?
It’s been like that for a very long time I lived here in the 80’s and the racism towards Arabs was just as rife then
An offhand comment I overheard was complaining about foreigners. I gave the speaker a ‘look’ and he said “I don’t mean you. I mean the other kind of foreigner”
So, yeah, there’s a problem.
Humans get so preoccupied with which part of dirt you come from. They love to blame the problems on other people too.
A bigger issue? One of my coworkers said to me “don’t do people favours. It’s not the Maltese way to return favours.”
I don’t know if that’s true but dang if culture issues are not challenging.
This is true but also wrong. Are we really saying that stereotypes dont exist? Look what is happening for example in the UK, I dont understand how OP is from there and doesnt hate arabs, they are literally destroying his home country.
My point is this, with everything that is going on in western europe right now, can you really blame people? Joking about 911 etc. is what kids do, kids are monsters. But saying that muslims are innocent is also wrong.
I hate to say this, but if my country/culture men were hated for their behavior, I wouldnt blame others if they discriminated me based on my nationality or ethnicity. I would be pissed af at my nation and ethnicity, that they present their culture in such a way that people need be careful before even dealing with me.
The harsh reality of the current situation is, that simply being careful of arabs and muslims isnt racist. Going out of your way to throw names and insult them is. This situation is different tho, we are talking about children here, bullying is the default setting.
No. You’re wrong.
Muslims are no more responsible for 9/11 than Christians are responsible for the Troubles or World War I and II. And to propagate even that concept is racist. Nicely done.
People are shitty to each other. That’s a constant. They don’t even need a reason but pointing a finger and saying it was “this type of person” is horrid.
I mean, I personally believe that people with religion and faith are one of the following - lying - stupid - mentally ill
But I don’t act on it.
Yeah, you made a mistake there, I hate religion as a whole. I dont personally care about 9/11. conspiracy theories aside, the event in itself is in my opinion very shady, and I refuse to stand ground on any opinion.
So, with that note, what exactly do you find wrong in my comment? You said it yourself people are shitty to each other, which was my point. Refusing muslims isnt racist, its anti-religion at best.
The part I find wrong?
Where you write arabs are literally destroying the UK
Where you write "saying muslims are innocent is wrong"
So, that's racist and bigoted too.
Yeah, I explained that in the third paragraph. If your religion Is based on hate and destruction, Iam not the "badguy" for puting all Its followers into one basket.
On the first one I agree, should have said muslims instead of arabs.
I wouldn’t mind, man, but you picked Muslims when Christians have been worse. So really it’s just bigotry.
How is it bigotry... I didnt pick anything, Islam is a current threat to European culture. I never disputed that christians havent been worse. That is history, completely different topic than what Iam talking about. You keep throwing around words like bigotry and racism, yet you did not truly understand a word of what I said.
I am not comparing religions, to me they are all the same. At this time, christians dont try to force their ideology by invading a foreign country with migrants and protesting to build more churches.
If christians by mass traveled to the middle east and tried what islamists are currently doing in Europe, they would get literally killed. So spare me this bigotry talk.
Christian have (for centuries) and still do mass travel to other countries and force their ideology. Literally what the Crusades were about and every year hundreds of missionaries still head out to AIDS-stricken countries preaching that condoms are evil.
No. I don’t understand what you wrote because you contradict yourself and are ignorant of the truth. You’ve already identified Arabs as a threat and also Muslims - as if generalising millions of people is ok. (Hint. It’s not).
But I’ve wasted enough time on this. Have a life.
What kind of foreigner are you ?
The right kind but definitely a “wrong’un”
Wow! Pot calling kettle black. Do you realise that you are being racist? Calling a whole (edited: part of) race, racist!!! Go crawl back under your rock.
Like every country, you will find racists. Maltese are no different than any other country.
However you need to see things under perspective. There was a very high influx of foreigners in Malta, which have upset the the locals. You can check population growth in the last 20 years and then compare with the the last 5years. And if this happend to any other country, they would be upset too. Not saying it's good. But normally Maltese offer hospitality and are very welcoming.
I literally said some Maltese people in the title and literally my classmates in the BIO and the behavior of the maltese people that I have currently experienced.
I've edited. Still your comment is targeting a segment based on race.
Maltese is a nationality, not a race.
Well as an arab from Libya I study abroad too but not in Malta. I have to say these jokes are a standard to hear everywhere. I would say this is everywhere and you can make it for every culture and country. Counter jokes and humor with humor and jokes. If they got offended well that says a lot about who they are
Spot on!
We all get teased about something, Im rather short, so all the old short jokes come out..... Its fine, I just wish they would come up with some new ones instead of repeating the same ones haha.
These days people are too sensitive or need to bitch about something.
Porsche 911 is the best! Especially the 2012
I grew up in working class all Maltese schools, and everyone was racist towards each other, foreigners might take it as a culture shock but racism here is taken as a big joke, obviously there are some who take it too far but racist jokes are pretty normal, certain nicknames that Maltese people give each other for example would blow the mind of some foreigners lol
You're dark skinned? Get ready to be nicknamed black, arab, mexican etc
You're pale or blonde? You're gonna be nicknamed the white one/English one etc of the group
That's actually true, not gonna lie, there's 2 kids at my school "One African kid almost the only black person their, and one pale kid, very pale probably whitest king in school, they call them l'iswed u l'abjad and they call him whitey and blackie sometimes as jokes, but they are very counterful so they insult them back, and it ends in jokes.
L-iswed u l-abjad are the most classic Maltese nicknames ever
Every single nation on earth has racists. Malta is no different. However small that group of people are, they tend to be very loud too.
Because people can be racist. The general consciousness of the planet needs to continue to progress. It doesn’t happen overnight. Just be the best person you can be, and keep it pushing💯
I don’t claim to know much about Malta, (though I have seen the Maltese Falcon), but this seems a sadly common everywhere in Europe and I blame right-wing politicians like Farage for deliberately stoking it for their own political ambitions.
Really, I visited Malta recently, I’m a mixed race man from the UK. My tan makes me look somewhat Portuguese, even though I’m English, Guyanese (South America), Irish & Scillian. I didn’t experience any racism when I visited, everyone I met was very welcoming, chatty and friendly.
The hate I managed is mostly directed towards Migrants and Immigrants, tourism is not hated at all from what I seen, and there are naturally tanned Maltese people called "Samrani" that are basically as tan as a brown skin Indian sometimes, but they don't insult him why? Because he's Maltese, although people like to call this one "Samrani kid" "Paki" a slur from Pakistan because he's super tan.
Ok, that makes sense, thanks for sharing your experiences.
You are from the UK, and you mind racist remarks against Arabs? Iam surprised. If you are an adult, and you go out of your way to specifically insult someone, you are a bad person, no matter the reason for your behavior.
I myself despise any kind of religion. So when atm Europe is getting colonized by Islam, what does that make me? Am I a racist because i want to preserve my culture and refuse to cater to a restarted ideology? I would never harass a random arab on the street, why would I? But at a protest against our way of life, promoting sharia law and demanding everyone else to adhere to it? You bet I would protest the other side.
What you described is racist, but its also children interacting, bullying is their default setting. If he wasnt arab, they would find something else.
So yes, there are racists in Malta, there are also people in other parts of Europe being called racist simply because they refuse to adhere to savagery. The word racist has lost all its meaning in the last few years, because wokies use it when anyone disagrees with them.
It's the same in all of Southern Europe, self hate which turns In hierarchies based on skin colour as you say yourself you can't distinguish between them and those they hate, that's the biggest reason they're doing it, in a way they're trying to position themselves closes to you but placing others that are so similar to them as beneath them.
Most people need to someone to look down on so they can raise themselves above , the Maltese’s have been stepped on by just about everyone so they try and raise their low self esteem by looking down on Arabs and Africans in particular . I often think low self esteem is Maltas national disease as I see it all the time
Let's be clear, it's not just race. People are mean, and children are the worst. I'm Maltese, the closest relative I have that might be considered as a foreigner goes back like four generations and growing up here was torture. If it's not race it's your weight, once I lost weight it was my sexuality. And yes, third county nationals get the worst of it, however, any foreigner might be "bullied".
Having said that, I'd like to mention that people have a tenancy to come to Malta and complain when we speak Maltese, when we have our local feasts, or when we practise Maltese culture. In the end, I don't expect to move to Germany and expect to be spoken to in English. Even when I traveled there on holiday, I made sure to learn enough words to go around.
In my experience, the best way to move forward is to accept that Maltese culture needs to adapt to all the new cultures coming into our island and in turn, those making a home on the island need to adopt Maltese culture into their own culture. However, this is only a dream.
Edited
As a person of color i definitely got strange looks from locals and tourists alike, i don’t think it was racism but i would be lying if i didn’t feel uncomfortable getting stared at.
I also noticed the locals don’t really like the Indians and Filipino’s very much. Almost don’t see them as people.
Still one of the most beautiful places i’ve been to so far!
Well racism is present in many countries.. depends how many idiots are around … in Malta we have plenty of these
I hope that you see the irony in the fact that you grouped an unspecified number of Maltese people together and labelled them as "racist". There is no valid reason to single out Maltese people. There are "some" racists in every country.
I didn't label the Maltese people in general racist, I called from my experience from what I saw, the majority people I have met with are racist, when they look practically the same, I have heard multiple racist things, without being it being outload, one of the things I heard a very subtle but big saying was "Mela jien iswed".
Lol you tried and failed
Lmao, Libyans will tell you they own you because Gaddafi left Malta to them in their will, the above people don’t go outside enough.
Additionally we don’t actually have an Arab history, Gozo got genociden by the Ottoman Empire, the whole island taken as slaves.
It’s like they forgot about the great siege.
Correction libyans respect the maltese unlike the maltese who disrespect many libyans unless they are filthy rich Half libyan here and the maltese thrived with their busiesses in libya and were always welcome
Like when Gaddafi sent an oil tanker to purposefully spill near our reverse- osmosis so the we not have access to water ?
Yea those Libyans lmao
Was planning to visit Malta, guess I changed my mind. I’m from Kuwait (GCC Arab)
Sorry to hear that friend, I respect your decision though. :)
Thank you. Back in school, one of my friends was from Malta. Very sweet person and kind.
Oh nooooooo...how will we ever move on from this.
You know what? I’m gonna tell everyone I know not to go ;)
We already love Spain and Italy anyways. I’ve never encountered mistreatment in my many visits to those 2 countries. España el mejor!
We certainly don't all fit that description. Having grown up in a large capital city in the 90s, I've witnessed comparable incidents. Multiculturalism is relatively recent in Malta, so we're lagging behind other nations that have traversed similar paths and faced similar challenges...
As a tourist you probably would not be exposed to it (thank god). Based on what I have seen and heard, Italy is far worse than Malta. If you did not experience anything in Italy, coming here will be a normal day for you.
If you make your decision on wheter to visit a country or not based on a reddit post then you will never leave your backyard. You think there aren't racists in Spain and Italy? That's hilarious.
Every country on earth has racism. That’s not my point. I traveled the world so don’t say “if” cause I already have. It might be different for a tourist than a migrant so I don’t claim to be talking on their behalf but I’ve been visiting Europe since childhood. Now that I’m a grown adult woman, I get to choose where I spend my time and money. Countries that make me (and people like me) feel unwanted and hated aren’t on my list.
Embarrassing and disgusting. People are people. Malta is 30 years behind the UK in racial equality. It’s embarrassing to read this. Utterly embarrassing to read this about an MP nonetheless. The people we elect to progress our country; not keep it in the dark ages.
Are you telling me UK aren’t racist 😂.
And its a good thing that they are. Are you seriously trying to defend illegal migration in Europe? You are not racist if you refuse to let people that dont work and protest your way of life into your country. What is happening in the UK at this time is sad, their country is falling apart, and your excuse is "atleast they are not racist?" grow up.
Look at where your 30 year advance outlook on racial matters has gotten you in the UK. You are foreigners in your capital . Am maltese and proudly not embarrassed or disgusted by his words. Apart from the obvious misconstrusion of his words , let us break it down in child language - filth a.k.a pollution/ fine dust generated from construction, zdingar - poor upkeep of buildings , Indians - a significant percentage of the people you see in your daily life here
Am maltese - confirmed
Any insinuation you would like to add to that ? Because I am getting a sense of racism towards Maltese
Not in the slightest. I'm Maltese too
Can you explain what you mean then ? Would like to open up on this
Your attempt to launder your racism through VaLiD cOncErnS is a meme older than you lol
I did not say one thing negative about any specific group in society so against whom am I being racist ? The above are solid points. You are quick to point your finger crying RACISM but you don’t know where to point it at. My second question is what is your agenda ? Are you a foreigner crying of racism to overshadow the OVERPOPULATION CRISIS AND LACK OF INFRASTRUCTURE TO SUPPORT , all in all covering your interests
He should resign
Y’all soft af
You think racism is bad here, go to sicily or Italy then you know what racism is lol.
They’re racist as second and third gen elsewhere also. Not the only ethnicity too.
It's not a contest. Racism is racism.
All races are racist. That’s my experience living in a very culturally diverse city in Australia ironically.
Then there’s next level. What was and is done and talked about in regard to our Indigenous peoples here is literally apartheid. From day dot till now.
There’s only one human race
Yea but in the real world it happenes, even for maltese if you go somewhere north, they think you're an arab and get the same amount of racism lol.
Imagine growing up with one religion, one language and in a village filled with people who are all related to each other. The lack of diversity Is the answer.
You’ve described many a nations villages.
Most are not but you find idiots everywhere.
There is a fine line between banter and racism, especially in a classroom or group of people that socialize together.
You mentioned stereotypes, they are based on reality, even Maltese have them like we are bad drivers, Hamalli are all from the South, Maltese are loud and noisy .... yes some are but not all.
You said I quote'' not in a mean type of bullying'' so maybe its banter... and maybe you are being sensitive. At the end of the day it depends how the person it question takes it, and not you.
Acting on stereotypes is racism
No stereotypes ... are not necessarily racism in and of itself, they can also exist independently.
Seems like you don’t understand that I wrote
Nope I understood perfectly, but you failed to understand the gist of my comment!
You are saying that stereotype is not racism while I’m telling you that acting on stereotypes is racism. It seems like you don’t understand this.
What exactly is acting on stereotypes? Is being against mass illegal immigration racist? I would never insult a random person on the street. But Iam against large groups protesting sharia law.
So which one of these claims do you find racist? Because no, acting on stereotypes isnt racist. Being unreasonable and insulting for no reason is just bad and wrong, no matter why.
Example: Randomly screaming at an arab 911 jokes and bomber jokes.
wrong, yes this person picked race as a scapegoat, but insulting anyone is bad, no matter if its about race or anything else
Being against mass migration and refusing to cater to restarted ideologies that are clearly 20 years behind
not wrong, not racist. Standing ground on your culture and ideas isnt racist or wrong. even though its acting on stereotype, because not all migrants are bad, its not racist.
You see you are not listening . Bye!
Are they wrong though? Nowadays, calling a spade a spade is illegal, wrong and racist. Welcome to the New World.
Drama queen
6 missing replies
My family migrated to Australia from Malta. Even after being here when Australian businesses were allowed to have signs in the door saying "no wogs allowed", they still ended up being extremely racist to Asians and Arabs.
Which is ironic as Malta has an Arab history, and it's language is semetic