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Mitna ghalxejn?



I was in the process of writing an article on the historical distortions and hogwash arguments being brought up by the campaign advocating for the removal of the George Cross from the Maltese Flag.

Luckily, someone has done it before me and explained it perfectly. Here's the link to Reuben Sciberras' article in the Malta Independent on Sunday: http://www.independent.com.mt/articles/2013-09-29/opinions/cross-eyed-flag-bearers-2746843143/

I highlight the most relevant parts below:

"When a national flag is changed (either completely or partially) the motivation is usually because the element being removed is something that brings shame to that nation."
"I am no anglophile, but claiming that the George Cross is just a medal is reductionist in nature and insulting in substance. Assertions that the medal has no value as it was awarded by a foreign power (whatever that may mean) are complete hogwash. No amount of fact twisting and distorting the historical context can deny the significance of this honour; the fact that, for the first time, it was not given to a person but to an entire population; how it continues to highlight the values of human bravery and – in the case of its award to the people of Malta – the heroism shown in the fight for freedom and democracy. So no, it is not ‘just’ a medal. It is a symbol of everything that Malta and its people went through during the Second World War.
I’m afraid that this recent initiative to lobby for the elimination of the George Cross from our national flag is yet another idea from that magnificent repository of political indoctrination inherited from the Mintoffian era. Unfortunately, the “Mitna ghal xejn, mitna ghal barrani” (We died for nothing, we died for the foreigner) philosophy – with which those of my generation or slightly older had the unpleasantness to be force-fed in our formative years – is still prevalent within some sections of the population. Is it that hard to understand that the war would have reached our shores irrespective of whether we were an independent state or not? How is it that there are still those who believe that our ancestors died in vain, and died for a cause which was not theirs?"


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