Original article published on MEMENTROPIA? on the 12th July 2009. Reproduced with kind permission. Tomorrow evening, “Racism is Murder” will be the call. Moviment Graffitti and eleven other groups, NGOs and parties are taking part in a rally against violence and racism. So far so good. I was urged to take part and I would have, but I won’t, for reasons I detail below. The trigger for this rally is the death of a man called Suleiman Abubaker, caused, to whatever extent, by a bouncer Duncan Deguara.  My own first reaction to this case, given my own experience is that it is a bouncer-related problem, that this was a case of bouncers who itch to try out their punches, that they are mostly hired thugs who aren’t even licensed as security people, and have less an attitude to keep the peace than an attitude to appear tough and macho and bully people around. This is a general view rather than a judgement about Deguara himself, especially since the Courts are still investigating the case, and from reports and claims, it appears that the case was rather more complex. Let’s make one thing clear though: tomorrow’s rally is not about violence. There were many opportunities to hold such a rally when other cases occurred in the past few months. The main feature of this case for leftist liberals is that the man who died was black. Why do I say leftist? The twelve groups taking place tomorrow are an indication of who will be taking part: Alternattiva Demokratika, Forum Żagħżagħ Laburisti, Forum for Justice and Cooperation, General Workers’ Union, Jesuit Refugee Service (Malta), Inizjamed, Kopin, Koperattiva Kummerc Gust, Migrants’ Solidarity Movement, Third World Group and Żminijietna. It could have been a national issue and a national rally but tomorrow it will not be. Apart from the fact that these eleven groups are barely fronted by ten individuals as active members, practically all these groups sport leftist ideologies. Even if this weren’t evident from their manifestos, despite the neutral-sounding names, it is evident from the way they toed the line behind Moviment Graffitti’s and the leftist media’s gross assumption that this was a racist attack. Let’s look at the features of this tragic incident that seem to weigh against it being a racist attack. 1. Suleiman Abubaker had a history of rowdiness and of conflicts with police and bouncers. This is not to justify but to reason. I would argue that someone with a history of conflicts with police and bouncers significantly raises his chances of getting pulped at some point in time. And partially for reasons I mentioned earlier on about bouncers and so forth. 2. Despite the fact that many opinionists on the left opined that Abubaker was refused entry for being black, the claim from the bouncer was that Abubaker was refused entry because he was drunk and rowdy. Deguara further claimed that he escorted Abubaker three times peacefully to the door. This last claim in particular can be verified or discredited when the CCTVs are checked, and by witnesses in the area, and is a crucial claim. If Deguara had premeditated murder because of Abubaker’s race, why would he have escorted the man three times to the exit? 3. The third time is when the incident happened. First story I obtained was that Abubaker was punched in the face and died of the injury. Does this seem like an intended murder to anyone? The bouncer knew that with one punch he was going to kill a man? If this version were true, it would be obvious at face value that the punch had “gone wrong” and that Abubaker’s death were accidental. Deguara however claimed further that it was Suleiman Abubaker who first hit Deguara with a bottle and that Deguara pushed him away and Abubaker fell. He then stood up, fell again and stood again and walked away with the aid of his friends. This is what Deguara claimed. 4. Three other Maltese seem to have contradicted Abubaker’s French companions’ claim that a third person kicked Abubaker while lying on the ground. Purely at face value, and before the Courts have concluded the case, I would conclude nothing about the case if not that it weighs heavily against the idea that this was a racist attack. If racism contributed at all in this death it seems to be very obscure. For the great majority of journalists, the simple fact that Abubaker was black closed the case. The left, both in its guise as the opinionist media and as NGOs, has simply hijacked a tragic death as a crusade against racism and violence. Every leftist is suddenly certain that this was a racist attack, simply because according to their logic, an attack on a black man must be fueled by racism. And it seems it took the death of a black man to mobilize them against violence. All this from the supposedly colour-blind folk. When confronted with these facts, most leftists start to generalize that regardless of this specific case, the rally is against violence and racism. Still, it was this case that triggered it, a case that basically has nothing to do with racism and if Deguara’s claims are true, very little with violence. Further I’ll bet my shoelaces that the rally will take a form that supersedes anti-racism. For example, I’ll bet another pair of shoelaces that there will be banners saying “ONE WORLD. NO BORDERS” which is strictly not an anti-racist issue. I was asked to participate in this rally, but both by looking at the list of groups involved and by knowing what they support and will support during this rally, I will be made to say more than condemn violence and racism. Moviment Graffitti are doing nothing but building their case, during what they think is an opportune time, from a case that has absolutely nothing, or dubious little, relevant to what they want to build and say. This is naught but more minority hero worship from the radical left, in this case an inverse Mumia Abu-Jamal. Abu-Jamal was made a hero for murdering a cop. Suleiman Abubaker is becoming a hero very possibly for being slain accidentally. Resource and Information: http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20090609/local/bouncer-punched-drunk-immigrant http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20090610/local/migrant-involved-in-paceville-beating-dies http://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20090611/local/migrant-dies-after-paceville-incident http://www.maltarightnow.com/Default.asp?module=news&at=Il-kumpilazzjoni+dwar+il-mewt+ta%27+Abubaker&t=a&aid=99812967&cid=39 http://jurgenbalzan.wordpress.com/2009/06/11/racism-is-murder/ http://jamesdebono.blogspot.com/2009/06/who-killed-suleiman.html http://daphnecaruanagalizia.com/2009/06/10/a-bloody-disgrace/ http://daphnecaruanagalizia.com/2009/06/12/the-press-is-not-governed-by-the-rules-that-govern-the-law-courts/
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