‘Hate Speech Does Not Represent Malta’: Victory Day Speaker Claps Back At Mosta Priest’s ‘Racist Lies And Instigation’
A Maltese tech entrepreneur has hit back at a controversial Mosta priest after the priest took shots at the entrepreneur’s country of origin and foreign-sounding name.
Dr Abdalla Kablan took to Facebook to respond to Fr David Muscat’s critical comments that Kablan was chosen to give the main speech during yesterday’s Victory Day celebrations.
“A few days ago I had the honour of delivering Malta’s Vittorja commemoration speech, it was an honour of a lifetime to express my love, gratitude, and vision for the country that I dearly love,” Kablan said today.
“Unfortunately this has brought along with it some ugly and #racist hate speech fuelled by lies and instigation targeting my ethnicity and background.”
“Whilst I know that such hate does not in any way represent the Malta I know and love, I’m here sharing my speech for those who are asking me about it. I’m sharing it in both English and Maltese so everyone can understand it. Given the occasion, I obviously delivered it in Maltese,” he continued.
He ended by saying he would continue to work hard in Malta.
Prime Minister Joseph Muscat tweeted about his pride with choosing Kablan to deliver the speech
I am proud of @DrKablan #vitorja address. I am glad to have personally chosen him to express what modern #Malta is all about -JM
— Joseph Muscat (@JosephMuscat_JM) September 8, 2019
Fr Muscat had said that Kablan, a Maltese national, is not Maltese, and emphasised how foreign his name sounded when pronouncing it
“All the country’s big shots came to the celebration all dressed up but the main speech was given by Dr Abdallah Kablan, who isn’t even Maltese,” Muscat said in his speech.
Kablan, the founder of the Delta Summit for emerging technologies, was born to non-Maltese parents but he is Maltese and has lived here all his life.
Many expressed their support for Kablan following the priest’s attack, with some sharing the hashtag #solidaritywithabdallakablan
What do you think of this development?
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