While appreciating the importance of introducing divorce in line with the rest of the world, especially for those people whose marriages have floundered and would like a second chance to family life, I do think that the amount of media attention to the subject has been disproportionate to the issue and has served to steer people away from other important topics that need airing.

Not for the first time, we seem to think we live in this magical bubble where we are all not only “holier than thou” but also that world events somehow don’t touch us. There is, however, one exception, with regard to the latter.

That of the hundreds of people running away from wars and oppressive and corrupt regimes. Not that we were worried about what these desperate people were running away from, but rather that they were pricking our bubble by landing on our shores.

We just wanted rid of them, few of us gave any thought to putting pressure on the regimes the oppressed and desperate were fleeing from. Or indeed shown any concern for any of the oppressed who were not fleeing. We, who are so entrenched in Catholic values that we cannot accept divorce, have lived in oblivion and could not care less that democratic countries were supporting oppressive regimes in the name of “stability”.

Our island is now even supporting Muammar Gaddafi where 84 people have been killed in Libya after days of clashes between protestors and Gaddafi’s security forces, according to the New York-based group Human Rights Watch. Col Gaddafi’s government has blocked Internet sites and shut off electricity to try to quell rising unrest. The main focus of the unrest against Col Muammar Gaddafi’s rule has been the second city, Benghazi, where 35 deaths were reported by one hospital alone.

Last Sunday, our Foreign Secretary, Tonio Borg, purportedly a human rights lawyer before his political ascent, defended the prime minister’s and his visit to Libya a few days earlier. “With the Libyans we discussed fishing, oil exploration and the visa issues, among others. We do whatever’s in our national interest. We can’t be short sighted. Yes, I’m calm and serene after this meeting,” Dr Borg told The Times. Civil liberties were obviously not on the agenda.

I wondered whether his serenity was at all ruffled by public opinion aired in an Economist poll where it asked: Does a corrupt Arab elite lie at the root of the region’s problems?

Out of 797 votes (there was a deadline on voting) 83% voted Yes and 17% voted No.

The Times editorial on Friday ignored the protests in Libya completely and was more concerned with the “disconcerting lack of progress in oil exploration” following the PM’s visit. Following the two-day trip Dr Gonzi said that he had broached the subject of unrest in the region and that Malta was keen on helping to ensure stability in the region and support any transitions “with full respect of the aspirations of the people in Tunisia and Egypt” adding that it was extremely disappointing to hear of protesters being killed or hurt. Well what about the aspirations of the Libyan people?

Dr Gonzi and Col Gaddafi spoke about renewing the friendship agreement between the two countries, touching various issues such as travel, education, fishing and investment. The PM said there had been “substantial progress” to conclude the updated accord and President Muammar Gaddafi, is expected to pay a state visit to Malta next June to coincide with the 5+5 summit. “We spoke about these realities (the uprisings) and about how we could prepare ourselves for this meeting to use this occasion as a contribution to the situation”, he told reporters.

The reality is that if we support Gaddafi we are supporting a not so secure stability at the cost of oppression. This after the uprising in Tunisia and more spectacular revolt in Egypt, which had me glued to the TV screen, when we saw peaceful demonstrators showing news reporters US teargas canisters that had been thrown to disperse them in the first days of the revolt.

Those pictures had embarrassed the US and it immediately used its influence with that country’s military to ensure that the Egyptian army would not use force against the demonstrators clamouring for democracy and asking for Mubarak to go.

America could do that since it has close links with the Egyptian military and has donated the army over a billion dollars in financial aid last year alone and is awaiting Congress to decide on whether the same can be donated this year. Tentatively, but gaining momentum as the will of the demonstrators in Tahrir Square grew stronger by the day, Barak Obama used his influence with the Egyptian army further by securing Mubarak’s exit.

The US had realised, if belatedly, in Hilary Clinton’s words that “the status quo is simply not sustainable”. It is no doubt keeping a close watch on how things will develop in Egypt where the state of emergency has still not been lifted and things are still tenuous.

According to former UN diplomat Mohammed el Baradei the people currently running the country are “faceless”, and all the populace can go by are “terse military bulletins”. Meanwhile, most of Mubarak’s cabinet ministers are still in office. The “meetings” with some of the uprising organisers have not resulted in anything concrete according to reports. Baradei challenged media reports of a “youth revolution” and said that the revolt encompassed a much wider section of Egyptian society.

He also opined that rushing into an early election was not advisable, since the only parties organised enough to contest are the old ones, who would probably “reincarnate under a new name”. But Baradei is optimistic when asked whether Egypt can eventually achieve democracy he used Obama’s famous and winning quote “Yes we can”.

The world is watching, especially the other Arab countries whose people are also rising to achieve democracy. And now America has perhaps got a more complicated situation with events in the tiny Sunni kingdom of Bahrain. It “is home to the US Navy’s 5th fleet and is a key pillar for US regional military infrastructure”, reported Kim Ghattas from Washington for the BBC yesterday.

On Thursday, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said: “Bahrain is a friend and an ally and has been for many years and while all governments have a responsibility to provide citizens with security and stability, we call for restraint.’’

We heard the same words about Mubarak being “a friend and an ally and has been for many years”. And again the threat of Muslim extremists rears its head, although we have seen people revolting in Iran as well. In the past few days tens of thousands have marched in Tehran, braving beatings and arrest.

Bahrain’s Shia say their protests have nothing to do with Iran and everything with wanting to be accepted as full Bahraini citizens. They accuse the authorities of waving the spectre of Iran to stop the West from supporting them, reported Ghattas.

Also on Thursday, UK Labour MP Denis MacShane, speaking in the House of Commons said that governments of all parties had “turned a blind eye to the repression and corruption” of autocratic regimes in the Middle East.

Later the BBC reported that the British Foreign Office was urgently reviewing UK arms sales to Bahrain following the violence against anti-government demonstrators there. Security forces used tear gas and shot at protesters. Friday’s deaths brought to at least 10 the number of people killed by riot police; four people were killed on Thursday.

The Foreign Office said 250 cartridges of tear gas and other riot control equipment had been licensed for export to the Gulf state within the past nine months. The foreign secretary William Hague said there was no evidence UK tear gas was used in the military crackdown on protestors in Bahrain, but I assume there was no evidence to the contrary either.

“We will not authorise any exports which, we assess, might provoke or prolong regional or internal conflicts, which might be used to facilitate internal repression, or which would in any other way be contrary to the criteria,” said foreign office minister Alistair Burt.

Back to Libya, we have now seen protesters tearing down statues of Muammar Gaddafi’s famous “Green Book” as protests enter their sixth day, following a “day of rage” yesterday when special forces attacked hundreds of demonstrators, including lawyers and judges, camped out in front of the courthouse in the eastern city of Benghazi, which has been a focus for the anti-government unrest, reported Aljazeera.

It also reported that protests have now taken place in Benghazi, Darnah, Baida, Ajabiya, Quba, Tobruk, Zentan, Tripoli, Tajoura and Shahhat, and that a police station was set on fire in Benghazi. The security headquarters in Darnah was also burned down.

And according to AP, the situation in Libya is worsening with an escalating crackdown that has sent “a stream” of bodies into hospitals and morgues. We are also seeing continuing protests in Yemen and Algeria. Hopefully, just as Egypt saw Mubarak off we shall see the last of Gaddafi and all the other tyrants. The bubble is bursting.

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