30 giugno 2011, Freedem Flotilla Italia http://www.freedomflotilla.it
COMUNICATO STAMPA
Roma, 30/6/2010
Se l’anno scorso la freedom flotilla partiva accompagnata dalle parole dei genitori di Rachel Corrie, quest’anno ad accompagnare le navi in partenza per Gaza è la lettera dei familiari di Vittorio Arrigoni: l’augurio rivolto alla Flotilla è di arrivare sana e salva in porto per testimoniare al popolo di Gaza che la dichiarazione dei diritti universali dell’uomo vale anche in quella terra, dove troppo spesso “l’altro mondo” ha scelto di stare dalla parte dell’oppressore e non da quella dell’oppresso. Con i versi di Withman “O Capitano! Mio Capitano! Il nostro viaggio tremendo è finito…” Egidia Beretta, Ettore e Alessandra Arrigoni augurano buon vento, con Vittorio nel cuore, alla Flotilla Stay Human.
Accuse infondate di terrorismo, atti di sabotaggio a danno delle navi ferme nei porti greci, denunce pretestuose : sono stati questi i temi affrontati durante la conferenza stampa indetta questa mattina a Roma dal Comitato della Freedom Flotilla Italia. L’intervento in diretta di Vauro Senesi, uno dei passeggeri della nave italiana “Stefano Chiarini”, ha messo in luce il braccio di ferro in corso “tra noi e le autorità greche, sotto ricatto per la situazione economica in cui versa la Grecia, per ritardare o tentare d’impedire la nostra partenza”. Il giornalista italiano ha poi aggiunto: “per quanto riguarda la nave italiana manca solo che procedano all’ultima ispezione. Noi siamo pronti”.
Mila Pernice e Germano Monti, del coordinamento della FF2 Italia, hanno ribadito come siano prive di fondamento le dichiarazioni del governo israeliano secondo il quale non vige alcun blocco in quanto le merci verrebbero lasciate passare regolarmente dai valichi egiziani. In effetti il blocco è tuttora attivo, al punto che ne’ i pescatori ne’ i contadini possono svolgere le loro attività senza essere oggetto dei colpi dei cecchini. I due attivisti hanno ricordato che le rive di Gaza, come il mare di Gaza, “sono”territorio di Gaza e che, se Israele ne blocca l’accesso, l’assedio non può in alcun modo considerarsi interrotto. Inoltre Monti ha ricordato che il valico di Rafah, oltre al fatto di essere soggetto agli umori dell’Egitto, consiste in un semplice cancello di circa tre metri, incapace di consentire un normale flusso di camion.
Per l’Associazione dei Giuristi democratici, Fabio Marcelli, richiamandosi alla normativa sul Diritto internazionale umanitario, ha fatto notare come il blocco di Gaza rappresenti la primaria e gravissima violazione del diritto internazionale umanitario e dei diritti umani.
Il coordinamento della FF2 Italia indice per domani, venerdì 1° luglio alle ore 18, un presidio davanti all’ambasciata di Grecia a Roma , in via Mercadante 36 (zona Parioli) e a Milano in piazza San Babila, per far pressione sulle autorità greche affinchè non cedano al ricatto loro imposto da Israele per ostacolare la partenza delle navi.
Ufficio Stampa Freedom Flotilla Italia
CONTATTI:
333.5601759 - 338.1521278
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Alla FF2 dalla Famiglia di Vittorio Arrigoni
Ai partecipanti la Freedom Flotilla
Crediamo che questa seconda flotilla, che avete voluto chiamare “Stay Human”, viaggerà portando con sé la convinzione profonda di Vittorio che tutti gli sforzi debbano essere fatti per testimoniare al popolo di Gaza che la Dichiarazione dei diritti universali dell’uomo vale anche lì, in quella striscia di terra calpestata, mortificata, isolata dall’assedio israeliano.
Crediamo che questa vostra azione solidale, pacifica, concreta, generosa porterà grande gioia ai suoi abitanti, sollievo alle pene quotidiane e soprattutto speranza, fiducia, certezza di non essere totalmente ignorati e abbandonati da “quell’altro mondo” che spesso ha girato la testa e chiuso occhi e orecchie, che spesso, se non quasi sempre, ha scelto non l’oppresso, ma l’oppressore.
Per questo noi speriamo che arriviate infine al porto e che possiate cantare:
O Capitano! mio Capitano! il nostro viaggio tremendo è finito,
La nave ha superato ogni tempesta, l’ambito premio è vinto,
Il porto è vicino, odo le campane, il popolo è esultante.
Vi saremo vicini, ogni giorno e ogni ora.
Che il buon vento vi porti, con Vittorio nel cuore.
Egidia Beretta, Ettore e Alessandra Arrigoni
Bulciago, 30 giugno 2011
Mostrando postagens com marcador Vittorio Arrigoni. Mostrar todas as postagens
Mostrando postagens com marcador Vittorio Arrigoni. Mostrar todas as postagens
quinta-feira, 30 de junho de 2011
segunda-feira, 20 de junho de 2011
Forthcoming Gaza Flotilla: Heroism vs Violent Intransigence?
The heroism and sacrifice of the flotilla will not be in vain. (Via aljazeera)
15 June 2011, Palestine Chronicle http://www.palestinechronicle.com (USA)
By Richard Lightbown*
After he returned from his ordeal on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, Fiachra O'Luain, the mate on the Challenger I, was asked if he would go again to break the siege of Gaza. He replied 'yes...and again, and again'.
Many of the survivors of the flotilla will be on the next one due to sail for Gaza towards the end of June. Called 'Stay Human', it will commemorate Vittorio Arrigoni who gave his life (as did ten activists on the Mavi Marmara: nine dead and one in a coma) for justice and human rights for the Palestinian people.
In the face of Israeli propaganda, parroted by the BBC and other mainstream media, we should hold fast to the truth that these people are prepared to face. All of the survivors of the previous flotilla were maltreated and humiliated. Many of them were beaten, tasered (by electric stun gun), attacked with stun grenades and tear gas, deprived of food and water and subjected, by terrorists in the employ of the state of Israel, to treatment described by a United Nations Fact-Finding Mission as tantamount to torture. Many suffered injury from deliberately over-tightened handcuffs. Several had their passports stolen (for use in who-knows-what future outrage by Mossad criminals) all cameras, mobile phones and computers were illegally seized and many lost large sums of money: plundered in individual acts of piracy by members of one of the world's most criminal and immoral armies. All of the victims experienced first-hand the ruthless contempt for human dignity that the Zionist state considers its right.
On the Mavi Marmara passengers and crew saw friends and comrades killed, wounded or maltreated by thugs with no more respect for human life than Al Capone's gangsters. Some of these same criminals later appeared on Panorama. Wary of the daylight they lurked in the night shadows of Haifa docks like wharf rats, referred to their victims as "terrorists", and falsely accused them of shooting at commandos who were indulging a blood bath totally outside of any remit granted by International Law. (A terrorist, we should remember, is someone who uses violence against civilians for political ends. The commandos defined the term as someone who comes prepared to commit violence, dressed in military clothing with covered faces. Either definition accurately fitted the commandos themselves, who in any event would never be accorded the protection that International Law demands for civilians.)
The blood of men who believed in universal human rights dripped down the stairs of the Mavi Marmara that night as war crimes were committed on the orders of Ehud Barak and Benjamin Netanyahu under the guise of defending the state of Israel. Knowing all this, in a few days time an even larger flotilla with even more human rights workers on board will sail for Gaza. Benjamin Netanyahu has tried every trick in the diplomatic book to prevent it. We can be sure that Mossad has been hard at work too, trying to sabotage ships bound for the high seas.
Despite well-publicised claims to the contrary, and despite the recent opening of the Rafah Crossing to many civilians, the sadistic Israeli closure remains firmly locked on Gaza. There has been no confirmation that the 4,500 tons of building materials on the last flotilla ever reached Gaza. Desperately needed sewage pipes are still aboard the Malaysian ship the 'Spirit of Rachel Corrie' instead of being delivered to Gaza. (Ironically this would have helped to reduce pollution in the eastern Mediterranean where the tides presumably wash untreated Gazan sewage onto Israel's beaches.) Permitted exports from Gaza amount to around two lorry loads a day in place of the 400 per day that Israel agreed to allow in a deal brokered by Condoleezza Rice in 2005. Meanwhile the scarcely-reported ceasefire of missiles from Gaza, applied after the successful Palestinian unity talks, attracts no concessions from Israel's continuing occupation of the Gaza Strip.
The heroism and sacrifice of this next flotilla will not be in vain. Despite more brazen lies from Mark Regev and biased portrayals of events by the likes of Jane Corbin, Mr Netanyahu's stubborn, blinkered stupidity will further damage Israel's international image while further advancing the Palestinian cause. No Nobel Peace Laureate will be able to disguise the guilt if more Israeli hoods batter more human rights workers. No selectively edited whitewash report, with of without endorsement from professors of International Law, will be able to conceal the truth this time from the people of the world. The flotilla is coming, and just as Mickey Mouse's sorcerer's apprentice merely increased the activities of his animated broom when he attacked it with an axe, Mr Netanyahu only risks further opprobrium in the eyes of the world, further censure for his pariah state and further flotillas if he insists in perpetuating the use of violent crime against lawful protest on the high seas.
(Once the ships sail it will be possible to track them on www.marinetraffic.com/ais/. Any assault is likely to be before dawn on the night before the anticipated arrival in Gaza.)
*Richard Lightbown is a researcher and writer. He contributed this article to PalestineChronicle.com.
15 June 2011, Palestine Chronicle http://www.palestinechronicle.com (USA)
By Richard Lightbown*
After he returned from his ordeal on the Gaza Freedom Flotilla, Fiachra O'Luain, the mate on the Challenger I, was asked if he would go again to break the siege of Gaza. He replied 'yes...and again, and again'.
Many of the survivors of the flotilla will be on the next one due to sail for Gaza towards the end of June. Called 'Stay Human', it will commemorate Vittorio Arrigoni who gave his life (as did ten activists on the Mavi Marmara: nine dead and one in a coma) for justice and human rights for the Palestinian people.
In the face of Israeli propaganda, parroted by the BBC and other mainstream media, we should hold fast to the truth that these people are prepared to face. All of the survivors of the previous flotilla were maltreated and humiliated. Many of them were beaten, tasered (by electric stun gun), attacked with stun grenades and tear gas, deprived of food and water and subjected, by terrorists in the employ of the state of Israel, to treatment described by a United Nations Fact-Finding Mission as tantamount to torture. Many suffered injury from deliberately over-tightened handcuffs. Several had their passports stolen (for use in who-knows-what future outrage by Mossad criminals) all cameras, mobile phones and computers were illegally seized and many lost large sums of money: plundered in individual acts of piracy by members of one of the world's most criminal and immoral armies. All of the victims experienced first-hand the ruthless contempt for human dignity that the Zionist state considers its right.
On the Mavi Marmara passengers and crew saw friends and comrades killed, wounded or maltreated by thugs with no more respect for human life than Al Capone's gangsters. Some of these same criminals later appeared on Panorama. Wary of the daylight they lurked in the night shadows of Haifa docks like wharf rats, referred to their victims as "terrorists", and falsely accused them of shooting at commandos who were indulging a blood bath totally outside of any remit granted by International Law. (A terrorist, we should remember, is someone who uses violence against civilians for political ends. The commandos defined the term as someone who comes prepared to commit violence, dressed in military clothing with covered faces. Either definition accurately fitted the commandos themselves, who in any event would never be accorded the protection that International Law demands for civilians.)
The blood of men who believed in universal human rights dripped down the stairs of the Mavi Marmara that night as war crimes were committed on the orders of Ehud Barak and Benjamin Netanyahu under the guise of defending the state of Israel. Knowing all this, in a few days time an even larger flotilla with even more human rights workers on board will sail for Gaza. Benjamin Netanyahu has tried every trick in the diplomatic book to prevent it. We can be sure that Mossad has been hard at work too, trying to sabotage ships bound for the high seas.
Despite well-publicised claims to the contrary, and despite the recent opening of the Rafah Crossing to many civilians, the sadistic Israeli closure remains firmly locked on Gaza. There has been no confirmation that the 4,500 tons of building materials on the last flotilla ever reached Gaza. Desperately needed sewage pipes are still aboard the Malaysian ship the 'Spirit of Rachel Corrie' instead of being delivered to Gaza. (Ironically this would have helped to reduce pollution in the eastern Mediterranean where the tides presumably wash untreated Gazan sewage onto Israel's beaches.) Permitted exports from Gaza amount to around two lorry loads a day in place of the 400 per day that Israel agreed to allow in a deal brokered by Condoleezza Rice in 2005. Meanwhile the scarcely-reported ceasefire of missiles from Gaza, applied after the successful Palestinian unity talks, attracts no concessions from Israel's continuing occupation of the Gaza Strip.
The heroism and sacrifice of this next flotilla will not be in vain. Despite more brazen lies from Mark Regev and biased portrayals of events by the likes of Jane Corbin, Mr Netanyahu's stubborn, blinkered stupidity will further damage Israel's international image while further advancing the Palestinian cause. No Nobel Peace Laureate will be able to disguise the guilt if more Israeli hoods batter more human rights workers. No selectively edited whitewash report, with of without endorsement from professors of International Law, will be able to conceal the truth this time from the people of the world. The flotilla is coming, and just as Mickey Mouse's sorcerer's apprentice merely increased the activities of his animated broom when he attacked it with an axe, Mr Netanyahu only risks further opprobrium in the eyes of the world, further censure for his pariah state and further flotillas if he insists in perpetuating the use of violent crime against lawful protest on the high seas.
(Once the ships sail it will be possible to track them on www.marinetraffic.com/ais/. Any assault is likely to be before dawn on the night before the anticipated arrival in Gaza.)
*Richard Lightbown is a researcher and writer. He contributed this article to PalestineChronicle.com.
terça-feira, 26 de abril de 2011
Next flotilla to Gaza renamed in honour of Vik
Written by Free Gaza Team, 15 April 2011
Freedom Flotilla 2 Steering Committee
The murder of human rights activist, Vittorio Arrigoni, is a tragedy for his family, for those of us who knew him, and for the Palestinians who loved and admired him. The Steering Committee of Freedom Flotilla 2 condemns this senseless murder and the people who are behind it. They took the life of one of the most passionate supporters of justice for Palestine. This murder is damaging to the Palestinian struggle for freedom and justice as well as our work in support of that struggle.
In his honor, we are naming our next voyage, FREEDOM FLOTILLA – STAY HUMAN.
Nothing that we write can capture the man who was so full of the joy of life, a man with the pipe in his mouth and the captain’s hat always tilted at an angle on his head. The man with the big smile and gentle nature, someone who used his physical strength to hold small children in his arms, sometimes several at a time. His laughter and his last comments every time we saw him will ring in all of our ears as we board the boats to return to Gaza at the end of May.
“Stay Human,” he would say, then grin and clench his pipe in his teeth.
Vittorio had sailed with us from Greece on the first small fishing boat to enter Gaza in the summer of 2008, one of 44 activists sailing to protest the illegal blockade imposed by Israel against the 1.5 million Palestinians living in Gaza. We will do our best, Vik, to carry on the work you have done. The flotilla will return to Gaza in your honor.
Contact: Huwaida Arraf, Ramallah +972-598-336-215.
Espen Goffeng, Norway +47 90 13 14 94
Ramy Ramy, London +447728021097
Mother of Slain Italian Activist to Sail to Gaza, Flotilla Change Name in Honor of Vittorio
Gaza-PNN – Agidea Prata, the mother of Vittorio Arrigoni, the Italian activist and journalist killed in Gaza on Friday, said that she will be sailing to Gaza on May with the Free Gaza flotilla. Prata on Saturday told Italian news sources that “I want to see Gaza that my son loved and sacrificed for, I want to meet the good people living there that my son Vik always talked about”. She added that Vittorio work will go on though his friends.
Vittorio’s mother added that her son received death threats from a right wing American group on their website two years ago because of his photos published online and the pro Palestinian tattoo he has on his shoulder.
Vittorio first came to Gaza with the Free Gaza flotilla in 2008 and used to live in a single bedroom house near Gaza City coastline until he was kidnapped and murdered by a radical Salafists group calling itself Mohamed Bin-Mosliemah brigades.
Also on Saturday organizers of the Free Gaza flotilla announced that next voyage to Gaza will be named “ Freedom Flotilla – Stay Human” in Honor of Vittorio Arrigoni.
“The murder of human rights activist, Vittorio Arrigoni, is a tragedy for his family, for those of us who knew him, and for the Palestinians who loved and admired him. The Steering Committee of Freedom Flotilla 2 condemns this senseless murder and the people who are behind it. They took the life of one of the most passionate supporters of justice for Palestine. This murder is damaging to the Palestinian struggle for freedom and justice as well as our work in support of that struggle.” The group said on their website.
Adding that ““Stay Human he would say, then grin and clench his pipe in his teeth. We will do our best, Vik, to carry on the work you have done. The flotilla will return to Gaza in your honor.”
According to the Free Gaza Movement the group will send a new flotilla to Gaza in May. Last year on May 30th Israeli navy attacked the freedom flotilla boats while sailing in international water to Gaza killing 9 aid workers and injuring 54.
Freedom Flotilla 2 Steering Committee
The murder of human rights activist, Vittorio Arrigoni, is a tragedy for his family, for those of us who knew him, and for the Palestinians who loved and admired him. The Steering Committee of Freedom Flotilla 2 condemns this senseless murder and the people who are behind it. They took the life of one of the most passionate supporters of justice for Palestine. This murder is damaging to the Palestinian struggle for freedom and justice as well as our work in support of that struggle.
In his honor, we are naming our next voyage, FREEDOM FLOTILLA – STAY HUMAN.
Nothing that we write can capture the man who was so full of the joy of life, a man with the pipe in his mouth and the captain’s hat always tilted at an angle on his head. The man with the big smile and gentle nature, someone who used his physical strength to hold small children in his arms, sometimes several at a time. His laughter and his last comments every time we saw him will ring in all of our ears as we board the boats to return to Gaza at the end of May.
“Stay Human,” he would say, then grin and clench his pipe in his teeth.
Vittorio had sailed with us from Greece on the first small fishing boat to enter Gaza in the summer of 2008, one of 44 activists sailing to protest the illegal blockade imposed by Israel against the 1.5 million Palestinians living in Gaza. We will do our best, Vik, to carry on the work you have done. The flotilla will return to Gaza in your honor.
Contact: Huwaida Arraf, Ramallah +972-598-336-215.
Espen Goffeng, Norway +47 90 13 14 94
Ramy Ramy, London +447728021097
Mother of Slain Italian Activist to Sail to Gaza, Flotilla Change Name in Honor of Vittorio
Gaza-PNN – Agidea Prata, the mother of Vittorio Arrigoni, the Italian activist and journalist killed in Gaza on Friday, said that she will be sailing to Gaza on May with the Free Gaza flotilla. Prata on Saturday told Italian news sources that “I want to see Gaza that my son loved and sacrificed for, I want to meet the good people living there that my son Vik always talked about”. She added that Vittorio work will go on though his friends.
Vittorio’s mother added that her son received death threats from a right wing American group on their website two years ago because of his photos published online and the pro Palestinian tattoo he has on his shoulder.
Vittorio first came to Gaza with the Free Gaza flotilla in 2008 and used to live in a single bedroom house near Gaza City coastline until he was kidnapped and murdered by a radical Salafists group calling itself Mohamed Bin-Mosliemah brigades.
Also on Saturday organizers of the Free Gaza flotilla announced that next voyage to Gaza will be named “ Freedom Flotilla – Stay Human” in Honor of Vittorio Arrigoni.
“The murder of human rights activist, Vittorio Arrigoni, is a tragedy for his family, for those of us who knew him, and for the Palestinians who loved and admired him. The Steering Committee of Freedom Flotilla 2 condemns this senseless murder and the people who are behind it. They took the life of one of the most passionate supporters of justice for Palestine. This murder is damaging to the Palestinian struggle for freedom and justice as well as our work in support of that struggle.” The group said on their website.
Adding that ““Stay Human he would say, then grin and clench his pipe in his teeth. We will do our best, Vik, to carry on the work you have done. The flotilla will return to Gaza in your honor.”
According to the Free Gaza Movement the group will send a new flotilla to Gaza in May. Last year on May 30th Israeli navy attacked the freedom flotilla boats while sailing in international water to Gaza killing 9 aid workers and injuring 54.
quarta-feira, 20 de abril de 2011
Dois suspeitos da execução de Arrigoni morrem após confronto com Hamas
19 abril 11, RTP.pt
Dois homens, suspeitos de participação no assassinato do ativista italiano Vittorio Arrigoni na semana passada, morreram e um terceiro ficou ferido, encontrando-se sob a alçada das forças do Hamas. A polícia refere que uma das mortes resultou de uma explosão provocada por outro dos elementos do grupo, que se suicidou de seguida. Três elementos das forças do Hamas ficaram feridos na operação de captura dos suspeitos.
Os três homens, alegados membros de um grupo radical islâmico salafita, próximo da Al Qaeda, foram cercados esta terça-feira por militares do Hamas numa habitação do campo de refugiados de Nuseirat, no centro da cidade de Gaza.
Houve troca de tiros após se terem revelado infrutíferas as tentativas de negociar a rendição dos fugitivos, entretanto cercados, descreveram testemunhas citadas pela France Press.
A operação chegou ao fim quando um dos suspeitos, de nacionalidade jordana, “lançou um engenho explosivo em direção aos seus dois camaradas, ferindo ambos, um deles com gravidade, antes de se suicidar com um tiro”, descreve, em comunicado, do Ministério do Interior. O ferido mais grave viria, aliás, a morrer posteriormente.
O movimento islâmico no poder em Gaza desde meados de 2007 prometeu “perseguir” e julgar os autores da morte do ativista de 36 anos, da ONG pró-palestiniana Solidariedade Internacional. Duas pessoas já haviam sido detidas no contexto desta investigação.
O ativista italiano foi encontrado morto sexta-feira num apartamento de Gaza, um dia após ter sido feito refém pelo grupo Al Tawhid Wal Jihad. Arrigoni deveria servir de moeda de troca com os membros do grupo que se encontram presos nas cadeias palestinianas.
O homem de 36 anos, chegado há três a bordo de um barco de ajuda internacional, vivia atualmente na cidade de Gaza, capital do território palestiniano governado pelos radicais do Hamas. O italiano trabalhava com agricultores e pescadores palestinianos, sendo membro assíduo nos protestos contra o bloqueio imposto por Israel à Faixa de Gaza.
O grupo Al Tawhid Wal Jihad já esteve envolvido em vários atentados contra turistas estrangeiros na península do Sinai, depois de se ter estabelecido na Faixa de Gaza em 2004. Desde então, tem confrontado o Hamas, que considera demasiado moderado.
Dois homens, suspeitos de participação no assassinato do ativista italiano Vittorio Arrigoni na semana passada, morreram e um terceiro ficou ferido, encontrando-se sob a alçada das forças do Hamas. A polícia refere que uma das mortes resultou de uma explosão provocada por outro dos elementos do grupo, que se suicidou de seguida. Três elementos das forças do Hamas ficaram feridos na operação de captura dos suspeitos.
Os três homens, alegados membros de um grupo radical islâmico salafita, próximo da Al Qaeda, foram cercados esta terça-feira por militares do Hamas numa habitação do campo de refugiados de Nuseirat, no centro da cidade de Gaza.
Houve troca de tiros após se terem revelado infrutíferas as tentativas de negociar a rendição dos fugitivos, entretanto cercados, descreveram testemunhas citadas pela France Press.
A operação chegou ao fim quando um dos suspeitos, de nacionalidade jordana, “lançou um engenho explosivo em direção aos seus dois camaradas, ferindo ambos, um deles com gravidade, antes de se suicidar com um tiro”, descreve, em comunicado, do Ministério do Interior. O ferido mais grave viria, aliás, a morrer posteriormente.
O movimento islâmico no poder em Gaza desde meados de 2007 prometeu “perseguir” e julgar os autores da morte do ativista de 36 anos, da ONG pró-palestiniana Solidariedade Internacional. Duas pessoas já haviam sido detidas no contexto desta investigação.
O ativista italiano foi encontrado morto sexta-feira num apartamento de Gaza, um dia após ter sido feito refém pelo grupo Al Tawhid Wal Jihad. Arrigoni deveria servir de moeda de troca com os membros do grupo que se encontram presos nas cadeias palestinianas.
O homem de 36 anos, chegado há três a bordo de um barco de ajuda internacional, vivia atualmente na cidade de Gaza, capital do território palestiniano governado pelos radicais do Hamas. O italiano trabalhava com agricultores e pescadores palestinianos, sendo membro assíduo nos protestos contra o bloqueio imposto por Israel à Faixa de Gaza.
O grupo Al Tawhid Wal Jihad já esteve envolvido em vários atentados contra turistas estrangeiros na península do Sinai, depois de se ter estabelecido na Faixa de Gaza em 2004. Desde então, tem confrontado o Hamas, que considera demasiado moderado.
terça-feira, 19 de abril de 2011
VITTORIO, JAMAIS AUSSI VIVANT QUE MAINTENANT
19 avril 2011, Association France Palestine Solidarité http://www.france-palestine.org
Egidia Beretta Arrigoni
Faut-il mourir pour devenir un héros, pour avoir la première page des journaux, les télés devant chez soi, faut-il mourir pour rester humains ?
Je me souviens du Vittorio de Noël 2005, emprisonné dans une cellule de l’aéroport Ben Gourion, les cicatrices des menottes qui lui ont scié les poignets, les contacts refusés avec son consulat, le procès farcesque.
Et cette Pâques de la même année quand, à la frontière jordanienne, juste après le pont d’Allenby, la police israélienne le bloqua pour l’empêcher d’entrer en Israël, le chargea dans un bus et, à sept, dont une femme policière, le tabassèrent « avec art », sans laisser de traces extérieures, en véritables professionnels qu’ils sont, le jetant ensuite à terre et, comme un dernier affront, lui lançant au visage les cheveux qu’ils lui avaient arrachés, avec leurs puissants amphibies.
Vittorio était un indésirable en Israël. Trop subversif, pour avoir manifesté avec son ami Gabriele, l’année précédente, avec les femmes et les hommes du village de Budrus contre le mur de la honte, en leur apprenant et en chantant avec eux notre plus chant de partisan : « O bella ciao, ciao… »
Je ne vis alors aucune télévision, pas même quand, à l’automne 2008, un commando donna l’assaut au bateau de pêche, au large de Rafah, dans les eaux palestiniennes, et Vittorio fut emprisonné à Ramle et ensuite expédié chez lui en combinaison et savates. Bien sûr, je ne peux maintenant que remercier la presse et la télé qui nous ont approchés avec courtoisie, qui ont « surveillé » notre maison avec égards, sans excès et m’ont donné l’occasion de parler de Vittorio et de ses choix idéaux.
Ce fils perdu, mais si vivant, comme il ne l’a peut-être jamais été, qui comme le grain qui pourrit et meurt en terre donnera des fruits luxuriants. Je le vois et je l’entends déjà dans les mots des amis, surtout des jeunes, certains proches d’autres très lointains, qui à travers Vittorio ont connu et compris, plus encore à présent, comment on peut donner un sens à « Utopie », comment la soif de justice et de paix, la fraternité et la solidarité ont encore droit de cité et que, comme disait Vittorio, « la Palestine peut aussi être sur le pas de sa porte ».
Nous étions loin de Vittorio, mais plus proches que jamais. Comme maintenant, avec sa présence vivante qui grandit d’heure en heure, comme un vent qui de Gaza, de sa mer Méditerranée chérie, souffle, impétueux, et nous apporte ses espoirs et son amour pour les sans voix, pour les faibles, pour les opprimés, en nous passant le témoin.
Restons humains.
Egidia Beretta Arrigoni
Faut-il mourir pour devenir un héros, pour avoir la première page des journaux, les télés devant chez soi, faut-il mourir pour rester humains ?
Je me souviens du Vittorio de Noël 2005, emprisonné dans une cellule de l’aéroport Ben Gourion, les cicatrices des menottes qui lui ont scié les poignets, les contacts refusés avec son consulat, le procès farcesque.
Et cette Pâques de la même année quand, à la frontière jordanienne, juste après le pont d’Allenby, la police israélienne le bloqua pour l’empêcher d’entrer en Israël, le chargea dans un bus et, à sept, dont une femme policière, le tabassèrent « avec art », sans laisser de traces extérieures, en véritables professionnels qu’ils sont, le jetant ensuite à terre et, comme un dernier affront, lui lançant au visage les cheveux qu’ils lui avaient arrachés, avec leurs puissants amphibies.
Vittorio était un indésirable en Israël. Trop subversif, pour avoir manifesté avec son ami Gabriele, l’année précédente, avec les femmes et les hommes du village de Budrus contre le mur de la honte, en leur apprenant et en chantant avec eux notre plus chant de partisan : « O bella ciao, ciao… »
Je ne vis alors aucune télévision, pas même quand, à l’automne 2008, un commando donna l’assaut au bateau de pêche, au large de Rafah, dans les eaux palestiniennes, et Vittorio fut emprisonné à Ramle et ensuite expédié chez lui en combinaison et savates. Bien sûr, je ne peux maintenant que remercier la presse et la télé qui nous ont approchés avec courtoisie, qui ont « surveillé » notre maison avec égards, sans excès et m’ont donné l’occasion de parler de Vittorio et de ses choix idéaux.
Ce fils perdu, mais si vivant, comme il ne l’a peut-être jamais été, qui comme le grain qui pourrit et meurt en terre donnera des fruits luxuriants. Je le vois et je l’entends déjà dans les mots des amis, surtout des jeunes, certains proches d’autres très lointains, qui à travers Vittorio ont connu et compris, plus encore à présent, comment on peut donner un sens à « Utopie », comment la soif de justice et de paix, la fraternité et la solidarité ont encore droit de cité et que, comme disait Vittorio, « la Palestine peut aussi être sur le pas de sa porte ».
Nous étions loin de Vittorio, mais plus proches que jamais. Comme maintenant, avec sa présence vivante qui grandit d’heure en heure, comme un vent qui de Gaza, de sa mer Méditerranée chérie, souffle, impétueux, et nous apporte ses espoirs et son amour pour les sans voix, pour les faibles, pour les opprimés, en nous passant le témoin.
Restons humains.
VITTORIO ARRIGONI, "HERO OF PALESTINE"
15 April 2011
Vittorio Arrigoni in Gaza, June 2010. (Lu Yingxu/Newscom)
Palestinians and international solidarity activists around the world are collectively mourning the shocking death of Vittorio Arrigoni, an Italian journalist and solidarity activist. Arrigoni was also an occasional contributor to The Electronic Intifada (see “Gaza’s record-breaking children,” 16 August 2010 and “No words to console Gaza child after mother is killed by Israeli shelling,” 26 July 2010).
Arrigoni, 36, was found dead early this morning in Gaza City, hours after a video of him blindfolded and apparently beaten had surfaced on the Internet. In the video, his captors threaten to execute Arrigoni unless the Hamas government in Gaza released the little-known group’s imprisoned leader.
Arrigoni was the first foreign national known to be kidnapped in Gaza since Hamas began administering the territory four years ago. Previously, there had been a number of kidnappings of journalists, international aid workers and other visitors to Gaza, all eventually released. BBC reporter Alan Johnston was the most high-profile and longest-held captive, held for 114 days by the Dughmush clan, which some observers say have operated opportunistically and criminally under the guise of Islamic piety.
While the identities of Arrigoni’s kidnappers and those responsible for his death and the reasons why they killed him are murky, Arrigoni himself was well-known and admired by those with whom he worked in solidarity with the Palestinian people. He first arrived to Palestine in 2002, his mother, Egidia Beretta, told the Italian news agency ANSA (“Hamas says it found body of Italian activist,” The New York Times, 15 April 2011).
Arrigoni was involved with the International Solidarity Movement, and had last entered Gaza in 2009 during one of the efforts to break the siege on Gaza by boat. Arrigoni was among a handful of international activists present during Israel’s winter 2008-09 attacks on the Gaza Strip, volunteering with the Palestine Red Crescent Society’s emergency medical worker teams, despite the very dangerous conditions they faced. He was frequently interviewed by Italian media during the three weeks of bombardment, as Israel had banned journalists from entering the Gaza Strip. His daily dispatches during those three weeks, during which 1,400 Palestinians were killed, the vast majority civilians, were published in 2010 in a book titled Gaza: Stay Human, translated into English by Daniela Filippin and with an introduction by Israeli historian and dissident Ilan Pappe.
Arrigoni had been injured and arrested several times by the Israeli military. According to the International Solidarity Movement, Arrigoni was injured when the Israeli navy fired a water cannon at Palestinian fishing boats off the coast of Gaza. Palestinian fishermen have been repeatedly attacked — and sometimes killed — as Israel has imposed tight restrictions on how far out to sea Palestinians are allowed to fish (“ISM Rafah: Italian activist injured by Israeli navy off Gaza coast,” 16 September 2008).
A month later, Arrigoni was kidnapped along with 15 Palestinian fishermen and three accompanying international activists, from Palestinian waters. According to an International Solidarity Movement activist writing on her blog, “At the time of his abduction, he was electrically shocked while peacefully avoiding abduction by diving into Gaza’s cold waters” (“Vik: a friend, a brother, a humanist,” 15 April 2011).
Arrigoni, known as “Vik” by many, was also a familiar face in the refugee camps in Lebanon. He was one of a trickle of international solidarity activists who volunteered in Nahr al-Bared camp in northern Lebanon, which was destroyed during and after fighting between the Lebanese army and a fundamentalist group in 2007.
Arrigoni was long involved in human rights issues. The deputy mayor of Bulciago, Arrigoni’s hometown north of Milan, said that the activist “had worked in Eastern Europe and Africa before embracing the Palestinian cause” (“Hamas says it found body of Italian activist,” The New York Times, 15 April 2011).
The murder of Arrigoni comes just days after the assassination of Palestinian cultural figure Juliano Mer-Khamis, who was murdered by an unknown assailant outside of the Jenin Freedom Theatre, which he helped re-establish in the occupied West Bank refugee camp. Mer-Khamis’ killing, like that of Arrigoni, sent waves of shock throughout the Palestinian and solidarity communities.
Palestinian factions including the Hamas government in Gaza, Fatah, Islamic Jihad, the Palestinian People’s Party and the Popular Resistance Committees, all condemned the kidnapping and murder of Arrigoni (“Palestinian factions denounce murder of Italian activist,” Ma’an News Agency, 15 April 2011).
Arrigoni’s death also comes after a week of Israeli military attacks on the Gaza Strip, which claimed the lives of nearly twenty Palestinians.
In a press release distributed by the International Solidarity Movement and the Free Gaza Movement, before it was learned that Arrigoni had been killed, Khalil Shaheen — a friend of Arrigoni with the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights — said “Vittorio Arrigoni is a hero of Palestine” (“Palestinians call for release of Italian activist kidnapped in Gaza,” 14 April 2011).
Vigils and gatherings to mourn Arrigoni were ongoing in Gaza City, and in the occupied West Bank cities of Bethlehem and Ramallah at the time of publication. Similar actions were being organized in London and other international cities.
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