Dire Agency –
“In Italy we don’t talk, or we talk very little, about our report on Israel’s apartheid on the Palestinians. Abroad it has triggered a broader analysis and debate, and this is very important: the report deals with violations of international law from 1948 onwards, analyzing the stages and above all the laws that created and fueled the regime of apartheid all these years.” Tina Marinari is the advocacy manager for Amnesty International Italy and discusses with the Dire agency while the battle rages in the Middle East: the attack launched by Hamas on Saturday morning in southern Israel has provoked the response of the Tel Aviv army against Gaza, and According to Marinari, the death toll on both sides is “already very heavy”: almost 1600, of which over 900 Israelis and more than 700 Palestinians.
In February 2022, Amnesty published the longest report in its history: 280 pages that required four years of work, entitled ‘Israeli Apartheid against the Palestinians’. From this work, Marinari continues, “it emerges that Israel imposes a system of oppression and domination on Palestinians in all areas under its control”, so that “Israeli Jews benefit from it”. This consists of “destruction of villages”, “expropriations”, “displacements”, “segregation”, “separation of families”, “administrative detention”, “torture”, “sieges”.
Among the most recent causes, Marinari cites “the denial of access to Muslim faithful to the al-Aqsa mosque”. The press reports that last week 800 Jewish citizens – including university professors, rabbis and leaders of settler associations – carried out incursions into the sacred place for Muslims, also carrying out acts defined as “desecrating”.
The problem, warns Marinari, is that “the media in Italy don’t talk about it, and even in these days we see a different approach to news compared to other countries”. Amnesty’s position, reiterates Marinari, “is clear: we urge both warring parties to protect the lives of civilians, stopping the attacks and releasing the hostages. Attacking civilians in a disproportionate and disproportionate way is always a war crime, which both sides are committing.” At the same time, the representative invites analysis: “We must not forget the causes that led to this violence: international law trampled on for decades, the 16-year blockade on Gaza, and then the apartheid system.”
The report itself can then become relevant again in these difficult times: “Only by talking about the violations can we find a peaceful solution” suggests the expert. “The international community must recognize these crimes and hold all those responsible to account. We ask that he address the root causes of this war, putting international law back at the center.”
An appeal that calls European governments into question, including Meloni’s, also regarding the affair of the Italian-Palestinian student of La Sapienza University, Khaled El-Qaisi, arrested on 31 August by Israeli forces and remained in prison until October 8, without being able to see a lawyer or know the charges against him: “Last Sunday – Marinari informs – Khaled was allowed to return to Bethlehem and hug his mother and brother again, but his passport has not yet been returned to him . Therefore, the ban on leaving the country persists for him.” Even with respect to this matter “we would have liked a firm stance on the part of our government” concludes Marinari.
This photo of me taken in a Libyan refugee camp: he is an engineer from Gaza, he goes on holiday to Libya, they close the borders. Since he is from Gaza and is absent for more than two weeks, he loses, according to the law imposed by Israel, the right to return to his home, whereby he is forced into a refugee camp abroad. She is a dentist, a “refugee from ’48”, and lives in a Libyan refugee camp because her family was overthrown by the Israelis at the time. The baby was born in a Libyan camp.
