"Let us remain human, even in the most difficult moments"

"I arrived in Gaza on the 23rd of August 2009 on a boat of the Free Gaza Movement with about 40 actvists from 17 different countries. We arrived and broke a siege lasting since 1967. I remember this day as one of the happiest and most emotional of my life, thousands of Palestianians came to the port to welcome the first foreign boats since 1967. Afterwards with about 15 activists, Italian, British, American, Spanish; we decided to restart the activities of the Interantional Solidarity Movement that were stopped in 2003 after the assesination of Rachel Corrie and Tom Hurndall by the Israeli Army. My grandfathers were partisans who fought and died struggling against an occupation, another occupation, in Italy, it was the Nazi-fascist one. For this reason probably, in my DNA and blood there are particles that push me to struggle for freedom and human rights. The message of solidariety from outside has been well understood and especially thanks to us who have committed ourselves to fishermen and farmers, and particularily after the massacre of the  Mavi-Marmara when it became clear not only to the world but even to Palestianians that some people from elsewhere, despite the governments that are complacent and  accomplices of the Zionist Israeli government, are ready to spend their lives in order to come to hug their brothers here in Gaza. The problem with the International co-operation and, above all, the UN is that they treat it [Israeli-Palestinian conflict] as a humanitarian catastrophe, so I, an Italian, Edi, a British, Vera, a German who have our normal lives as student, workers in our countries had to come here to dare snipers, to be on board of boats as human  shields, exactly what the UN should be doing, an international  inter-position force to ensure respect for the rules of the international law".

(From an interview to Vittorio Arrigoni published by PeaceReporter)

Vittorio Arrigoni (1975-2011), an International Solidarity Movement (Ism) activist, was kidnapped and killed in Gaza

see also Vittorio Arrigoni's video interview