“Humanism is the only – I would go so far as to say the last – resistance against the inhuman practices and injustices that disfigure human history” - Edward Said (1935-2003), this is how my meeting with Dr. Bassem Jarban ends, quoting the writer of Human Resistance.
I have asked myself many times the question of understanding and knowing the state of mind of those who have war at home at this moment.
Originally from Haifa in Palestine, he has resided in Italy since 1982, extremely attentive to the problem of integration, remaining very attached to his roots, Dr. Jarban held the role of president of the Palestinian Community of Puglia and Basilicata for several years and it is precisely with him that I was able to share opinions and feelings about what is happening in a place that we both love.
White House National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan commented to the press a few weeks ago: "Scandalous that there are Israelis blocking aid". Does this appear to you? What opinion did he form?
Of course I understand it. The hatred of the Zionists has reached such a high level of cruelty towards the Palestinian people that nothing shocks me anymore. The current government, after 7 October, now considers any type of direct action to be legitimate to allow it to achieve the goal it had long established.
Erase the Palestinian people from the Gaza Strip. It's a phrase we've all heard. The Zionist government's contempt for the Palestinian people is so deep-rooted that October 7 was probably just a pretext to carry forward, and hopefully not to the end, by any means and barbaric action, the intent and will to uproot the Palestinians from their land.
Last month, the US government rejected the suggestion of "genocide" in the Gaza Strip, but called on Israel to "do more" to ensure the protection of civilians in the Palestinian enclave. “We believe that Israel can and should do more to ensure the protection and well-being of innocent civilians. We do not believe that what is happening in Gaza is genocide”, Sullivan (in the photo, on the right) also declared. Agree?
We are almost at 38.000 deaths, of which 80% are innocent children, women and elderly people. Some might not consider it a genocide but in any case we are faced with a brutal and inhuman action of a ferocity that is unprecedented in history, given the very short period of time in which it was carried out.
But beyond the dead, imagine what the lack of humanitarian aid it has reduced the Palestinian people. I am a doctor... Do you know what it means to amputate a limb from a human being without anesthesia? Try to imagine this being done to a child, to one of our children! This is something I would not want done to any human being, whether Palestinian, Israeli or Russian.
Many of these atrocities could have been avoided if Prime Minister Netanyahu had taken the path of agreements and truce. On both sides he would have saved many innocent lives.
Why didn't Netanyahu want to take this path? In my humble opinion he hasn't done it and he doesn't want to do it because peace would lead to his conviction as he has criminal cases hanging over his head.
On doing more to ensure the protection and well-being of civilians. It doesn't seem to you that, given the situation and the scenario that we have - also thanks to social media - before our eyes, we are entering into a contradiction. Netanyahu destroyed hospitals, ambulances, around 100 journalists and cameramen were killed; all the gates have been closed, approximately 2 million people have been segregated in an open-air prison, without water, food and medicines, and he asks me to talk about what Netanyahu can do for the well-being of the Palestinians?
It would be enough for us if he stopped waging war. PEACE immediately and fair agreements.
The Italian National Committee for Public Order and Security last month raised awareness for "try to prevent subjects outside the university world from infiltrating demonstrations for the sole purpose of exploiting dissent". Do you think this could happen? In what ways?
The era of the press with its hands tied is over. Now there are social media. It is thanks to them that the truth is now coming out.
Teachers and students from all over the world, great brains, men of culture, in the 21st century will never be able to accept a genocide. None of these want to be on the side of this ugly story.
The demonstrations in squares all over the world, the occupation of schools and universities and places of culture, are a consequence of what is happening before our eyes, towards the Palestinians and for wars in general.
I don't think it is the infiltrations that create these situations but the anger against such atrocious and inhuman acts that social media have highlighted.
Last May 13, around 100.000 people gathered in the evening in Tel Aviv's Hostages Square to celebrate Israel's 76th Independence Day together with the families of the Hamas hostages in Gaza. The rally opened with a speech by former politician Haim Jelin, who led the crowd in a commemorative prayer adapted for the October 7 Hamas massacre.
In your heart, what do you feel like saying to these families?
Pain and suffering are the same for everyone; just as we don't want them for ourselves, we don't want them either. Ours is a desire for peace.
And I remember that their 76th year of independence is equivalent to the 76th year of Nakba*!
The future: "Two States, two Peoples" and "Resumption of the Abraham Accords". Chimeras or feasible consequences?
Two States and two Peoples are chimeras at present and will be until all colonies and settlers are removed from the settlements.
I am for a state secular confederal and democratic as the great intellectual Edward Said wanted. This is my opinion.
Maria Grazia Labellarte
* Nakba, which means "catastrophe" or "disaster" in Arabic, is a term used by Palestinians to describe the events that occurred during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War and the aftermath. More specifically, the Nakba refers to the destruction of Palestinian society and the expulsion of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians from their homes and lands, which accompanied the creation of the State of Israel.
The author thanks Dr. Vito Massimo Civitano for the contact.
Photo: author / The White House / Home Office
