"For the truth, for Israel": opening a new page in Europe

Dear friends,

Thursday October the 7th was a special evening in Rome. A real moment of cohesion and unity: all together to say that "Per la verità, per Israele", For the truth, for Israel, it is time to stop with the systematic delegitimization of Israel. During the 4 hours event, from 6 to 10 p.m. – successfully moderated by the Director of "L’Occidentale" Giancarlo Loquenzi – more than 60 people took the floor, each for a maximum of 5 minutes. A sequence of passionate and moving speeches. Unfortunately many more were not able to speak because of very tight time constraints and we apologize for this. But we plan to publish all the messages we received so as to circulate them as much as possible. You can already see the entire video of the event on Radio Radicale at this link: http://www.radioradicale.it/scheda/312536

The Italian speeches are not yet translated, but there are many in English, as we had many guests from abroad, besides the video-message by Benjamin Netanyahu and Shimon Peres: José Maria Aznar, President of "Friends of Israel Initiative"; Dore Gold, former Israeli Ambassador to the UN; Brigadier General (Res.) Yosef Kuperwasser, Deputy Director General of the Israeli Ministry of Strategic Affairs; Israeli Vice PM Silvan Shalom; Amir Fakhravar, Iranian dissident in exile; Farid Ghadry, President of Syrian Reform Party; Russian Senator Vladimir Sloutsker, member of the European Bureau of "European Friends of Israel"; Members of the European Parliament: Hannu Takkula (Finland), Bastiaan Belder (NL);Tomas Sandell, Director of the Europan Coalition for Israel (Finland); French philosopher Shmuel Trigano and professor Rafael Drai; Gert Weisskirchen, former German MP, member of steering committee of the Interparliamentary Coalition on Combating Antisemitism; Farid Ghadry, president of the Syrian Reform Party, Syrian dissindet in exile; Lisa Billig, representing David Harris, Director of the American Jewish Committee...

There is a great deal of press material. I am just attaching the article appeared on Il Corriere della Sera.
Soon on the website www.truthforisrael.eu, you will find in English the op-ed articles written for "Il Foglio" for this occasion by many foreign and Italian authors (among them: Yuli Edelstein, José Maria Aznar, Dore Gold, Benny Morris, Melanie Phillips, Phyllis Chesler, Hannu Takkula, Gert Weisskirchen, Farid Ghadry, Amir Fakhravar...): http://www.ilfoglio.it/soloqui/6395 (in Italian).

We did not expect such an amazing success. We started with few resources. But we managed to attract 3000 people, inside the hall and in the square, where we placed a huge screen. We counted on the support of many friends and volunteers. Many speakers came from abroad, after long journeys, also from Washington. Many people came from Milan, Genoa, Turin, Florence to be with us. It was really incredible to see that, by throwing a little stone, we were submerged by a tsunami of love.

I hope this can be the beginning of a real change in Europe, for the truth, for Israel.
Let’s never stop reaffirming that defending the right of Israel to exist is the ultimate defense of freedom for all of us.

Yours,
Fiamma

"A bipartisan marathon in Rome for Israel"

Corriere della Sera, October 8, 2010
by Andrea Garibaldi

ROME — Outside, in Piazza di Pietra, there is a screen showing a message by Roberto Saviano: «I try to hope that in Italy – the right, the left, the center, whatever your political inclination – it is possible
to speak with greater knowledge and insight. My truth on Israel is nurtured by thoughts against the delegitimization of its culture and of its people».

Inside the magnificent Temple of Hadrian, there is an audience that is difficult to bring together: Fabrizio Cicchitto and Piero Fassino, Giovanna Melandri and Mara Carfagna, Fini’s supporters Benedetto Della Vedova and Luca Barbareschi together with Berlusconi’s supporters Gaetano Quagliariello and Franco Frattini, Minister of Foreign Affairs. Giuliano Ferrara, editor-in-chief of "Il Foglio", and the radical Massimo Bordin, Francesco Rutelli, the Mayor of Rome Gianni Alemanno.

All were convened by the journalist and Member of Parliament from Pdl Fiamma Nirenstein, for a "speaking marathon" entitled «For truth, for Israel». Nirenstein hopes for a “two State-two people” solution
in the Middle East. But she wants to defend Israel from the boycotts launched around the world, from the U.N. resolutions, from the “lies that depict Israel as a bully crook, whose life is worth nothing”.

Dozens and dozens of people and well-known personalities - politicians, journalist, artists, intellectuals - walk to the podium to speak for a maximum of 5 minutes up to late at night. The square is patrolled by the police that, late at night, push away a small group of protesters with the Palestinian black, red and green flags. A message from the Israeli Prime minister Netanyahu arrives: «Our enemies do not want to recognize our right to self-defense. Many in Europe have forgotten that Israel and Europe share fundamental values such as personal freedom, the civil rights of minorities, of women, of homosexuals”. Berlusconi sends a message: «Protecting the values and the identity of Israel means defending our own values». The President of the Chamber of Deputies, Gianfranco Fini, sends a message as well, speaking about the “noisy silence” on the plight of the Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, prisoner for four years now. Also Walter Veltroni, leader of the opposition party (Democratic Party), supports the event, urging in his message to «counteract the traps of antisemitism based on innuendos”.

José Maria Aznar, former Spanish premier and now President of the "Friends of Israel Initiative" takes the floor and states: «Any problem of Israel is a problem of all of us”. “We do not want to destroy the Palestinian State – cries Riccardo Pacifici, President of the Roman Jewish community. -We want two people in two States”. But: «The peace process must go on notwithstanding the extension of
settlements. Why should an Arab be allowed to live in Jerusalem and an Israeli should not be allowed to live in those territories? The settlements are expanding because new children are being born». Paolo Mieli, former editor-in-chief of "Il Corriere della Sera", the main Italian newspaper (whose current director, Ferruccio De Bortoli, joined the initiative as well), is succinct: «Israel has always been jeopardized. We must fight against the lies underlying the criticisms against the Israeli government”. And Pierluigi Battista - deputy director of Il Corriere della Sera – recalls certain lectures given at the political science department of the Teramo University, according to which the Shoah and the six million Jewish victims have never existed. Famous theater actor and director Giorgio Albertazzi reads the wonderful text "A plea for my homeland" by Italian, Libyan born, Jew poet and singer Herbert Pagani.

Some days ago, the Italian section of the movement "Jcall" stated that defending the Jewish State does not mean being silent about the responsibilities of Netanyahu’s government and doubted that coming to the Roman marathon would be the best way to express solidarity to Israel. Nirenstein also invited "Jcall" in piazza di Pietra and some of its members have joined her platform.

* translated by Silvia Pallottino

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