An Italian rights activist with a history of involvement in Parliamentary Leftist parties sends an open letter to the Chairman of the largest political party in Italy that still carries the name “Communist” (which has a different meaning in Italy, as it is fully integrated into the Capitalist System but has adopted simply a different approach to workers’ and social issues, and would be considered as merely “Progressive” anywhere else in the world). In this letter, which begins with a preamble of his bonafides as a faithful follower of the politics of said party, he illustrates the warped and damaging, and finally, inhumane, approach that the left, which considers itself Secular, has adopted. Secular and radical about that and therefore, it feels hostility towards Hamas in an ideological way a priori and thus remains orphans to “Fatah’s Orphans”.
The author asks the leader, prior to his visit to Palestine, to at least meet with Hamas, even those who represent it in the West Bank, if he is unwilling to attempt to go to Gaza, and to then establish a policy.
Seeing is believing, and the author asks the Progressive leaders to see before they support politicians who abandon the legitimate resistance and who have undermined the legitimate political rights of the people of Palestine.-MR, Tlaxcala
(In the photo: Pisa football supporters show their solidarity with Palestinians at a match)
“Open letter to Paolo Ferrero, prior to his visit to Palestine, about Fatah’s orphans”
Dear Ferrero,
Allow me to first introduce myself. I’m that lawyer whose long article against sentencing people to life imprisonment was issued last week by “Liberazione”.
Paolo Ferrero is the leader of the political party Rifondazione Comunista, and Liberazione is its newspaper
We still share being communists and claiming it publicly.
I’ve been pleading for 35 years the cases of those comrades with law offences. As a secular person, I donate my “8 per mille” (translator’s note, expression of preference indicated by taxpayers to allot to either the Italian State or to religious groups a fraction of the funds collected in taxes) income donation in favour of the Valdesian Church (translator’s note, the only group that guarantees to allocate all the funds allotted to them to social projects and not to religious activities, Ferrero is a member of this congregation) (therefore to you as well); and I give the “5 per mille” (translator’s note, similar to the previous expression of preference, but directly assigned to associations of all kinds according to the choice of the donor) donation to “Per Gazzella” Association which takes care of the wounded Palestinian children and which was founded by the partisan comrade Marisa Musu and by Marina Rossanda.
At the last elections, I undersigned the manifesto calling for abstention from voting and therefore I didn’t vote. At the previous elections I voted for the Italian Communists due to Stefano Chiarini standing as candidate; even before that, I always voted for Rifondazione Comunista, more or less resolutely.
All that being considered, let’s come to the point.
I think it’s time we dealt unreservedly and clearly with the Hamas question.
I went for the first time to Palestine in 1988, just at the time of the first Intifada. The first Palestinian I made acquaintance with was a great comrade, Kamal El Kaissi, who passed away the past year not before having undergone a final Israeli insult: the ambulance, with him dying in it, was held back for hours at the checkpoint near Bethlehem. I had met him at his new house in Bethlehem two days before he died.
As many other “internationalists”, I’ve been for many years cooperating mainly with leftist Palestinian forces and Israelis who, struggling for peace, can’t but be leftist.
Hamas had just been born.
The Palestinian women I used to work with would dress in western fashion (jeans and T-shirt); in Gaza, you could hardly see any of them wearing veils, which embodied more than anything an Egyptian cultural legacy.
Now everything has changed: no sooner had Hamas run for elections than it won them hands down; hanging around Nablus and Hebron you can see many women covered, more or less totally, by veils. Those same women who, as electoral scrutineers in 2006, wouldn’t disguise their joy, while scrutinizing, any time a ballot paper turned out pro-Hamas.
I was there in capacity of an international electoral observer. Everyone acknowledged the absolute regularity of the elections. After the outcome was known, I was immediately struck by the dismayed faces of the comrades near me, above all of those who were members of parties and/or institutions (unions, etc…). One of them ventured so far as to say: “these people are fascists.”
It was those same comrades who declined to meet with Hamas members both before and after the elections. I dubbed them the Fatah’s orphans.
Later on I went again to Palestine and Israel along with a new group of comrades and we would mainly meet with Hamas representatives. Let’s leave positive, personal impressions aside.
The incontrovertible political fact is this: it’s Hamas who is carrying on the resistance against the Zionist colonial occupation.
Were it not for their 60 year-long resistance (just think, ours against the Nazi-fascists lasted more or less one and half a years!), the Palestinians would have long since been a more or less tolerated minority within Greater Israel. Actually, now they are still a people fighting amongst countless difficulties, which might have overwhelmed anyone else.
Fatah (at least as far as its top members are concerned) is by now a quisling force, supplied in a massive way with money by the EU and the US.
They even reached a military cooperation agreement with Israel (more or less officially) against Hamas and hence against resistance.
He who is used to reasoning in terms of class conflict knows the old method used also by the ancient Romans: to rule over remote militarily conquered regions, they picked out an elite from the local upper classes who started governing in name of and on behalf of the conqueror. (Servants of the master and masters amongst servants).
Something like the puppet governments in Iraq and Afghanistan today.
Whoever today dare speak still of “peace process” is undeniably a pro-Zionist quisling. No peace process has ever existed in Israel’s intentions and reality; Oslo was a big illusion. Today Israel is carrying out its original plan more than ever: as much territory as possible with as few Palestinians as possible (do you remember the saying “a land without a people for a people without land”?). Ms. Livni has recently warned: “Leave it to us, it’s our business.”
On the “left” (!), now everyone is looking at Obama. His skin colour makes the billions he spent for his electoral campaign and his financial backers fade into the background. No sooner had he taken office than the first disappointments started coming to the fore.
As to Palestine, no one felt disappointed since they couldn’t even spare the time to fool themselves.
As it could be easily expected, two days after letting people learn about his candidature at the elections, more or less at the same time McCain did likewise, Obama expressed his love for Israel, just as each president before him did.
The appointment of his Chief of Staff came as a result: the son of former member of the Irgun terrorist organization, in other words: those people who used to place bombs in hotels (does King David ring a bell?). This guy feels deeply bound to his father (who also made a gaffe regarding Arabs) and to Israel.
Why am I writing this letter just now?
Because you are going to Palestine (I read your reply to a letter). I urge you to make an attempt to enter Gaza; if you fail, at least try meeting someone from Hamas in the West Bank; or try visiting those Palestinian MPs who were legitimately elected and who have been locked inside Israeli prisons without charges being pressed against them.
In addition, I’m writing to you because I’ve read, even on the daily you work for, words revealing aversion for Hamas. For instance, Marretta’s reporting from Jerusalem: “This is not the Gaza of the PNA; this is Hamastan.” “Embargo that harms only the civilian population and not the Hamas Islamic movement.”
Is a military offensive in Hamastan legitimate? Should an embargo harm Hamas, would it be legitimate?
Yet, it’s the reporter herself who reminds us that one of Hamas’ preconditions for ceasefire was the end to the economic and humanitarian strangulation against the Palestinian enclave and, according to the UNRWA, there hasn’t been the slightest slackening in imposing the embargo since last June. What’s more, the journalist herself reminds us that Hamas’ attacks were targeted on the Israeli army, that is, against the occupying force.
Now then, is there any need to remind us once again that the Geneva Accords (btw, not surprisingly, someone is contemplating amending them) allow any kind of resistance, even armed resistance, against occupiers?
Then, there are blunders in the short report about the demonstration this past November 29.
“The protesters have called for the wall sprung up on Israel’s territory to be dismantled and have claimed the Palestinians’ right to return into the territories abandoned about 60 years ago”
2) The wall hasn’t been built in Israel but on further land that has been taken away from the Palestinians.
3) The territories weren’t abandoned about 60 years ago but exactly 60 years ago some 750/800 thousand Palestinians were kicked out of their homes by means of weapons and terror.
Even “Corriere della Sera” newspaper is more objective: it’s true, it says that the territories were “abandoned” but at least it says that the wall has been “built” by Israel.
“il manifesto” newspaper (which, oddly enough, reported lesser attendance—3000 people—than “Corriere” did) reminded us that only “Italian Communists” party could be caught sight of at the demonstration (as to your party, Rifondazione, it gave its support to it but, quite evidently, it didn’t mobilize people to actually take part).
Marco Rizzo has said: “Regarding international issues, the left doesn’t exist anymore.”
Marco Ferrando has said: “The leadership has long since called off the Palestinian issue.”
In your reply to a reader, you have said: “We can’t afford indifference.”
Let me add, we can’t even afford the hypocrisy of considering Israel a democratic state and to pretend not to see what’s evident: it’s a colonialist state to which everything is permitted in name of the Shoah.
The criminal policies of the Israeli state have sparked off the propagation of anti-Zionism, which has nothing to do with anti-Semitism (how many anti-Zionist Jews there are!).
President Napolitano continues to be wrong about this issue.
Have a good trip
Ugo Giannangeli
PS: go there along with Ascanio Celestini, another one of my “crumbled” myths. The letter addressed to him and issued on Liberazione newspaper was very beautiful. Come on Ascanio, say something!
Original : Lettera aperta a Paolo Ferrero, prima che vada in Palestina, sugli orfani di Fatah
Original article published on 4 December, 2008
About the author
Diego Traversa and Mary Rizzo are members of Tlaxcala, the network of translators for linguistic diversity. This translation may be reprinted as long as the content remains unaltered, and the source, author, translator and reviser are cited.
URL of this article on Tlaxcala: http://www.tlaxcala.es/pp.asp?reference=6517&lg=en
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