The judicial operation that led to the arrest of nine people, including Mohammad Hannoun, president of the Association of Palestinians in Italy, as well as individuals linked to other associations, is above all a massive media operation. The case is being used by the Meloni government and pro-Israeli lobbies to portray the entire movement of solidarity with the Palestinian people as “pro-terrorist”, regardless of whether the accusations have any legal basis.
A huge media campaign has been set in motion to create the false perception of a national scandal. Its very clear objective is to provide a media counterweight to the indefensible complicity in genocide demonstrated by the Italian government, the only real scandal that should be the focus of public attention, and against which millions of people have taken to the streets in recent months. This is being done in the full knowledge that an accusation broadcast with such overwhelming media power, regardless of its merits, will always carry more weight than any later refutation.
The accusation levelled against those arrested and investigated is that they financed political organisations in Palestine. The nature of the accusation is peculiar, since these are people who have committed no crimes in Italy and are being accused of links with humanitarian associations that Israel unilaterally labels as terrorist organisations, on the basis of information supplied by Israel itself. It is worth recalling that the Israeli government, in the midst of an extremist and fundamentalist frenzy, now considers even the UNRWA, a United Nations agency, and NGOs such as Save the Children to be “linked to terrorism”. Save the Children itself was recently expelled from the Gaza Strip.
Regardless of the outcome of the investigation and the judicial proceedings that will follow, we wish to clarify several political points that are fundamental for us.
Hamas is regarded as a terrorist organisation by fewer than forty countries in the world. Among them are Israel, the United States and the European Union. As communists, we are far removed from Hamas’ ideology and political project. At the same time, we are fully aware that Hamas is a political force which many Palestinians regard as a point of reference. It is a political party that has governed the Gaza Strip over the past decades.
For this very reason, it is entirely normal for humanitarian organisations operating on the ground to maintain channels of communication and contact with those responsible for healthcare and public services, just as happens in any other country in the world. To use this argument in order to brand the transfer of funds for humanitarian aid as “terrorism” is completely arbitrary. A charge of terrorism can only stand if and when complicity in the organisation of terrorist attacks is proven. The Italian authorities know this perfectly well, but the government prefers to reap the immediate benefits of media sensationalism.
We consider all terrorist actions against the civilian population unacceptable, unlike the European governments that defend the terrorism of the Israeli state. At the same time, we know very well that the accusation of “terrorism” promoted by Israel, the United States and the European Union is aimed at erasing a fundamental truth: the history of armed struggle in Palestine, which certainly did not begin with Hamas, is rooted in the principle of the legitimacy of the resistance of an occupied people against an occupying force, a principle recognised by the United Nations and by international law.
The centre-left forces of the so-called “broad camp”, which have proclaimed themselves “progressive”, do not recognise this principle and in fact distance themselves from it. As a result, they now find themselves stammering and lending support to this judicial and media operation. This government operation has a very clear objective: to portray solidarity with Palestine as criminal and terrorist. We oppose this poisonous narrative and will continue to do so.
The struggle alongside the Palestinian people is just and necessary.
The State of Israel is criminal.
Those who defend a genocide are the terrorists.
Political Bureau of the CC — Communist Front of Italy
National Secretariat — Communist Youth Front
