General strike across Italy in solidarity with Gaza and in protest against the attack on Sumud Flotilla

Palestine Information Center

Italy witnessed a nationwide general strike on Monday, affecting transportation, education, and logistics sectors, following calls by labor unions protesting military rearmament programs, rejecting Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza, and expressing solidarity with the “Global Sumud Flotilla” attempting to break the blockade on the Gaza Strip.

The strike coincided with demonstrations in several Italian cities under the slogan “Stop Everything,” organized by labor unions and civil society groups to protest rising living costs, military policies, and increased spending on weapons at the expense of healthcare and education, while also demanding an end to what protesters described as the genocide against Palestinians and supporting the flotilla heading to Gaza.

In the capital, Rome, protesters gathered in one of the city’s main squares, carrying banners urging the Italian government not to continue what they called “complicity in crimes” alongside Israel.

Demonstrators also waved Palestinian flags and chanted slogans, including “Free Palestine,” expressing outrage over the Israeli attack on the Global Sumud Flotilla...

read more here 

Protests rage in Italy on Day 2 over Israel's storming of Sumud Flotilla, nationwide strike looms

from TRT

Thousands took to the streets across Italy in support of the Gaza-bound aid flotilla, a day before a planned nationwide strike, as the government repeated its criticism of the attempt to break Israel's blockade in Gaza.

In Rome, police said around 10,000 people marched from the Colosseum through the city centre, chanting against Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s support for Israel.

Demonstrations also spread to Milan, Torino, Florence, and Bologna.

"The flotilla has somehow reopened attention on this issue, revealing consciences that have perhaps been too dormant after two years of war and massacres," said Lorenzo Giardinetti, a Rome city council member who joined the march.

"Today it is the Colosseum, tomorrow it is the general strike... It is a matter of putting our bodies on the line, as the flotilla activists did."

In Milan, an estimated 5,000 people rallied near the Duomo, blocking traffic during rush hour.

Protesters shouted: "We are ready to block everything. The genocide machine must stop now."

Trains were suspended in Florence and Bologna after demonstrators occupied railway lines, rail operator Trenitalia confirmed...

read more here 

Italy urges Gaza flotilla to hand over aid after drone attack

(It would appear that Italy is pressing the Global Sumud Flotilla to hand over all the aid and turn around before they get to the area in the Medertranian where the Egyptians and the Turkish are running their military drills. They claim they will give the aid to the Catholics who will then give it to Palestinians in Jerusalem... probably Fatah and Palestinian Authority supporters... and NOT make sure it gets to Gaza. Israel supports the plan according to this. The Flotilla tracker seems to suggest ALL the boats have landed in Crete and are stalled at this point. Are they calling it quits?) 

Reuters

Italy urged an international flotilla to hand over its aid supplies for Gaza on Wednesday and allow them to be distributed by the local Catholic Church, as a way to ward off further risks after the flotilla was attacked by drones overnight.

 

The Global Sumud Flotilla is using about 50 civilian boats to try and break Israel's naval blockade of Gaza. Many lawyers and activists, including Swedish climate campaigner Greta Thunberg, are on board.

Italy sent a navy ship to the flotilla's assistance after the vessels were attacked by 12 drones in international waters 30 nautical miles (56 km) off the Greek island of Gavdos. All passengers were safe after drones exploded over the vessels, said Marikaiti Stasinou, a spokesperson for March to Gaza Greece, which is part of the flotilla.

 

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said Rome's proposal was to hand over the aid in Cyprus to the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem, which would then deliver it.

 

"It is a proposal that seems to have the support of the Cypriot government, the Israeli government and, of course, the Italian government. We are awaiting a response from the flotilla," Meloni told reporters in New York where she is attending the U.N. General Assembly.

 

Meloni urged the flotilla to accept the plan and criticized its aid initiative, calling it "gratuitous, dangerous and irresponsible"...

read more here 

Thousands march in Rome to protest ‘complicity’ on Gaza war

from PressTV

Tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets in the Italian capital, Rome, to demand an end to the Israeli war on Gaza, while accusing the government of being complicit in the ongoing genocide.  

According to the organizers, up to 300,000 people marched through the streets of the capital city on Saturday, as they waved Palestinian flags and held a wide banner reading, “Stop the massacre, stop complicity!” as well as “Free Palestine” signs.

The rally made its way from Rome’s central Piazza Vittorio to San Giovanni, where opposition parties’ leaders urged an end to the aggression and denounced “the silence” of the far-right Italian government of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni...

read more here 

Italy's Parliament calls on govt to support Gaza cease-fire

 from Daily Sabah

Italy's parliament passed a motion Tuesday urging the government to support a cease-fire in Gaza as Israel continues to bombard the Palestinian enclave.

The motion urges the government "to support any initiative aimed at requesting an immediate cease-fire for humanitarian reasons, according to the text approved by lawmakers.

"At this point, Israel’s reaction is disproportionate, there are too many victims who have nothing to do with Hamas," Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said earlier in the day.

Opposition parties, which tabled the motion, have urged the government on many occasions to deploy more diplomatic efforts to achieve an end to the war...

read more here