Category: Press Releases

Solidarity Statements in honor of Vittorio Arrigoni

Organizations throughout Palestine and around the world are honoring Vittorio Arrigoni’s life and his work for the liberation of the Palestinian people. Collected here are some of those statements. If your organization is planning to issue a statement, please send it and any related URL to palestinesolidarity [at] gmail.com. Continue reading Solidarity Statements in honor of Vittorio Arrigoni

Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank unite in mourning of slain activist Vittorio Arrigoni

International Solidarity Movement Gaza

Vittorio Arrigoni
Vittorio Arrigoni

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Palestinians across the Gaza strip and the West Bank will join today in mourning slain activist Vittorio Arrigoni. People will gather both in the Al Manara square in Ramallah and at Al Jundi al Majhull, the unknown soldier park, in Gaza City. Mourners will be received by the ISM, local popular committees, and BDS and civil society activists.

Gaza
16.00, Al Jundi AL Majhoul – demonstration will move towards al Jundi al Majhoul, the unknown soldier park. A mourning tent will open at the fisherman’s port Al Mina al Sayadeen

Ramallah
16.00, Al Manara square – gathering to commemorate Vittorio
The crowd will then march to Al Bireh where mourners can pay their respect at an event held at the Al Bireh Municipality hall.

Further events will take place across the West Bank and the Gaza strip. Protest demonstrations have taken place following the Friday prayer across from the UN headquarters in Gaza. The villages of Bil’in and Al Masara have dedicated their weekly demonstrations to Vittorio today. Tomorrow in Nablus the Popular Committee called for a commemoration with political parties in the center of the city condemning Vittorio’s killing and celebrating his work.

Vittorio was active in the Palestine cause for almost 10 years. For the past two and a half years, he was in Gaza with the International Solidarity Movement, monitoring human rights violations by Israel, supporting the Palestinian popular resistance against the Israeli occupation and disseminating information about the situation in Gaza to his home country of Italy and around the world.

He was aboard the siege-breaking voyage in 2008 with the Free Gaza Movement. During Israel’s brutal assault on Gaza know as Operation Cast Lead Vittorio assisted medics and reported to the world what Israel was doing to the Palestinian people. He was arrested numerous times by Israeli forces for his participation in Palestinian non-violent resistance in the West Bank and Gaza. His last arrest and deportation from the area came as a result of the Israeli confiscation of Palestinian fishing vessels in Gazan territorial waters.

Vittorio frequently wrote on the issue of Palestine for the Italian newspaper, IL Manifesto and Peacereporter and was vocal in the issue of boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel.

Khaleel Shaheen, of the Palestinian Center for Human Rights and a friend of Vittorio’s in Gaza says:

What has happened today is a black day in Palestinian history. The horrific murder of our friend Vittorio is totally condemned. We ask the local authorities to bring the criminals to justice as soon as possible. He is in our minds always. He is a hero of Palestine.

For more information please contact:
Huwaida Arraf – 00972 598 336 215
Joe Catrone (Gaza) – 00972 59 530 8666
Inge Neefs (Gaza) – 00972 597 738 436
Khaleel Shaheen (Gaza) – 00972 599 691 134
Nathan Stuckey (Gaza) – 00972 597 650 864
Silvia Todescini – Italian (Gaza) – 00972 595 447 660

ISM confirms the death of Vittorio Arrigoni

April 15: Updated with news reports below.

The International Solidarity Movement is shocked and deeply saddened by the killing of our friend and colleague Vittorio Arrigoni. Vik was an inspiring activist and generous soul. Please keep his family and friends in your thoughts.

We will post more information here as it becomes available.

Press Stories

Palestinians call for release of Italian activist kidnapped in Gaza

International Solidarity Movement & Free Gaza Movement

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Vittorio Arrigoni

(April 14, 2011) – Today, our friend and colleague, Vittorio Arrigoni, a journalist and human rights defender working in the Gaza Strip, was kidnapped in Gaza.

Vittorio has been active in the Palestine cause for almost 10 years. For the past two and a half years, he has been in Gaza with the International Solidarity Movement, monitoring human rights violations by Israel, supporting the Palestinian popular resistance against the Israeli occupation and disseminating information about the situation in Gaza to his home country of Italy. He was aboard the siege-breaking voyage in 2008 with the Free Gaza Movement and was incarcerated in Israeli prisons several times. He was in Gaza throughout Israel’s brutal assault (Operation Cast Lead), assisting medics and reporting to the world what Israel was doing to the Palestinian people. He has been arrested numerous times by Israeli forces for his participation in Palestinian non-violent resistance in the West Bank and Gaza. His last arrest and deportation from the area was a result of the Israeli confiscation of Palestinian fishing vessels in Gazan territorial waters.

Vittorio frequently writes on the issue of Palestine for the Italian newspaper, IL Manifesto and Peacereporter. Additionally, he maintains a popular blog and Facebook page.

Khalil Shaheen, a friend of Vittorio and Head of the Economic and Social Rights Department at the Palestinian Center for Human Rights said, “This is outside of our traditions. We are calling for the immediate release of my best friend. Vittorio Arrigoni is a hero of Palestine. He was available everywhere to support all the poor people, the victims. I’m calling on the local authorities here in Gaza, and all security departments, to do their best to guarantee his safety and immediate release.”

Vittorio was granted honorary citizenship for his work on promoting the cause of the Palestinian people. Members of Gazan civil society are demanding his release; tomorrow at 4:00pm there will be a mass demonstration in Jundi Square.

Press Stories

Freedom Flotilla: We Will Not Be Intimidated

13 April, 2011 | Freedom Flotilla

Athens – The Freedom Flotilla 2 Steering Committee met in Athens 9 and 10 April to continue preparations for the upcoming flotilla. Since the last meeting in Amsterdam, Israel has launched an international campaign of incitement against the Flotilla and its coalition members who are participating from around the world.

The Greek Ship to Gaza hosted this international meeting and emphasized that the Greek government has failed until now to pressure Israel to release the two Greek boats hijacked from international waters and held in Israel since 31st May 2010. The Greek Ship to Gaza has complied with all of the roadblocks put into place by Israel in order to bring back its ships, but our efforts have been to no avail. The Greek government should have pressured Israel to release immediately the ships, as Israel did for the Turkish ships in August, 2010.

Now, on the eve of the second Freedom Flotilla 2 voyage, the Israeli government is threatening to attack us again. As occurred last year before the first Freedom Flotilla, Israeli leaders are busy developing an atmosphere of hostility that should leave no doubt as to their intentions if and when they illegally attack this civilian flotilla.

Therefore, we are calling on all our governments, the international community and the United Nations not to succumb to Israel’s intimidation. Governments need to fulfill their ‘responsibility to protect’ their own citizens. The threats against the Flotilla are not just at sea, but also in our home countries, as Israeli agencies are targeting individual groups and personalities. Flotilla partners insist that their governments take preemptive action to assure that Israel will not use force to interfere with this peaceful international effort to secure Palestinian human rights, human dignity and humanitarian assistance.

On May 10, Freedom Flotilla 2 partners will go to the European Parliament for meetings with MEPs as well as the United Nations and other international bodies, and to present Freedom Flotilla 2 and its goals. In addition to the partner organizations, there will also be participants from more than 50 countries on board the ships. This past week the European Jews for a Just Peace announced that they will join the Flotilla as a delegation and in sending humanitarian assistance to Gaza.

We are putting Israel on notice…
We are Coming
We are Unarmed
We are Civilian
You have no right to threaten us
We expect to reach Gaza without any Interference.