21 thoughts on “Italian Peace Activist Murdered in Gaza – Tikun Olam תיקון עולם إصلاح العالم
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  1. The Israeli occupation ‘created’ Hamas against Fatah, and later the various Salafist groups against Hamas.
    As many Israeli now talk about Fatah with nostalgia, they will one day talk about Hamas in the same way … if the Hebrew State doesn’t change radically.
    Hamas are Palestinian nationalists whereas the Salafists are longing for a Caliphat where there is absolutely no place for neither Israel nor Jews …

    May Vittorio rest in peace.

    1. Of course it’s Israel’s fault.

      That’s the problem with radicalism from both wings. You will always blame the other side and never admit that something is wrong with you.

      You probably will not like to hear that, but you and a Kahana activist share the same mentality.

      1. You misunderstood. Israel deliberately weakened fatah to create hamas, and then did the same to hamas to create the salafist groups. One day it may weaken the salafists to create an even crazier group.

        This is because they want to keep the palestinian side of the conflict without central leadership and give as much power to the craziest groups. This is so israel will never have to negotiate. Israel needs enemies to justify the occupation.

        Note how the salafist groups are acting as kidnappers negotiating with hamas. Not only is this an ironic reversal, but it also hands another blow to the notion that hamas is a terrorist organization. The more hamas turns away from “terror” and becomes legitimate, the more israel will weaken it to avoid actually talking with it.

        Also, palestinians do NOT have to apologize for having some crazy elements in them. The palestinians are working hard to root them out. Israel, on the other hand, is giving a helping hand to radicals ON BOTH SIDES.

        1. duck, you may be right. But do you know this for sure? Or are these just your theories? Please come up with some evidence, otherwise your statements may just look like unsubstantiated allegations.

        2. This is simply a conspiracy theory. Don’t the Palestinians think for themselves, or are they merely helpless pawns in the hands of the Zionists? These radical ideologies are found througout the Middle East. The Muslim world is grappling with the place of political Islam in the lives of their societies. Radicals are found in all Muslim countries and they have various degrees of support.

          1. These radical ideologies are found througout the Middle East.

            Including in Israeli settlements & even Kahanist & ultra-Orthodox Jewish communities in the U.S. The Jewish world is grappling with the place of ultra-nationalist settlerism in the lives of its communities. Radical Jews are found in many Jewish countries & they have varying degrees of support.

        3. I might not have been clear in my point. That Israel deliberately encouraged and supported the creation of Hamas, there’s no doubt about that, and it has been discussed here on various occasions. When I say that Israel has helped creating the Salafists, I mean by the despair that the occupation has caused, and by not accepting Hamas as the legitimate representative of the Palestinians.

          @ ek
          Who are “you” ?? What do you know about me or my opinions ? NOTHING apparently! I’ve often written that I dislike Hamas who’s not representing my worldview at all, but whether you or I like it or not, they’ve been democratically elected, just as the fascist Lieberman. I am a supporter of Balad and the PFLP – you can hardly get any further away from Hamas – and I’ve stated so many times.
          The Palestinians are the the first to suffer from the Salafists, such as they were in Nahr al-Bared in Libanon a couple of years ago.

          Concerning your “Radicals from both sides”:
          The occupation, seeing absolutely NO light at the end of the tunnel, daily humiliation and being treated as if you have no humanity, the situation deteriorating, is what has created the Salafists groups in the OT.
          What did create the radicals among the Israelis ? Desparation for more land grapping ?? Or the size of the swimming pools in the settlements ?

          I once again encourage everyone to see this heartbreaking documentary from Channel 4 “Children of Gaza”.
          You see Amal al-Samouni and her brother, along with two other kids. Her brother says that before – that is before Cast Lead and the killing of his father – he loved everyone and just thought about studying, and now he hates the whole world and only thinks of becoming a freedom fighter.
          At the end of the film, he’s fighting back his tears, saying “I’m NOT a terrorist, I’m a Palestinian”.
          palestinevideo.blogspot.com/2010/03/dispatches-children-of-gaza-2010.html

          Here a short clip with Vittorio Arrigoni:
          Restiamo umani (in italian): he says he doesn’t believe in flags, borders etc but in humanity:
          http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SblB2O7AfP4

        4. “otherwise your statements may just look like unsubstantiated allegations”

          Anything but that!

          Prehaps you’d like excerpt from bibi’s diary?

          Comon.

        5. Maybe you can look how the Jewish freedom movment delt with the same situation 70 years ago.
          The major, moderate movement, the Hagana, helped the british to capture the radical, terrorist groups, Lehi and Etzel.
          In adition, when the state was formed and Etzel got a ship full of arms, the newly elected PM ordered to sink it on the spot. Even that the country was at war and weapons was hard to find. The unity of the armed forces was first in line and avoiding the formation of several millitia groups was prime objective, that came before freedom fighting.

          1. The major, moderate movement, the Hagana, helped the british to capture the radical, terrorist groups, Lehi and Etzel.

            Yes, but only after the latter had outlived their usefulness. The argument between the groups was about methods, not about the common enemy. The same cannot be said about Hamas vs. Salafists whose first priority seem to be the mutual other, not Israel.

  2. “otherwise your statements may just look like unsubstantiated allegations”

    Well, we certainly hear a lot of unsubstantiated allegations, none of them coming from the Palestinian side. In fact it’s becoming increasingly rare for Israel to make any substantiated allegations, which is likely behind the practice of convicting Palestinians on secret or no evidence.

    But this is to mourn my friend Vittorio who died too violently and too soon. Those who murdered Vik, and those behind those who murdered Vik, must be brought to justice. Vik and I sailed together to Gaza on the first Free Gaza boat in August 2008. I don’t think any of us celebrated our landing in Gaza Port more gratefully and exuberantly as Vik did. He was home. He loved Palestine. He loved Gaza, especially the children of Gaza. He was so proud of his new Palestinian citizenship and Palestinian passport. He loved living in Gaza. His horrific death is beyond explanation, beyond reason. He will be missed terribly, by all those he loved and all who loved him. He wanted to live, but I am sure he would have chosen, if he had to die, to die in Gaza.

    His work will continue. Rest in peace, Vittorio.

  3. RE: “He’d been kidnapped by a Salafist group, whose leader had been arrested by Hamas last month.” – R.S.

    RELATED ARTICLE – Egyptians alarmed over rise in influence of Salafis in post-Mubarak era, by Abeer Tayel, Al Arabiya, 04/14/11

    (excerpt) Acts of hard-line vigilantism committed recently in Egypt are fuelling debate and concerns over the role Islamists could play after the departure of President Hosni Mubarak, who suppressed Islamist groups which he saw as a threat to his rule, analysts said.
    Salafis were tolerated as a religious group under the former president as a counterweight his top foe, the Muslim Brotherhood group. But they appear to be playing a more political role in the country after the January 25 revolution.
    That has alarmed many of the secular and liberal forces in Egypt because of the group’s extremist discourse and imposition of sharia (Islamic law.)
    Reports of some acts of hard-line vigilantism, which lately dominated the news in Egypt, include an arson attack on the home of a woman deemed of “ill-repute,” and a punishment attack which involved a man’s ear being cut off
    ENTIRE ARTICLE –
    http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/04/14/145353.html

    RELATED ARTICLE – “Shias accuse Saudi Arabia of mobilizing Salafis to disrupt Egypt’s unity, by Osama el-Mahdy, Al-Masry Al-Youm, 04/10/11

    Shia Muslims gathered in front of the Saudi Arabian Embassy in Cairo on Saturday to denounce the Saudi stance on decrees permitting the demolition of shrines, as well as its funding of Salafi movements in Egypt.
    Demonstrators said the Gulf kingdom plays a role in mobilizing Salafi Muslims to disrupt Egypt’s social security and endanger Sufis and Copts.
    Protesters hoisted banners denouncing decrees excommunicating Shias, Sufis and the 25 January revolutionaries, as well as the kingdom’s rejection of calls to prosecute ousted Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak…
    ENTIRE ARTICLE – http://www.almasryalyoum.com/en/node/393693

    P.S. A RELATED COMMENTARY: “Egyptian extremism sees Salafis attacking Sufi mosques”, by Irfan al-Alawi, guardian.co.uk, 04/11/11
    LINK – http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/belief/2011/apr/11/salafis-attack-sufi-mosques

  4. My biggest worry is the salafists…it is Al Qaeda. It’s a dream come true for Israel to completely let loose on Palestine, with the support of nations. Disgusting. These salafists are a small group but SOMEHOW they managed to get into Gaza, and stay. Not easy, and their ideology is NOT from Gaza. It is NOT Palestinian and they are NOT from Palestine. They call Hamas kufar…. Get real… this is a perfect setup for Israel to justify war and getting what they want and the support they want. We are witnessing a hijacking…

  5. @duck, Deir Yassin, Sue, do you contend that Israel essentially created Hamas by proving support, money, weapons, etc? This is a grave allegation. If this is true, the evidence should be publicised and presented to the Israeli and International public. Maybe the Israelis will then start questioning their leadership and their ideas about the conflict and the Palestinian people? I challenge you to come up with evidence and let Richard and others publicise it.

    1. No, Israel didn’t create Hamas. But it certainly was happy to take advantage of its existence using it as a wedge against Fatah. It exploited Hamas rather than created it. But now of course Hamas has become the uncontrollable Golem Israel can no longer manipulate.

    2. @ Leonid Levin)
      As you’ll notice I put quote marks around my sentence “The Israeli occupation ‘created’ Hamas”. They created Hamas and later on the Salafists – that did not ‘manage to get into Gaza’ as Sue writes, they ARE from Gaza, unfortunately – by the desperation of a 63-years-long occupation.
      But Israel also ‘created’ Hamas by deliberately encouraging their rise against the secular PLO, Fatah and the PFLP particularly. This isn’t really a scoop and is well-known by everyone. It’s the “the-ennemy-of-my-ennemy-is-my- friend-strategy, I guess.
      In a book dedicated to the subject “Le grand aveuglement: Israël et irrestible ascension de l’Islam radical” [The Great Blindness: Israel and the Rise of Radical Islam], the French- Israeli journalist and writer, Charles Enderlin, the French National Television’s journalist in Jerusalem for decades, starts out by describing a scene from september 1973 when the Israeli Military Govenor participated in the inauguration of the Muslim Brotherhood’s Head Quarter in Gaza next to Sheikh Ahmad Yassin. The book describes the attitude of the State of Israel towards Hamas and other Islamic movements till the election of Hamas in 2006. And the word ‘encouraging’ isn’t even strong enough.

      Would you be astonised if anyone wrote that the US ‘created’ Oussama Ben Laden and the Talibans in Afghanistan ? Initially to fight the Russians …

  6. My posts elsewhere…

    9:30 am Thursday 14th April, 2011

    Gazans Abduct Italian ISM Activist

    Vittorio Arrigoni has obviously got himself into deep water. His ideology has led him to associate with unsavoury characters. He may have been motivated by a sense of idealism but as the saying goes “If you lie down with dogs you get fleas !” I hope he is released in safety and has a major change of heart and thinking as a result of this shock. As a first step to mitigate the effects of his toxic brainwashing from reading too much odd political literature he should return to Italy and pay a visit to Abdul Hadi Palazzi. It is possible to redeem real evil but it requires the right setting and right person.

    A saying comes to mind…

    “If you dance with the devil, the devil don’t change. The devil changes you.”

    7:30 pm Saturday 16th April, 2011

    Hamas Blames Israel for ISM Activist’s Murder in Gaza

    Prayers for Vittoria Arrigoni and his family. A good Italian boy who would have been baptised in the Catholic tradition as an infant did not deserve to die this way. There are pockets of real evil in the world that must be avoided. Some parts of the world have more of these downward spiralling vortexes than others. The whole of Italy must be grieving for this terrible killing. Blaming Israel for the murder is ridiculous.

    P.S. If everyone accepts violence as the norm and it is just the nature of the beast then there is no hope for humankind. I can prove that violence is not innate and that the universe is stable, ordered, benevolent and expansive. The real danger now is that the vacuum of vision, courage and trust building at the very top could lead to a total collapse in confidence by many parties. Either there will be uplifting thermals of spiritual potential in the Holy Land as G-d wishes or toxic, downwardly spiralling vortexes of evil will suck everyone in to the dynamic. All behaviour is a result of mindset and setting.

    The next thirty days are crucial. Mark my words.

    1. It is a violation of my comment rules to publish verbatim comments you’ve published elsewhere. Not to mention I find your comments abhorrent. Arrigoni is a victim, and in no way responsible for his own murder. What you’ve written is deeply offensive. Arrigoni was devoted to helping Palestinians. Palestinians themselves understand & state this publicly & are mourning his loss. Two brutes killed him on behalf of a handful of other nutcases. He didn’t “associate” with those who murdered him. And you’re incredibly ignorant.

      These comment threads are NOT a place for pro-Israel hasbara or anti-Palestinian propaganda. If that’s what you need to do you need to do it elsewhere.

      The violence comes much more from Israel than the Palestinian side. So maybe you’ll not only pray for an end to Israeli violence but actually do something about it instead of advocating for the coming of your Chabad-inspired Moshiach.

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