ITALY: Two vigils are held in Italy, one for an immediate stop to violence in the Middle East, the other in solidarity with Israel

About a thousand people, including Italian pacifists and Lebanese expatriates, marched through central Rome towards the Colosseum on Monday (July 17) demanding an end to the Israeli offensive in Gaza and Lebanon. They marched behind a large banner reading " Let the weapons shut up. " "I'm convinced that we need to go a "two peoples two states" solution, not against the state of Israel but for the safety of the Palestinian people. The bombing needs to stop, the killing of civilians need to stop and the siege of Gaza needs to stop" said Paolo Cento, a member of the Italian governing centre-left majority. "We are here for peace, not for religion," said a young Lebanese man who studies in Italy. "I respect Judaism and have many Jewish friends. But this needs to stop. Hitler, when one German soldier was killed or kidnapped, used to react bombing entire cities," he said. Less than a kilometre away from the Colosseum, right in front of Rome's synagogue, the Italian Jewish community gathered to demonstrate its solidarity with Israel. They were joined by other Italians and some high level politicians. "Against Israel now we don't have a people that suffers, like the Palestinians are. There is Hamas in the south and Hizbollah in the north. They may be sons of despair but they are terrorists," said one of the demonstrators. "There is a substantial difference between now and other moments, other wars. We have to remember who is behind these people (Hamas and Hizbollah)." The two vigils took place as a host of countries were evacuating their nationals from Lebanon to escape Israeli air strikes which have pounded the country for six days. Israel bombarded Lebanon for a sixth day on Monday after Hizbollah seized two Israeli soldiers in across-border raid last week. Hizbollah has been firing rockets into northern Israel.

ITN Source | July 18, 2006

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