President Mattarella, the Italian President gives a special mention to Gaza in New Years speech and urges peace to find a resolution to ‘undignified’ in the middle eastern conflict.
He was speaking from the Palazzo del Quirinale – The Quirinal Palace in Rome. One of the three current official residences of the President of the Italian Republic.
This traditional date of our encounter enables me to address my heartfelt wishes to all of you: those of you who are in Italy and the Italians abroad.
Italian President gives a special mention to Gaza
As every New Year’s Eve, we look forward to the new time to come, which we hope will be better.
It is a time in which we seek serenity by strengthening our relationships within our communities, our families, our friendships. We express our wishes to them and they to us. It is not only a ritual; it is evidence of our most authentic nature, what urges us to relate to others.
We do it, and we need to do it all the more when going through difficult moments. When the thousands of civilian victims of ongoing wars tragically trouble our conscience.
We cannot take our minds off what is happening around us
On Christmas night, news was released of a newborn girl only a few days old freezing to death in Gaza.
Ignoble beyond all words, in its inhumanity.” And, with it, “the reaction of the Israeli government, with a military action that also causes thousands of civilian victims and forces multitudes of people in Gaza to abandon their homes, rejected by everyone.”
This evening we are preparing to celebrate the arrival of the new year, in the usual hope that positive and reassuring days will open up. But we cannot take our minds off what is happening around us . In our Italy, in the world.”
He went on to remember the soldiers who fell in combat, those peacekeepers killed in Lebanon by the IDF.
Violence against women
After addressing the plight of the Gazans, President Mattarella focussed on the topic of violence against women.
It is estimated that in Italy,. 27 % of females have experienced violence against women.
He said I would like to address the younger ones. Dear guys, I’ll tell you in simple words: love is not selfishness, possession, domination, misunderstood pride . Love – real love – is much more than respect: it is gift, gratuitousness, sensitivity”, stated the president.
It was a poetic end-of-year message from the President of the Republic. To young people: “Love is not selfishness and possession of women.” Democracy: The vote decides, not social media polls. And the final invitation: Remember that united we are stronger.