Participants in a banned
pro-Palestinian march in Rome Saturday said it had been banned
to guarantee war and not peace and said they were not
celebrating Hamas but commemorating the thousands of civilians
killed in Gaza, calling the Italian state Fascist in stopping
people attending.
"Despite the ban we took to the streets because we have a
historical responsibility," said one of the
representatives of the Palestinian Arab Democratic Union into a
megaphone in the Piazza Ostiense
square in Rome at the national demonstration.
"We ask for an end to the bombings. Italy must take a clear
line.
"There was a mystification of this march. They told us that it
was a celebration of Hamas but we are here to commemorate our
dead, the Palestinian dead.
"The only ones who celebrate here in Italy are the friends of
Israel and the Italian war industry.
"The ban came not to guarantee peace but to guarantee war."
"We could have been many more if this was not a
police state, a fascist state", said a young Palestinian
activist.
From the square came a chant against the forces of law and
order: "shame".
At the demonstration, in addition to the Palestinians, there
were also demonstrators from lefwtwing groups and parties
including 'Osa' (Dare), 'Potere al Popolo' (Power to the People)
and the USB grass-roots trade union who reached Piazzale
Ostiense.
In the square there were also the flags of the 'knowledge
network' and the Italian Communists.
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