Rome, 20 May (LaPresse) – ‘It seems to me that the mood has shifted. Nobody considers what Netanyahu is doing to be acceptable. There are, however, different tones in the condemnation; on the right, they are more cautious. But the criticism is somewhat more forthright than in the past, and that is important.’ This was stated in an interview with La Stampa by M5S MP Dario Carotenuto, an Italian parliamentarian on board one of the vessels of the Global Sumud Flotilla sailing towards the Gaza Strip, shortly before the Israeli navy boarded the ship. Carotenuto speaks of ‘activists being seized’ and for this reason believes that Israel is responsible for a ‘mass abduction’. ‘I don’t see any other way to describe what has happened,’ explained the M5S MP. ‘In international waters, I want to emphasise that. There are Italian citizens being held captive, just like the Israeli hostages abducted by Hamas on 7 October. The difference is that in that case the abductor was a terrorist group, whereas here we are dealing with a government and a state that is allowed to do whatever it wants with impunity,’ he added. ‘From the Italian government, “as well as demanding the release of all the kidnapped activists, I expect greater authority in taking a political stance. For example, by aligning ourselves with those European countries calling for sanctions against the Israeli government, against those ministers who declare they want to wipe out the Palestinians from the Gaza Strip and the West Bank,”’ he concluded.
© Copyright LaPresse
