TO Yanis Varoufakisformer Greek economic minister and now leader of the movement Diem25was prevented from participating with his report to Palestine Congress scheduled in Berlin in recent days. The event aimed to involve politicians and intellectuals from all over the world with the aim of raising public awareness of the need for a just peace in the Middle East and demonstrating solidarity with the Palestinian people. The congress was interrupted by the German authorities, the building where the event was held surrounded by police forces. The official reason given by the police: “possible anti-Semitic content and incitement to hatred”, the usual refrain every time the Israeli government’s apartheid and genocidal policy towards the Palestinian people, which is under our eyes today, is criticized of all for the collective punishment inflicted on the population of Gaza after October 7th.
It seems like an unstoppable trend justified by the emergency situations in which Europe and Italy have fallen starting from the inability to manage the flows migratoryto follow up with the pandemic emergency of COVID-19, giving rise to repression of dissent and censorship. Our democratic systems, which have at their foundation the freedom of the human person, freedom of thought, of expression, of information, of demonstration, in the face of situations defined by the emergency power, prove to be conniving with authoritarian procedures, while they are continuously stigmatized against regimes considered dictatorial.
With regard to the wars currently underway (those closest to the Europeans, the others are mostly obscured, in particular those in African lands), this is completely evident: the ostracism towards all those who have expressed and continue to express opinions not in line with the official narrative of the war in Ukraine, with the explosion of the Russophobia through the censorship of artists, investigations against political opponents, proscription lists; Furthermore, the expansion ofIslamophobia, also fomented by the discriminatory and racist language of political exponents of the populist right: in fact, there is a tendency to deny the right to speak to anyone who dares to criticize the State of Israel. The Italian government, with its parliamentary majority, produces decrees aimed at muzzling the judiciary and information, and limiting the right to demonstrate; political exponents and ministers use the weapon of complaint to silence any critical opinion on the events that concern them; the RAI public service, which has always been divided between the parties in power, has now been transformed into a real government megaphone.
But let’s go back to the Greek politician Yanis Varoufakis, former right-hand man of Tsipras. We can read the speech he supposedly gave in Berlin at Palestine Congress, because it had previously been published on the web. He explains the reasons why he decided to participate in this congress in response to the question posed by a German journalist:
«I am neither Jewish nor Palestinian. But I am incredibly proud to be here among Jews and Palestinians – to blend my voice for universal peace and human rights with Jewish voices for universal peace and human rights – together with Palestinian voices for universal peace and human rights. Being here together today is proof that coexistence is not only possible, but is already here. “Why not a Jewish Congress, Mr. Varoufakis?”, the same German journalist asked me, imagining he was being clever. I welcomed his question. Because if a single Jew is threatened anywhere just because he is Jewish, I will wear the Star of David on my lapel and offer my solidarity – no matter what, no matter what. So, let’s be clear: if Jews were under attack, anywhere in the world, I would be the first to call for a Jewish Congress to register our solidarity. Likewise, when Palestinians are massacred because they are Palestinians – according to the dogma that to have died they must have been members of Hamas – I will wear my keffiyeh and I will offer my solidarity at any cost. Universal human rights are either universal or they mean nothing” (the speech can be read in full on DiEM25: https://diem25.org/il-discorso-di-yanis-varoufakis-per-il-palestine-congress-che- was-banned-by-the-german-police/).
Varoufakis puts his finger on the wound of censorship: «Friends, today we would have liked to discuss with people who think differently from us a dignified, democratic and mutually respectful debate on how to bring peace and universal human rights for all, Jews and Palestinians, Bedouins and Christians, from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea. Unfortunately, the entire German political system has decided not to allow this. In a joint statement comprising not only the CDU-CSU or the FDP, but also the SPD, the Greens and, remarkably, two leaders of Die Linke, they joined forces to ensure that such a civil debate, in which we may disagree, it will never take place in Germany. I tell them: You want to silence us. Ban us. Demonize us. Accuse us. Therefore, you leave us no choice but to respond to your accusations with our accusations. You chose this. Not us.” The accusations that are overturned are: anti-Semitic hatred, support for terrorism, trivialization of the terror unleashed by Hamas on 7 October, and not being interested in peaceful coexistence in the Middle East.
In the final part of the speech Varoufakis proposes some actions that should be implemented for peace Israel-Palestine, absolutely agreeable proposals:
«An immediate ceasefire.
The release of all hostages: of Hamas and of the thousands of people held by Israel.
A peace process, under the aegis of the United Nations, supported by the commitment of the International Community to put an end to Apartheid and safeguard equal civil liberties for all.
As for what should replace Apartheid, it is up to Israelis and Palestinians to decide between the two-state solution and that of a single secular federal state.”
I like to conclude these considerations on the difficult moment we are going through within European democracies, regarding freedom of information and expression, with a phrase which is a summary of the motivations that pushed Yanis Varoufakis to participate in the Palestine Congress and which I believe are in the hearts of all those who dream of a future of peace: «Friends, We are here because revenge is a lazy form of pain. We are here to promote not revenge but peace and coexistence in Israel-Palestine.”
Tags: freedom information criticism Italy Europe
