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29-07-2025 | di COOPI
Link 2007: Palestine, clear words and necessary choices in the face of tragedy
STATEMENT
A few days after the latest statements by United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres, who denounced the moral and political unsustainability of the situation in Gaza, we join those who are strongly calling for an end to this spiral of violence and destruction. It is no longer a matter of interpretations, analyses, or conflicting narratives. It is a matter of humanity and responsibility, as well as law.
What is happening is plain for all to see. And it is now clear, even to those who have so far chosen to remain silent or cautious, that we are facing an escalation that is overwhelming all limits. As LINK 2007, a network of organisations engaged in development cooperation that brings together 15 of Italy’s leading NGOs, including COOPI – Cooperazione Internazionale, we are used to interpreting complexity. But complexity can never be an excuse for inaction. Faced with evidence of suffering and systematic violations of the law, any hesitation becomes complicity.
Today, what is at stake is the residual credibility of international institutions, of the principles that Europe claims to represent, of law as an instrument of peace and not as empty rhetoric.
As civil society, we will continue to play our role: building, proposing, connecting. It is our duty to clearly distinguish between what stands for dignity and life and what denies it. We urgently call on italian and european institutions to do the same.
The time for diplomatic caution cannot be endless if it fails to prevent more casualties, more destruction, more hatred.
The Italian government can:
- Act with greater determination to stop the ongoing atrocities, strengthening and supporting investigations aimed at ascertaining violations of international humanitarian law.
- Support, at european level, the request for a review of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, in light of the serious and persistent human rights violations that call into question its fundamental premises.
- Block all arms exports to Israel, including defensive or dual-use materials, even if authorised before 7 October 2023.
Every additional day without a clear stance is, in fact, a day in which we end up supporting the agenda of those who perpetrated the massacres of 7 October and those who are carrying out an action that many, with increasing authority, define as an ongoing genocide in Gaza.
All this while the gap between proclaimed values and concrete choices widens. And it is in that gap – made up of positions that are always too timid and inadequate in the face of the ongoing tragedy – that trust is lost, democracy is eroded, and any remaining hope is extinguished.
Not only for the civilians of Gaza, but for all of us.
Press office:
comunicazione@link2007.org
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"LINK 2007 – COOPERAZIONE IN RETE" is a network of NGOs working in international cooperation and solidarity presidenza@link2007.org – www.link2007.org |