“Priests Against Genocide” march in Rome against arms exports to Israel

This year once again, 22 September – the eve of the United Nations General Assembly – was filled with the colours of peace through the voices of “Priests Against Genocide”, who took part in a public demonstration aimed at raising awareness of Israel’s attack on the Palestinians, from Gaza to Lebanon and as far as the West Bank, where the occupation continues, accompanied by the daily violence of Israeli settlers.

Opposition to this increasingly unbearable situation was publicly expressed through a march that began at the Church of Santo Spirito in Sassia, where prayers for peace were offered. The march included five stops, with prayers in different languages, passing between the Palestinian and Lebanese embassies before reaching Piazza Monte Grappa, in front of Leonardo’s registered headquarters. Leonardo, an arms manufacturer, was accused by the demonstrators of being a bearer of death and an opponent of peace.

The participants gathered in the morning ahead of the march for a moment of sharing, during which they wrote the names of three hundred Palestinian children on a “shroud”. These children, in Gaza and Lebanon, were reportedly deliberately killed during the agreed “ceasefire” period. The shroud was carried at the head of the procession by the priests themselves.

With regard to relations with Israel, the organisers believe it is increasingly urgent for the Italian government to impose severe sanctions and ban Israeli citizens from entering the country, particularly soldiers who come to rest in Italy after the “hardships” they have endured in killing an entire population.

Comboni missionary Father Dario Bossi explained the march to Il Fatto Quotidiano: “We walked in prayer, but bringing prayer into contact with reality. There were no flags, only a drawing of a mother with a dead child, accompanied by the words ‘Christ died in Gaza’.”

It is increasingly urgent, therefore, that the word “peace” should not remain an empty expression on our lips, but become a lived reality, grounded in the daily awareness that without our active and direct participation, without collective involvement, those who want war, those who seek to overpower the weakest and those who want to conquer the world and shape it according to their own vision will prevail.

Simonetta Gabriele