***image2***The Stop the Wall Campaign deeply deplores the crime of kidnapping and killing of Italian solidarity activist Vittorio Arrigoni in the Gaza Strip last Thursday, and strongly condemns this heinous crime. It is alien to the ethics of our people and the path of our national struggle and serves only the Israeli occupation and its policies and plans.
As Stop the Wall we condemn this heinous crime and emphasize the important role his work and the work of the entire solidarity movement plays in supporting the Palestinian cause. Their voice is crucial in bring the voice of the Palestinian people to the world.
We also extend our condolences from to the family and the friends of Vittorio Arrigoni. Together with the Palestinian people and those struggling for freedom and justice around the world we mourn the loss of this solidarity activist who has dedicated years of his life in the defense of the Palestinian cause and the struggle against Israeli occupation, apartheid and colonialism.
While we mourn this tragic loss, we believe that the best honour we can give to Vittorio Arrigoniâs exemplary dedication to the struggle for the Palestinian cause is to continue on the path he and many martyrs before him have shown us and to redouble our efforts to achieve justice and liberation in Palestine and around the world.
Rest in Peace â¦your memory and our common struggle will life on.
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Freedom Flotilla 2 Steering Committee
April 15, 2011 (London)
The murder of human rights activist, Vittorio Arrigoni, is a tragedy for his family, for those of us who knew him, and for the Palestinians who loved and admired him. The Steering Committee of Freedom Flotilla 2 condemns this
senseless murder and the people who are behind it. They took the life of one of the most passionate supporters of justice for Palestine. This murder is damaging to the Palestinian struggle for freedom and justice as well as our
work in support of that struggle.
In his honor, we are naming our next voyage, FREEDOM FLOTILLA â STAY HUMAN.
Nothing that we write can capture the man who was so full of the joy of life, a man with the pipe in his mouth and the captainâs hat always tilted at an angle on his head. The man with the big smile and gentle nature, someone who used his physical strength to hold small children in his arms, sometimes several at a time. His laughter and his last comments every time we saw him will ring in all of our ears as we board the boats to return to Gaza at the end of May.
âStay Human,â he would say, then grin and clench his pipe in his teeth.
Vittorio had sailed with us from Greece on the first small fishing boat to enter Gaza in the summer of 2008, one of 44 activists sailing to protest the illegal blockade imposed by Israel against the 1.5 million Palestinians living in Gaza. We will do our best, Vik, to carry on the work you have done. The flotilla will return to Gaza in your honor.