Opposition round on Meloni over criticism of flotilla.
Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni came under fire on Wednesday from Italy’s centre-left opposition after she criticised a flotilla carrying aid to Gaza as “dangerous and irresponsible”.
Speaking on the sidelines of the United Nations (UN) general assembly in New York, Meloni expressed her “total condemnation” of an overnight drone attack on boats travelling as part of the Global Sumud Flotilla, in international waters off Greece.
Earlier on Wednesday Italy’s defence minister Guido Crosetto deployed a navy ship to offer assistance to Italian citizens travelling as part of the humanitarian mission.
Calling for “responsibility”, Meloni singled out the four Italian opposition MPs on board the flotilla “who, I remind you, are paid to work in the institutions, not to force the institutions to work for them”.
The prime minister claimed the flotilla was aimed at “creating problems” for her right-wing government, telling reporters: “There’s no need to risk your safety by entering a war zone to deliver aid to Gaza that the Italian government could have delivered in a matter of hours”.
Reaction
Her comments triggered an angry response from Italy’s opposition, with centre-left Partito Democratico (PD) leader Elly Schlein saying: “To Meloni, who says it’s irresponsible to use Gaza to attack the government, I say that it’s irresponsible to have dragged Italy along with Netanyahu’s positions.”
Speaking later that evening on Italian TV programme Realpolitik, Schlein said it was “clear” who was behind the drone attack, stating that Israel has “threatened the activists, saying they would treat them like terrorists”.
“It’s a deliberate attack on Italy. And Meloni is not only silent, but she’s attacking the activists instead of protecting them” – Schlein charged – “The flotilla activists are respecting international humanitarian law, which has been trampled on by the Israeli government, and they’re doing what European governments should have done”, adding: “The only thing that’s illegal is that blockade.”
Giuseppe Conte, leader of the Movimento 5 Stelle, said in a social media post that he was left “speechless” at the prime minister’s “grave statements”.
Conte accused Meloni of attacking those “who are mobilising against the genocide in Gaza and those who are being attacked on boats flying the Italian flag in international waters – people who, faced with government indifference and inaction, have taken action to say stop to the massacre of 20,000 children and to a starving Palestinian people”.
Francesco Boccia, PD group leader in the senate, branded Meloni’s remarks “agitated and uncoordinated”.
“The flotilla is not sailing in a war zone but in international waters. It’s a humanitarian mission” – Boccia said – “We’re not the irresponsible ones, but those who refuse to recognise the State of Palestine, as over 150 other governments have already done, are irresponsible, so as not to disturb Trump and the Israeli government.”
Nicola Fratoianni of the Green and Left Alliance (AVS) addressed Meloni directly: “Have you noticed that in Gaza and Palestine, it isn’t a war that’s underway, but a genocide, ethnic cleansing and deportation?”.
Following her remarks to journalists in New York, Meloni addressed the UN later on Wednesday, reiterating that in order for Italy to recognise the State of Palestine, there must be “two essential preconditions: the release of all Israeli hostages and Hamas’s renunciation of any role in the government of Palestine”, adding: “Because those who unleashed the conflict cannot be rewarded.”
Photo credit: Marco Iacobucci Epp / Shutterstock.com.
