Today marks the 6th anniversary of the death of Vittorio Arrigoni, a journalist and an Italian activist working with the International Solidarity Movement, in Gaza.

Arrigoni first went to Gaza in 2008, on an activist-organised flotilla seeking to defy the Israeli blockade over Gaza, imposed two years before.

On April 16th 2011, when Arrigoni was 36 years old, his body was found in Gaza city, only a few hours after “The Brigade of the Gallant Companion of the Prophet Mohammad bin Muslima”, a Salafist group operating in Gaza, released the video where he was blindfolded and wounded.

After investigations, his alleged murderers were arrested and sentenced to life-imprisonment (15 years after appeal).

Vittorio Arrigoni was one of the international activists present in Gaza during Israel’s attacks on the Gaza strip in 2008-09, while volunteering with the Palestine Red Crescent Society, and was one of the few international voices dispatching information during the attacks, especially after Israel banned the entry of journalists into the territory.

For almost his 3 years living in the Gaza Strip, Arrigoni was a committed ISM activist, working in solidarity with farmers and fishermen, whose lives were being severely constrained by the blockade. His presence in protests and demonstrations allowed him to document and report the impact of the blockade, warfare and human rights violations in that territory. Arrigoni’s involvement with the Palestinian struggle made him a target for arrest and injuries by the Israeli military several times, and also led him to volunteer in Nahr al-Bared refugee camp in Lebanon.

After breaking the blockade in 2008, Arrigoni described that moment as being on of the happiest of his life, as “it became clear, not only to the world, but Palestinians also, that there are people who are willing to spend their lives to come and hug their brothers here in Gaza.”.

As it has been happening every year, Palestinians have commemorated the sixth anniversary of Vittorio Arrigoni’s death yesterday, by gathering in the port of Gaza. Vittorio’s memory is also honored in Gaza by the street and school that carry his name. Some of his thoughts on his experience in Gaza and on the solidarity with the Palestinian people have also been collected and turned into a book, “Gaza: Stay Human” (a nod to the way Vittorio used to sign his emails), first published in 2011.

Vittorio, we will never forget you.

In the words of Vik’s mother, Egidia Beretta: "This lost child of mine is more alive than ever before, like the grain that has fallen to the ground and died to bring forth a plentiful harvest. I see it and hear it already in the words of his friends, above all the younger among them, some closer, some from afar…we were a long way from Vittorio, but now we are closer than ever, with his living presence magnified at every passing hour, like a wind from Gaza, from his beloved Mediterranean, blowing fierily to deliver the message of his hope and of his love for those without a voice, for the weak and the oppressed, passing the baton.

Zionism is an abominable, racist and colonial movement. Like all colonial and apartheid systems, it’s in the interest of all that it be swept away. My hope is to see it replaced, without any bloodshed, with a democratic, secular and lay state – for example on the borders of historic Palestine – and where Palestinians and Israelis could live under equal rights of citizenship without ethnic and religious discrimination. It’s a wish that I hope will soon become a reality."

You can find out more about Vittorio and the work he did in Palestine through this Aljazeera documentary.

By Team Khalil

“We must remain human, even in the most difficult times …
Because, despite everything, there must always be humanity within us. We have to bring it to others.” -Vittorio Arirgoni

Today marks the second anniversary of the murder of ISM activist and comrade Vittorio Arrigoni in the Gaza Strip. Vittorio arrived in Gaza on the 23rd of August 2009, breaking the Israeli siege on Gaza with around 40 other international activists which he described as one of the happiest moments of his life: “It became clear, not only to the world, but Palestinians also that there are people who are willing to spend their lives to come and hug their brothers here in Gaza.”

From his arrival until his murder on the 15th of April 2011 , Vittorio stayed in Gaza to work with the International Solidarity Movement there where he attended regular demonstrations, helped both farmers and fishermen and documented the countless Israeli crimes against humanity that he witnessed. Vittorio also stayed in Gaza during Operation Cast Lead which massacred hundreds of unarmed Palestinian civilians.

In an interview he said: “I am from a partisan family, my grandfathers fought and died struggling against occupation, a fascist Nazi one. For that reason presumably in my DNA, my blood, there are particles that push me to struggle for freedom and human rights.”

As the children of Gaza continue to be born under siege and the Palestinian people suffer the brutality of the occupation every single day, the best way to honour the memory of Vittorio Arrigoni is to continue his work and never cease to resist. Vittorio continues to be an inspiration to people all over the world resisting injustice and inhumanity. To echo one of his favourite quotes, “A victor is merely a dreamer who never stops dreaming.” Vittorio, we will never forget you.

Human rights organizations and the Palestinian Non Governmental Organisations’ Network are highly concerned over the recent developments in the trial of the murder of Italian human rights activist Vittorio Arrigoni.

Yesterday, on 19 February 2013, the Military High Court ordered the reduction in the sentence of murderers.

The Permanent Military Court (PMC) in Gaza began the proceedings of Vittorio Arrigoni’s murder case on 11 August 2010. In its judgment on 17 September 2012, the PMC convicted the first defendant (M.S.) and the second defendant (T.H.) on the charges of premeditated killing and kidnapping for the purpose of killing.

They were sentenced to 10 years imprisonment with hard labour or life imprisonment with hard labour, while stating that the more sever punishment would apply.

The PMS also sentenced the third defendant (K.E.) to 10 years imprisonment with hard labour, after convicting him of kidnapping for the purpose of killing. The fourth defendant (A.G.) was convicted for harbouring fugitives and was sentenced to one year imprisonment.

However, in its latest decision on 19 February 2013, the court granted the convicts’ appeal by reducing the first and the second defendants’ sentence from life imprisonment with hard labour to 15 years imprisonment. The third defendant’s date for appeal hearing is scheduled on 24 February 2013.

Vittorio Arrigoni, was killed, after having been kidnapped in the evening of 14 April 2011, by a group that calls itself the “Al-Hammam Mohammed Bin Maslama Group.” The Palestinian police found his body 15 April 2011 in a house in the ‘Amer housing project, west of Jabalya, located in the northern part of the Gaza Strip.

The Palestinian Center for Human Rights (PCHR) had attended all hearings for the case since the court began the proceedings on 11 August 2011, in its capacity as the legal representative of the Arrigoni family. PCHR officially demanded the court’s panel, in writing, to abstain from applying the death penalty to the defendants if they were convicted, based on its position which rejects the death penalty and in response to the Arrigoni family’s wish expressed in a letter dated 16 December 2011. PCHR notes that the court's ruling was based on firm beliefs and expressed its content towards the sentence issued by the court.

In the light of the Military High Court's decision to reduce the convicts' sentences, it is unclear whether there were developments or changes in the circumstances of the investigation that required adjusting the charges and made the court's panel change its ruling.

In light of these developments, human rights organisations and the Palestinian Non-Governmental Organisations' Network:

1. Demand the High Military Court to publish the reasoning of its decision to reduce the sentence as soon as possible, in order to clarify its motive despite the seriousness of the crime.

2. Assert that the demand to abstain from applying the death penalty to the defendants is based on their position which rejects the death penalty and in compliance with the Arrigoni family’s wish; however, it does not mean that tolerance or waiver of the private or public right, when dealing with perpetrators of dangerous and serious crimes like in this case.

The Palestinian Center for Human Rights

Al-Mezan Center for Human Rights

Al-Dameer Association for Human Rights

The Palestinian Non-Governmental Organisations' Network

The standing military court in Gaza city issued on Monday morning different prison sentences against members of an extremist group after it found them guilty of kidnapping and killing the Italian peace activist Vittorio Arrigoni in April last year.

Mahmoud Al-Salfiti, 24, and Tamer Al-Husasna, 26, were found guilty of kidnapping and murdering Arrigoni and each sentenced to life imprisonment and hard labor.

Another member of this group, Khadr Jerim, 26, received a 10-year prison term for kidnapping the Italian, while a fourth, Amer Abu Ghola, 26, was jailed for a year for providing the house in which Arrigoni was found hanged.

Arrigoni, 36, a long-time member of the pro-Palestinian international solidarity movement, was kidnapped on April 14, 2011 in Gaza by Salafist jihadists. The police found his body the other day in a house west of Jabaliya district.

The family of Arrigoni had expressed its willingness to see a fair trial held against the killers of their son and appealed not to condemn them to death.

Today, 15 April 2012, the Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) remembers Italian activist, Vitttorio Arrigoni, on the first anniversary of his death in the Gaza Strip.

Arrigoni was kidnapped and murdered by an armed group who are entirely unrepresentative of the people in the Gaza Strip and Palestinian values and traditions.

Arrigoni had been working in Gaza since 2008, when he arrived on board the "Free Gaza" flotilla, organized to break the Israeli illegal closure imposed on the Gaza Strip. He devoted himself to the Palestinian cause and participated in a number of peaceful and solidarity activities against violations of Palestinian civilians’ human rights by Israeli occupation authorities, including the illegal closure and “buffer zone” imposed on the Gaza Strip.

Arrigoni’s genuine commitment towards the human rights of Palestinian civilians, particularly fishermen and peasants in the Gaza Strip -who are amongst those most affected by the Israeli illegal practices and policies-, is his legacy to the free world. 

Those suspected to be responsible for Arrigoni’s kidnapping and killing are being tried by the Permanent Military Court in Gaza.

Lawyers from PCHR follow the case on the basis of a power of attorney given to them by Arrigoni’s family and in coordination with the latter’s representative, Attorney Gilberto Pagani. 

PCHR calls for a comprehensive and genuine resolution of Arrigoni’s case, including all circumstances relating to his death, by the Gaza judiciary.