The whole of Italy will come to a standstill on September 22, 2025.
I was reading several articles about the general strike for Gaza announced for September 22, 2025.
I thought…
Will I have to stop too?
Okay, but if I stop, what will I do?
What will I say?
Where will I go?…
Silence.
September 22 arrives.
My friend texts me. “So, are you in? I’m leaving now, see you there.”
Silence again.
Maybe I should text my boss?
Damn, but I have to work, emails, deadlines, projects…
Then I hear it.
What, you say?
I’ll explain.
You know that urge that rises up inside you, telling you, “Hey, you gotta get off your ass…”
Yes, you know what I mean.
That’s it.
You can’t ignore it.
You can’t repress it.
It overwhelms you.
You have to get up and go and……
you can’t not do it.
Suddenly, that silence became a deafening scream…
I’m coming, I’m here.
So, Carlo (my boss), today I HAVE to go on strike.
I can’t resist.
I turn off my computer and get changed in a hurry. I’m late, but I might still make it on time.
I check the time frantically and try to be faster than light.
I leave the house and immediately find a scooter (thank God!).
And off I go.
Piazzale delle Province, Viale delle Province. I pass it.
Wow, “there’s panic.”
How cool, I say to myself.
You know how people in traffic are taking it well.
I pass the university.
I approach Termini.
The horns are blaring louder and louder and the discomfort is increasing.
I leave the scooter and run.
I call my friend, no answer.
You understand, in the middle of this mess, I don’t even know if I’ll find her.
I have to hurry.
I pick up the pace.
Fast walking is always good for burning calories.
I start to sweat, because… it’s so hot on September 22!
There they are, I can see them, the river of people arriving.
Palestinian flags everywhere.
And then I finally arrive.
There are so many of us.
So many.
Men, women, young people, elderly people, families, children.
All there.
United.
Together.
Shouting “free free Palestine.”
I’m moved.
I find Dalila, but where were you???! She is ecstatic too.
What a wonderful thing.
Rome like this, after 14 years, it’s the first time I’ve seen it so beautiful.
Energy pervades me.
Humanity moves me.
The more I look at them, the more I want to hug them.
“But who?!”
“Can’t you see them??!” Young people everywhere.
Beautiful.
So, the idea.
Now I’ll ask them for an interview.
“Oh well, here she comes, the frontier journalist.”
But no, I want them to tell me why they are there.
And I want them to tell everyone.
Because I want everyone to feel their beauty.
And so here we are, me, the young people, and their energy.
I sit down with them and ask:
“Why are you here?” Frida replies, “We are here because the situation is no longer sustainable. The situation in Palestine cannot be relegated to a few sectors but must involve everyone. We are here to send a strong message to workers, our peers, and institutions.”
A fair point, but I continue, “So what would you say to those who, unlike you, have decided to go to school and therefore remain indifferent to what is happening?”
He replies: “Despite our repeated requests to the government to take a clear stance against genocide, this has not been done. Faced with the failure of a political system that has completely wiped out Palestine, favoring Israel for 70 years now, at a time when institutions not only do nothing but criticize those who actually want to do something, it becomes the responsibility of all of us private citizens to do something concrete, such as taking to the streets. Even if we are students and skip school, we MUST do something.”
I press on: “OK, but you’re blocking the whole of Rome! What would you say to all those who have the usual phrase ready: ‘It’s the communists again, trying to make us lose a day’s work’?”
Convinced and confident, she replies: “Yes, exactly!!! It’s us!! And thanks to us, you can’t cross the street and you can’t go to work”…!!!
Then she concludes: “And think how SERIOUS it is if schoolgirls have to do something because the government is doing nothing. Think about how far we’ve come. We have to involve 14- and 15-year-olds, even younger!
Seeing children and teachers bringing elementary school kids, students like us taking to the streets, shows that we have reached a CRUCIAL point in our contemporary history where we really can’t turn a blind eye anymore.”
And that’s it since September 22.
Irene
Leave a Reply