The background

The “STOP GENOCIDE” banner hung by a beekeeper from Lombardy on his honey stand at a local market was evidently disliked by a passer-by, who demanded that the Police intervene to remove the banner and fine the beekeeper for “unauthorized posting” (click here). When public outcry reached the Italian Parliament, the Police backtracked and revoked the fine.

The reaction

An association of American pacifists residing in Rome – U.S. Citizens for Peace & Justice – heard of this attempt at censorship and launched a campaign to replicate the unjustly incriminated banner and get it hung from the windows of all those requesting one. For their appeal (in Italian), click here.

They chose Rome's 2nd municipal district for the pilot project. Below are photos of the first few banners displayed from windows in Rome and even a market stall.

The message

The banners are cries of pain for the atrocities suffered by Palestinians in Gaza (as well as Palestinians in the West Bank and now the Lebanese). They are outcries directed at the government officials who continue to maintain diplomatic relations with Israel, provide it with military assistance and, in the international arena, veto the initiatives of other nations to sanction the regime in Tel Aviv. Finally, these banners are protests against attempts to censor our freedom to cry out, wherever we can, Stop the genocide! Free, free Palestine!

This is not the only protest against the censorship attempt that took place in Lombardy. Cristina Selva, owner of Erbavoglio, a vegan delicatessen in Biella, painted the incriminated words on a sign displayed on her storefront and then, on Instagram, called on everyone to do as she did, that is, to “make your voice heard: write banners, take to the streets, don't let fear and creeping state censorship bully you and stop you.”