Today, as I watched thousands of Italians take to the streets in solidarity with Gaza, I felt something I haven't experienced in a long time from my wheelchair – hope mixed with profound frustration. Not just about the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Palestine, but about how quickly legitimate protest can be hijacked by those who mistake destruction for revolution.
Let me be absolutely clear from the start: I support the strike for Gaza wholeheartedly. I condemn vandalism and violence without reservation. Anyone who vandalizes our cities isn't a freedom fighter – they're a terrorist idiot who damages the very cause they claim to champion.
The Sound of Conscience
This morning, across more than 80 Italian cities, something remarkable happened . Teachers left their classrooms empty. Port workers in Genova, Trieste, and Livorno blocked cargo ships . Students at La Sapienza closed university entrances . The smell of rain mixed with determination filled Milan's Piazzale Cadorna as thousands gathered despite the downpour .
This wasn't just a protest – it was a collective awakening of conscience.
When Usb (Unione Sindacale di Base) called for this 24-hour general strike, they weren't asking people to throw stones or break windows. They were asking for something far more powerful: the withdrawal of labor, the disruption of normalcy through non-violence, the kind of resistance that actually changes minds rather than hardening them.
The numbers speak for themselves. In Rome alone, over 20,000 people gathered in Piazza dei Cinquecento . Bologna saw 50,000 according to organizers . Genova reported 20,000 . These weren't angry mobs – they were citizens exercising their democratic right to dissent.
When Idiots Hijack Justice
But then came the scenes that make my blood boil.
In Milan, a group of black-clad vandals – because that's what they are, not protesters – tried to storm the Central Station . They threw bottles, broke windows with scaffolding, and turned what should have been a powerful statement into a street brawl . Sixty police officers were injured . Three people were arrested for aggravated resistance and damage .
This is not resistance. This is terrorism in miniature.
Every broken window, every thrown bottle, every act of vandalism handed the government and media exactly what they wanted: a reason to dismiss the entire movement as violent extremism. Prime Minister Meloni immediately labeled them "so-called pacifists" who "devastate stations and create clashes with law enforcement" . And you know what? She was right about those specific individuals.
The tragedy is that these terrorist idiots – and I use that term deliberately – overshadowed the 99% of peaceful protesters who were there for the right reasons.
The Real Revolution Happens in Silence
Here's what the mainstream media won't tell you: the most powerful moments of today's strike happened in silence.
At Rome's Termini Station, thousands of people simply stood there, blocking access not through violence but through presence . In Genova, port workers calmly refused to load ships bound for Israel . Teachers across Italy left their classrooms empty, with some schools reporting up to 70% participation .
This is what real resistance looks like. Not the theatrical violence of masked idiots, but the quiet dignity of people saying "no" with their bodies, their labor, their participation in systems they find morally unacceptable.
When Bologna's city hall hung a Palestinian flag from its facade , that was a statement. When thousands of students at universities nationwide refused to attend classes , that was power. When even some Vatican employees joined the "Priests against genocide" march , that was courage.
The Aha Moment
Watching the coverage today, I had one of those moments that stops you cold. The violent scenes from Milan were broadcast repeatedly, but barely any coverage showed the massive, peaceful crowds in other cities. The vandalism got the headlines; the genuine solidarity got buried.
That's when it hit me: the vandals aren't just damaging property – they're stealing the narrative from people who genuinely suffer.
Every Palestinian child killed by Israeli bombs, every family destroyed by this conflict, every humanitarian worker risking their life to bring aid – their stories get lost when the conversation becomes about broken windows in Milan instead of broken lives in Gaza.
The terrorist idiots who threw those bottles aren't fighting for Palestine. They're fighting for their own adrenaline rush, their own sense of importance, their own twisted version of revolution that puts their ego above the cause they claim to serve.
What Real Support Looks Like
Supporting Gaza doesn't require breaking windows. It requires breaking silence.
It means recognizing that what's happening in Gaza meets the UN definition of genocide, as confirmed by recent reports from the UN Special Commission of Inquiry . It means understanding that blocking arms shipments through Italian ports – as the dock workers did peacefully – saves lives more effectively than any thrown stone ever could.
It means supporting the Global Sumud Flotilla, the humanitarian mission trying to break the siege of Gaza through non-violent means . It means demanding that our government stop supplying weapons to a regime committing war crimes.
But it absolutely does not mean turning our cities into battlegrounds.
The Cost of Stupidity
Those sixty injured police officers in Milan ? They're not the enemy. They're working-class Italians doing their jobs, many of whom probably sympathize with Palestinian suffering but now have to go home to their families with injuries inflicted by people claiming to fight for justice.
The damaged Central Station ? That's infrastructure that ordinary Italians – including Palestinian-Italians – depend on for their daily lives. Breaking it doesn't hurt the government; it hurts commuters, travelers, and workers.
The canceled trains, the blocked roads, the disrupted services? When done peacefully as part of organized labor action, these create pressure for political change. When done through violence, they just create resentment and backlash.
Moving Forward
As I write this from my wheelchair, I think about what real strength looks like. It's not the performative violence of masked vandals. It's the quiet determination of teachers who chose conscience over paycheck today. It's the solidarity of port workers who said "no" to complicity. It's the courage of students who risked academic consequences to stand with the oppressed.
The strike for Gaza was necessary. The vandalism was not. We can support Palestinian liberation while condemning those who hijack that cause for their own violent fantasies.
Every broken window in Milan was a victory for Israeli propaganda. Every peaceful protester in Rome was a victory for justice.
The choice is ours: Do we want to be remembered as the movement that stood with dignity for human rights, or as the mob that threw bottles while Gaza burned?
I know which side of history I'm on. The question is: do the terrorist idiots who vandalized Milan today know which side they're actually serving?
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