Interview granted to the newspaper San Marino Oggi:
Q: Every day we get news of clashes and firing rockets and mortars with victims among the civilian population. What is the situation for those who live in Jerusalem and in other cities? Are there difficulties and limitations in everyday life? Is the country remains open to visitors and tourism, which is an important source, even for the Palestinians, or has it already suffered setbacks?
A: Jerusalem has suffered just a few missile attacks without any significant harm. The story is different for the rest of Israel. The towns and villages closest to Gaza in the south have been most heavily targeted with constant rocketing day and night. The towns and cities further north such as Ashkelon and Ashdod were also rather severely attacked, with damages to property and people being wounded. Today, for the first time, someone died. There is no doubt that in the areas that were directly attacked, life is challenging and people are on constant alert to run and take shelter at any moment, day or night. However, due to the effective role of "Iron Dome" and the safety regulations, people try to maintain their daily routine as much as possible. Obviously, tourism is affected; however, there are those who didn't cancel their visit and kept their plans intact.
Q: You have two sons serving in the military, which is an obligatory three years for males in Israel. As a parent, what is it like to live these moments?
A: My two daughters and elder son have already completed their service; now, only my youngest son is on the front line in the south. My daughter was in the battlefield during operation Pillar of Defense (Pillar of Cloud) in November, which was rather fierce and traumatic. So far this time, Operation Protective Edge seems to be déjà vu. As a parent who is both a patriot and a peace advocate, I'm in constant prayer for the safety of not only my own children, but also all people from both sides.
Q: You have long been committed to promoting dialog and peace between Israelis and Palestinians; you accompanied groups is Israeli and Palestinian youth visiting Italy and San Marino. What should be done to promote a ceasefire?
A: Even during these testing times we are having another youth group coming mainly from Europe, doing volunteer work in local villages, promoting harmony and friendship among Jews, Christians, Moslems and Druze. We also hold interfaith prayers and fasts to call for heaven's intervention for peace and reconciliation. It is true that a ceasefire is something that can be implemented by armies and governments; however, our role as civil society is to promote resilience and restraint so as to allow the decision makers to operate without panic and withstand extremist pressures.
Q: What role can or could the international community play to support the peace process? And what role do you think a small country like San Marino might have?
A: I believe that the international community can take a much more subjective role in helping to attain a ceasefire. Solutions are not easy for this long conflict, however; a combination of demilitarizing Gaza coupled with massive civilian aid will transform the future of Gaza into a normal society, as most of its inhabitants hope for. The massive financing of terror organizations who care less about the lives of the common people on both sides must be stopped. If the international community is really serious about the situation, they can do a lot to help.
The Republic of San Marino can certainly play a role by raising the voice of conscience in Europe, calling for brave, positive intervention, rather than the usual rhetoric of the blame game by ether sides.
Translated by Giorgio Gasperoni, secretary general, UPF-San Marino
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