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Stars never cheat. Here the sky offers always a marvellous show. Tonight in Sarura the orange nuances of the moon invade the space together with the immense Big Dipper.
Sit beside me, A. is lighting a camp-fire, trying to stoke the embers. The flame revives the still life at our feet. Satisfied by the fire, A. turns to me and says: “See, it's the things where you put yourself and all of your energy to give you the biggest satisfactions”.
I nod and smile back.
Fire now gives us heat.
I turn to him and ask: “How can you be so peaceful and full of energy? So empathic with us and the world, despite your land is frayed by violence that tries to erase your lives and your freedom?

On March 10 at 11.00 am, more than 30 armed settlers from the illegal Israeli outpost of Havat Ma’on invaded the Palestinian village of At-Tuwani.
More than 20 Israeli soldiers, police and border police arrived in the village, but did nothing to remove the settlers, who remained in the village for more than two hours. The residents of At Tuwani, including the women and children and accompanied by international and Israeli activists, confronted the settlers and prevented them from entering homes in the village.
The Israeli settlers threw stones and threatened Palestinians with guns. In response the soldiers used teargas and sound grenades to move the Palestinians and activists out of the area, and then declared a large area of Palestinian land, including agricultural areas and olive groves, a closed military zone. Army and Border police continued to occupy the village throughout the day.

I left the first time with a good dose of unconsciousness mixed with carelessness. I left probably not fully comprehending the intensity of emotions I would have felt once arrived in At-Tuwani. I didn’t understand that it couldn’t just be three months, a relatively small chapter in my life. I didn’t know that that departure, so unaware and naive, would have led me to today. After, nothing has ever been done ingenuously and nothing has ever been easy.

It hasn’t been easy to see my parents’ reaction to the “mum, dad, I’m going back and I will stay for two years”, I was aware that I has hurt them and gave them pain. I will forever remember that moment in which I clearly felt that I was torned in two: on one side them, and on the other simply the foggy image in my eyes of Aboud and Meriam, my neighbours’ toddlers in this village. They won, I’m here in At-Tuwani.

Rome, 03/01/2017 – Presentation of the book Badheea, written by Mattia Civico. The book tells about the Italian initiative to open humanitarian corridor meant to welcome Syrian refugees who fled to Lebanon. One year later, Mattia Civico writes about the expirience. During the presentation, Abu Rabiya, one of the Syrian who reached Italy through the humanitarin corridor, addresses a speech to Italian people, associations and isntitutions.