Cairo, January 20, 2010 (Pal Telegraph) - Cairo, 08/01/2010 We're in a room at the 'Sun Hotel' in Cairo where Joe Fallisi, an Italian tenor and human rights activist, has been on a hunger strike for the last 12 days to obtain a permit from the Egyptian authorities to enter the Gaza.

Joe, I know that you were at the hospital this morning for a check-up. How are you doing, physically?

I'm a bit tired, but I'm OK. They asked me if I might stay there under observation until tomorrow evening, but I prefer the hotel. I feel free-er.

Can you tell me about the run-up to your hunger strike?

I started immediately on 28 December, the day we went to the square where there were supposed to be buses for Rafah. But the square was empty due to Egyptian government orders and intimidation. I decided to strike immediately when the 85-year old Hedy Epstein suggested a hunger strike as a protest against those who have, up to the present, prevented us from entering Gaza and who are also responsible for the three year siege on the Strip. I mean Egypt and Israel.

Now you're the only one who's going on with the hunger strike. How come?

During one of the last Gaza Freedom March meetings I publicly announced in the square that only when I touch Gazan soil or, if this is not possible, when I'm on the flight home, will I stop the strike. I will keep my promise.

Why this courageous move?  Who and what are you striking for?

I think protesting over Gaza is overwhelmingly important, because the daily nightmare for Occupied Palestine, and in particular for the people of the Strip, has been going on far, far too long and is the crux of all injustices worldwide. The fate of the world depends on this particular situation. What Gaza underwent during the 22 days of unilateral aggression and killing by the Zionist entity (during which a thousandth part of the total population was massacred - the equivalent in Italy to 60,000 lives), and what Gaza shall undergo due to the Egyptian decision to build the wall of iron, blocking the passage of commodities and assets, are just the latest acts of infamy which, today, have no equals worldwide.

Behind what happens in Gaza we have the basest lies, human iniquity and horror. The lie is so deeply rooted; the world pretends things are more or less 'business as usual'. But this isn't the case at all! On the one hand, we have the military armed with ultra-modern lethal equipment intent on progressively decimating a besieged people. On the other, we have a people that is trying to survive and defend itself but hasn't the means to do so.

The situation is coming more and more to resemble what the bolsheviks-Stalinists did in Ukraine and Kuban - extermination of millions of farming people by forced famine. Or when Warsaw was besieged by nazis. In both cases, a stranglehold policy ruled out flight completely. The idea being to bring a people to its knees and starve it to death. This is what's happening in Gaza today, made all the more serious by bio/ecocidal military aggressions such as we saw last year and which are being prepared for the near future.

This terrible siege gets worse and worse by the day. Because they are attacked daily, the inhabitants of the Strip can neither farm their lands nor fish.

There's something here which is worse - much worse - than the historical precedents I've cited. Here, the occupier's army criminally uses, on what has become a regular basis, weapons (in particular depleted uranium, but not only) which erode the very basis of life. The earth, air, water. So we are beginning to see deformed newborn infants even in Gaza. The pollution is sinking in very deep, into the heart of the cycle of life and reproduction, and it will persist for hundreds of years, if not forever. This is the most horrendous war crime ever committed - from Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Vietnam, the Balkans, Lebanon, Palestine, Iraq, Afghanistan, to Pakistan. Never has humanity had to face tyranny on a scale such as this!

When the Mongol hordes swept through their conquered lands, even into Europe, they razed everything to the ground. But when they left, life had a chance to begin again. Today's new "democratic", "progressive" barbarians leave behind them a trail of radioactive death.

The horrifying story of organ theft (which, by the way, Arafat denounced many years ago) completes the picture of horror we are faced with. What else must the Palestinian people undergo? What other disasters must we wait for before we oppose, without hypocrisy or double standards, the apartheid, the abominable Talmudic racism, the slaughter, the torture, the state terrorism, the armed robbery, the endless illegalities of the illegal entity?

Apart from the need for justice for the Palestinians, are there any personal reasons for your close involvement in prospects for the people of Gaza?

I've been to Gaza twice. I'm the only opera singer in the world who has had a chance, the honour and the pleasure, to sing at the Shawa Theatre in Gaza city. It's all on youtube - my two concerts (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U4KkVDVooHs, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Te0aqfMKdOw, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5H3OF_UgCck, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mkxq_tHIJhc). My first visit was in October 2008. I came to Gaza by sea, on board the 'Dignity'. It was the second, victorious, Free Gaza trip. The next time was last March. I came through the Rafah crossing with the Lifeline convoy organised by George Galloway. The welcome was amazing! They welcomed me like a brother! And the Gazawi are my brothers and sisters. I shall do all that is in my power to help them.

In the light of the harsh acts of repression of the Egyptian government against the Gaza Freedom March activists who were not allowed to enter Gaza, what is your view of the government?

The axis of power of the thieving West and North of the world is made up of the USA-UK-Zionist entity/Lobby triad. They decide how things should go in the world. They decide what's 'politically correct' and what isn't, and who can hold on to power and who must go.

Mubarak is just a slave serving this greater power. He moves to ensure himself survival. The decision to build a wall above and below the ground at the Rafah border, destroying the tunnels that determine the very survival of the people of Gaza, ties in with the upcoming presidential election.

What with Netanayahu's visit to Cairo on the very next day after what should have been our departure, while Israeli pacifists took to the streets, to allow 1,300 international activists to enter Gaza would have been an about-turn. But there is not one sign of the prospect of such an about-turn within the Egyptian regime. We hoped in vain.

When you decided to take part in the March, did you think this act of international solidarity might have changed in some way the situation the people of Gaza are forced to undergo?

Gaza needs to open itself up again, on all sides, toward the outside world. That's been Gaza's legacy for hundreds of years. We internationals may provide a stimulus for bringing about the end to the siege.

I left with the hope I'd set foot in the Strip again, to bring aid and for my third concert. As the days dragged on, I realised we were kidding ourselves.

I appeal to women and men of good will. We must rebel from below. The Free Gaza Movement, like Viva Palestina, are examples of just, courageous and creative initiatives rising up from the grassroots of civil society. We must struggle directly, each of us, in the name of the universal cause of justice. We must join forces and organise solidarity. Without the falsifying shackles and chains 'institutional life' burdens us down with. It's the old anarchist way. It must be taken up again. We don't need 'leaders' - just men and women with a sense of justice and dignity.

I know you tried the route through Al Arish, the Egyptian town closest to the border with Gaza. What happened that day?

I and three other Italians tried to reach the Rafah crossing via Al Arish. We were turned back at the first checkpoint 100 km from Cairo. There, we saw what I call civil society at work. Some wonderful old ladies, Americans, who, as soon as they got off the bus, waved their 'Free Gaza, Free Palestine' banners in the faces of the police. These ladies had decided they would live out what remains of their lives with dignity. They are my comrades.

How do you view the 100-strong delegation, organised by Codepink, who received authorisation from the Egyptian government to enter Gaza and deliver humanitarian aid?

The organisers accepted a compromise agreement with the Egyptian government, and they sent into the Strip a small group of activists, chosen arbitrarily from above. But they came to regret this. The delegation of 100 dwindled to 40 because most refused to go. It was just a symbolic gesture on Mubarak's part. It had to do with image. But the borders were closed, and remain so. It was a mistake on our part. Hedy Epstein has written out a statement in this regard. It's clear, precise and to the point.

You're about to leave Cairo without reaching Gaza. What will you take back with you to Italy after this experience?

The only really positive thing is that the truly shameful behaviour of the Egyptian police state and the tragedy of the Gaza Strip were on the lips of the world. And, perhaps, after the meetings and exchanges of views, we have the basis for a movement that will be able to act more effectively in future.

My compliments to George Galloway and his valorous Viva Palestina convoy comrades! They struggled tooth and nail to get in. They were physically attacked, beaten with truncheons, handcuffed and arrested, after an incredible journey across Europe and the Middle East, over land and sea... not to mention flights. And they made it!

Over the last few days I saw a lot of the kind of dynamics among the March people you get so often with small political groupings. People who speak essentially to themselves and preen themselves in their own mirrors. Their only preoccupation is what they say and do. The old 'politics' has died its death. It has nothing to give to the cause of justice. I shall return to Italy with an even firmer resolve that we must absolutely move on from things of the past.

I have now written five songs for Gaza and Palestine. I've already recorded two. 'Verrà' and 'Gaza vivrà!'. As soon as I get back, I'll record the others, 'Lifeline', 'Oh Madre Palestina', and 'Fino all'ultimo giorno-respiro'.

The chorus for 'Fino all'ultimo giorno-respiro' says "... we have only a few years to live. I'll defend my brothers and sisters till the last breath that heaven gives me".

By Sara Venturini

(translation by Alexander Synge)