Speech by Marco Pannella to the European Parliament

SUMMARY: For each European "held in hostage" there are hundreds and thousands Middle Eastern citizens "killed on account of their opinions". To speak of "conflicts between nations" is a eurocentric point of view, while the real, great problem in the Middle East is that of "freedom" and "dignity", which are suppressed by the "ferocious" regimes in power.

(DEBATE AT THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, OCT. 24, 1985)

Pannella (NI): Honorable President, for each European who shakes us up, for each European held hostage, there certainly are, every day, in the Middle East, hundreds and thousands of Middle Eastern citizens who are killed on account of their opinions, their tribe, or their history.

In my opinion, it is a very Eurocentric point of view and also the very superficial vision of a politician to go on talking in terms of conflicts between nations, while, for every Middle Eastern man and woman, the real, great problem is that of freedom and dignity . The issue is whether independence can guarantee freedom, democracy and dignity and not become instead-- as it often happens-- an alibi for ferocious regimes.

Thus, at a time when our Parliament is very concerned -- and rightly so-- with the European hostages, I wish to simply say that, as a member of the Radical Party, a radical of the Italian denomination, I believe that either European politics will succeed in guaranteeing the rights of Syrians, the right to life of Syrians, the right to life of the Lebanese, the rights to life , freedom, independence, within the the freedom and political democracy of Palestinians, or, Honorable President, we certainly risk pursuing, each time the consequences of the situation, rather than contributing to the growth of the seed of independence, freedom and dignity.