Italy’s ‘Food for Gaza’ is an empty front for genocide

“Food for Gaza,” the program Tajani is boasting about, is coordinated with Israel: it does not respond to humanitarian needs but activates only when Tel Aviv gives the green light.

When Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani launched “Food for Gaza” on March 11, 2024, il manifesto’s reporter had just returned from a trip to the Rafah crossing, along with a convoy of Italian NGOs and parliamentarians. Along the narrow strip of land separating life from death, thousands of trucks were stuck in place, full of food, medicine and tents that could have brought relief to an entire population.

“Food for Gaza” was launched in the midst of a delegitimization campaign – initiated by Israeli leadership – against the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), and Tajani’s Italy jumped eagerly on that bandwagon alongside other Western chancelleries. After cutting funds to the only entity capable of managing the humanitarian emergency, Rome replaced actual support for a people under genocide with an empty front.

Since then, as one can read on the Ministry’s website, “Food for Gaza” has spent heavily, at least on paper, with a budget of €40 million (of which about €30 million spent so far) divided into three areas of intervention: humanitarian aid, reception and medical care, and educational programs. That is, the provision of life-saving aid to Gaza and the evacuation of Palestinian patients and students – of which Tajani once again........

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