“In the two ongoing conflicts there are no good guys on one side and terrorists on the other. Only when we realize that there are opposing interests, and that therefore we need to find the right compromises for a solution, will diplomacy begin to work. What is happening in Gaza is a genocide”: this was declared by Elena Basile, former Italian Ambassador to Sweden and Belgium, guest of the TPI Fest 2024scheduled for the third consecutive year in Bologna, at the “Tettoia Nervi”, in Piazza Lucio Dalla.
On why many have belittled her role and declared that she was not an ambassador, Elena Basile said: “I have come back to the subject several times. For those who don’t remember, I was called out of the blue by Lilli Gruber and went to Otto e Mezzo where I presented my latest fiction issue. I returned, thanks to the excellent ratings, to the program because I was called back where Aldo Cazzullo was also present, who accused me of the fact that I would have been happy with the fact that on October 7th there were not many American hostages. The program ended with this very heated discussion with Cazzullo who, however, I must admit, apologized to me”.
“The next day,” Elena Basile continues, “Corrado Formigli had already invited me and I called him in the morning and said: ‘I don’t want to come after Gruber’s broadcast.’” He insisted a lot and promised me that there would be no cross-examination. Unfortunately, when I arrived, this promise had not been kept. During the broadcast, every time I was interrupted and couldn’t finish my thoughts, I rebelled so much that at a certain point I left the broadcast. Even before I went to Formigli, a statement was issued saying that I was a traitor to the values of the Republic and that I couldn’t be called ambassador. This was the beginning of the lynching of the newspapers where I had become a usurper of titles or called a lower-middle functionary in the diplomatic career.”
“All my male colleagues with the same rank as me who have served as ambassadors are called ambassadors. But everyone calls me – it’s bad because it’s also gender discrimination – ambassador.”
Elena Basile then continues: “There has never been an ambassador who has criticized the function of NATO as I have. The ostracism towards me has come from everyone, from the right to the extreme left. There was really an X on my name. I am sorry that I cannot reach a larger audience”.
“During my career I have always tried to express my thoughts. Once, when I was still in service, I tweeted about the US withdrawal from Afghanistan, quoting Gino Strada who had recently died. I remembered a speech he had made years before in Stockholm, when he had criticized the government on foreign policy, and they asked me to delete the tweet and I was forced to do so because I was in service. I have always said what I thought but I had to do what was imposed on me”.
On why the West always seems to need to identify an enemy, the former ambassador responds: “In my book I reconstruct the two ongoing conflicts, the Russian-Ukrainian one and the Israeli-Palestinian one, opposing a narrative that in my opinion does not do justice to these two events, which are described as a conflict between good people and terrorists. If we want to give substance to diplomacy, we must realize that the enemy has his reasons. Only when we realize that there are opposing interests, and that therefore we must find the right compromises for a solution, diplomacy begins to work and find the right solutions”.
“What is happening in Gaza is a genocide. We are facing an Israel that has completely lost credibility. Israel is now its own enemy. And we are complicit in the ongoing genocide,” continues Basile.
On the conflict between Israel and Palestine, Elena Basile states again: “Nothing has been done for peace. I must say that the high representative of the United Nations Borrell at least on Gaza has expressed clear opinions. On one side we have Israel that tries, with continuous abuses and provocations, to drag the United States into a wider conflict. It is a bit sad to make this parallel but it is a bit what is also happening in Ukraine where Zelensky is trying to drag NATO into the conflict”.
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