Elena Basile, the former ambassador ad Business: “Lynched for expressing my thoughts. La Segre? I thought she would have intervened”
“Lynching”. So she replied to Affaritaliani.it the former Italian ambassador to the EU Elena Basilewhich ended up in the storm for a video in which she “interrogates” the senator for life Liliana Segre on why he would only feel sorry for the genocide of Jewish children and not also for that of Palestinian children.
READ ALSO: Basile attacks Segre: “He only grieves for Jewish children. Is he imitating the Nazis?”
A highly criticized video, which triggered the reaction of the Segre family up to the threat of a lawsuit by the son of the senator against Basile. She threatens that she arrived after an exchange of emails whose contents were only partially disclosed to the press.
Affaritaliani.it spoke with the former ambassador, who is currently in Africa, to clarify once and for all what she defines as a “misunderstanding”, if not even the object of “journalistic manipulation”.
Basile, what did you write in the email to the Segre family that made them so angry?
Faced with some, let's say, intimations from the senator's son, I responded by saying that there had been a misunderstanding. I reiterated that I have nothing against Liliana Segre (indeed, I have always appreciated her for her work in denouncing the atrocious experience she had with Nazism).
But I also explained my reasons again: I had been struck by an interview on Republic in which there seemed to be a double standard, because when the massacre in Gaza began, the journalist put only one statement into the senator's mouth, in which Segre expressed her pain for the Jewish children who died on October 7th. And for that reason I was very struck by the fact that there had not also been a reference to the children of Gaza.
So does your first video follow the reading of that interview?
Exactly, in that video I would have liked to explain to the reader (without the intention of accusing the senator) that sometimes there is a bit of a one-way sensitivity towards those who belong to one's own group. But also that sometimes the press manipulates the statements of influential people, including Senator Segre, for political purposes.
What was the response of Liliana Segre's son?
Luciano Belli Paci sent me an email with some either/or and I replied that, in light of what emerged, I would have liked the mother to intervene precisely on these double standards, condemning Hamas as well as the Israeli government which is carrying out crimes of war.
In essence, Senator Segre should have explained herself better?
It was enough for Liliana Segre to reply that it had been a misunderstanding, that she was saddened for the Jewish children as well as for the Palestinians. If only she had told me this I would have exclaimed: “Well, the senator defends that culture that I also defend, which is not full of prejudices and which discriminates against certain deaths.”
And instead?
Instead, despite having written that I would have liked to meet Senator Segre in person, and that I was sorry if I had offended her, her son became very angry at my response, threatening to sue. But intimidating people does not serve to re-establish a civil debate, to eliminate a climate of hatred and even anti-Semitism that exists. I find it absurd to gag me and intimidate me with complaints.
You also spoke of “manipulation” by certain press…
Yes, in a second video, precisely in light of what happened, I even said that we need to be careful of certain falsely democratic press that tends to manipulate the statements of influential people like the senator. This is why I would have expected that Liliana Segre would want to see the interview to correct the journalist…
It is not the first time that you consider yourself a “victim” of ambushes or manipulation by the press, if not even the media…
And in fact this is yet another lynching that I have suffered. First they called me pro-Putin, then pro-Hamas, now they will call me anti-Semitic. This is because I do not give up expressing my reasoned but minority thoughts, which do not coincide with the dominant narrative.
But I find it dangerous, for freedom of thought and expression, that a woman and former diplomat is publicly lynched for expressing reasoned positions. Let's not even talk about the fact that they continue to call me “Farnesina attaché”, an expression that I find in Molinari's newspaper and addressed to me who spent 38 years in a diplomatic career, and for 8 years I was ambassador to the EU. And it is absurd that all this happens in a democratic country like Italy. We are living in a dark period.
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