Patrick Zaki: “I am Christian and I am left-wing, I have nothing to do with Hamas”
“I am against the current government of Israel and the policies it has followed in recent years. And I’m not the only one who thinks this way: the actions of this government have been criticized both in the past and in recent days by several countries, including the United States.” Patrick Zaki returns to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict after the controversy of the last few days and his exclusion from the first episode of “Che tempo che fa”.
In an interview by Aldo Cazzullo for Corriere della Sera, the Egyptian activist reiterated his support for Palestine, accompanied by condemnation for Hamas. “I have nothing to do with Hamas! I am Christian and I am left-wing, I am not an Islamic fundamentalist. In Egypt people like me are killed by Islamic fundamentalists. In 2014 I collected humanitarian aid for Gaza but they told me that I had better not go and bring it because I wouldn’t be welcome. I am for Palestine, not for Hamas. And I hope all the hostages are released. Everyone, starting with the Italians. I don’t forget that Italy fought for my freedom”, underlined Zaki, who defended the words aimed at Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu (“a serial killer”).
“What came to mind? I thought of all the civilians, of all the people including women and children who have been killed in Gaza in recent years, of my dear friend Shireen Abu Akleh, the journalist who was killed last year by Israeli soldiers while working in West Bank,” said Zaki, who in the interview spoke about his book “Dreams and Illusions of Freedom”
in which he retraced the two years spent in prison in Egypt until his release, also obtained thanks to the intervention of the Italian government.
He also reiterated the reasons for his refusal to accept the state flight (“Because I am an activist, and I want to be free to criticize any government”), explaining that he had not cited either Giorgia Meloni or Mario Draghi in his book, despite the government of the latter worked for his release: “I repeat that I am grateful to Italy for what it has done for me”. Regarding the exclusion from the program hosted by Fabio Fazio, Zaki is not worried: “No problem, I will go one of the next Sundays”.
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