Where is truth

When the Italian press campaigns for the Nobel Peace Prize in Lampedusa

 

"I've been thinking this morning: the Nobel Peace Prize, give it to Lampedusa" In the editorial of "Corriere della Sera" dated Friday 4 October, the Italian journalist Giangiacomo Schiavi gave the floor to Francesco Pedilarco, a resident of Lampedusa, this parcel of Europe, situated 400 km south of Sicily, where African immigrants come almost daily to e , Fail.

The man in question insistently raise the "extraordinary and a little crazy" idea to reward international recognition this piece of land "which has never been indifferent to the desperation of men" ,. Because before the tragedy on Thursday, where more than 130 migrants died in the sinking of a clandestine boat, Lampedusa is repeatedly illustrated in assisting thousands Tunisians, Somalis or Eritreans who fled in extremely precarious conditions, their country of origin. "I'm Sicilian and I can only thank the generous heart of Sicily. Lampedusa is an example of our brotherhood, "he wrote.

"Extraordinary show of solidarity"

Twitter and another Italian newspaper, "L'Espresso" and have relayed the request. The editor, Bruno Manfellotto, list the reasons why Lampedusa deserves the Nobel:

1 - The Fellowship of the island - 6,300 people - aside his private life and forget his interests [...] to engage in an extraordinary demonstration solidarity. It is a people that has never ceased to be human.

2 - Lampedusa is now the most important gateway to Europe. On the other side of the Mediterranean, driven by hunger, pain, racial persecution, tribal or religious, hundreds of men, women and children risk death to win the right to live.

3 - Reward an island and its inhabitants by a major international recognition also serve to awaken the European Union and the push to address the plight of entire populations migrants who can not be in the hands of the generosity of a single country or even a small rock in the sea

"This must stop shame"

Today, in Lampedusa, the number of immigrants from Africa far exceeds the approximately 6,000 residents of the island. Initially, the idea of ​​this "nobélisation" came from a journalist Fabrizio Gatti, known for his articles on immigration. In his paper "Why Lampedusa deserves the Nobel Peace Prize," published on October 3, he tells how, during a report on immigration, he was stunned by humanity , the inhabitants of Lampedusa.

One night in September, he witnessed a rescue of a migrant who struggled in the water for several hours, a resident of Lampedusa. This "helped [the victim] to climb the cliff, took off his shirt and lay down on it to warm it." It was an electrician on the island.

In its appeal of the "Corriere della Sera", Francesco Pedilarco also recognizes "the courage and humanity" of this small island "always look to others." "But now, he insists, after removing all the dead bodies of water, we need to ask more. We give the Nobel Peace Prize is a way to remind the world that this shame must end and we must not turn away a part of the world. "