Vittorio Arrigoni: Gifts that are Given, and Those Taken From Us

(SALEM) - When we first reported the death of Vittorio Arrigoni last April, we knew we were faced with the passing of a spirit larger than those that can be contained inside of any man, or activist; his death represented something far worse than the loss of any single person.

It left a barren hole that punched through Gaza, reverberated through Italy and all of the world, creating a huge void. The magnitude of Vik's loss was tantamount to his presence on earth. Few people ever did more and he almost certainly was one of the most inspirational activists to ever live.

As we consider the gifted man whose vitality slipped away in the night, know that Vittorio, known by 'Vik' to his friends, wasn't in it for himself. Every aspect of every story screams this. Vik cared about the people of Gaza, who live in a prison camp setting. He could not stand the way Israel attacks Gaza's fishermen, or its loan teenage female captain. He accompanied them, he rolled tape, he wrote at length about their lives, their accomplishments, their deaths. Vik was shot and hurt once by the Israeli military while defending Gaza fishermen, and on another day they nearly drowned him.

He helped people in their effort to survive, as they were pummeled under the fascist fist of Israel's political prejudice. Their apartheid system has different laws for people, one set for Jews and one for everyone else. There are even "Jewish Only" roads throughout Israel. Their political punishment of perceived enemies is unforgivable and Israel's campaign against Palestine is one against the whole world.

Israel kills more than 1400 people in Gaza at a time, in a single operation, using illegal weapons and tactics; yet claims only their national security is at risk. Israel's apologists constantly talk about rockets fired from Gaza, which are acts of futile resistance, that have killed a total of 29 Israelis in all time, ever. That is hardly a justified reason for apartheid, murder, genocide, and human abuse.

This, as Israel imprisons an entire population. Zionists and Nazi's are very similar, very close. Vik's grandparents, Italian resistance fighters in World War Two, fought the Nazi's and the Fascists. However all the Israeli Defence Forces ever did was treat Vik with scorn, political abuse and violence.

For the brave and courageous men and women of this world like Vittorio Arrigoni, who oppose those who strike humanity from the conversation, Israel's Zionists reserve special titles that imply that somehow all the good motives are bad.

The aggressive ones accuse the human activists of not hating the violence. They claim, and their views are repeated by the press and the networks, that opposing Zionism is actually a hatred of their Jewish faith. The first and largest problem with that utterly false accusation, is that Judaism and Zionism (the belief that God authorized Jews to kill Palestinians and steal their land) are like apples and oranges.

Judaism is ancient, Zionism is an idea given birth by a German in the 1890's, Theodore Herzl.

Hating them over their religion? - these are words from a language most of us don't even understand. Does a person or group need amazing ego just to make that claim, or what? In the end the term antisemitic technically means a person is against people of the ancient Semitic languages, this means Jews and Arabs, Ethiopians, or Assyrians.

Labeling those who defend Palestinians as 'antisemitic' is akin to claiming that those who oppose the woman-abusing Taliban are actually masking a hatred for Muslims, or inferring that abhorring the acts of the murderous Mexican drug cartels are actually bigotry toward Hispanic people. What nonsense, what rubbish.

As both Egidia Beretta Arrigoni, mother of Vittorio Arrigoni, and Ken O'Keefe, our fellow writer and close friend of Vik's in Gaza, said: he is not dead. No such person ever truly goes away; Vik Arrigoni's legacy is here to stay.

When it comes down to what I’m doin’, What I’m doin’,
What I’m doin’ at the end of the road:
Pride in my words, and passion in my heart.
And ain’t a place that I’d rather start.
And if it comes down to what I’m doin’, What I’m doin’,
What I’m doin’, at the end of the road.
This path I chose you don’t see it, but believe it!
Just know that I’mma have a place to go, at the end of the road.

(Hook-Marka)

Life is sacred; it came from heaven up above;
A blessing from the Lord to be shared by everyone!
Freedom is God-given, something that we come to love;
It’s in the blood to defend it, yes! Our strongest passion!
The message goin’ out to those who transgress and violate,
When we’re overwhelmed, the Lord shakes the earth awake.
Everyone suffers; count the losses, check the death rate!
The ignorant surprised, as they watch the newsbreak.

The tears shed, man. for the ones that are sufferin’—
For the ones captive or dyin’ in the millions;
This one goes out to all my people in captivity:
Everyday we pray the Lord gives you all security!
Free you from the devil’s hand, those who oppress thee;
So you can enjoy your sacred life in the world free!
No one has the right to dictate your future, see?
The message goes out: mercy extends universally!
When it comes down to what I’m doin’, What I’m doin’,
What I’m doin’ at the end of the road:

Pride in my words, and passion in my heart.
And ain’t a place that I’d rather start.
And if it comes down to what I’m doin’,
What I’m doin’, What I’m doin’, at the end of the road.
This path I chose you don’t see it, but believe it!
Just know that I’mma have a place to go, at the end of the road.

(Hook-Marka)

____________________________________________

Most of us don’t want to take responsibility
Save a few brave hearts, inspired God-consciously
Not afraid to parade the doorsteps of authority;
Demand justice be served for the sake of humanity!
Going out to all the brave men and woman activists,
Who put their lives on the line to expose injustice;
Who exert their energy to see we live with dignity—
Your mission and your efforts are recorded in our history!
For all those who enjoin the good and forbid the evil:
Men, women, and children—everyone that is able;
Give a lending hand to stop all that are sinful;
Only with unity can we achieve and become forceful!

Those who left us never will be forgotten;
In our hearts you all will remain with lots of lovin’;
A place for you is set at the end of the road!
May the Lord give you peace and a heavenly abode!
When it comes down to what I’m doin’, What I’m doin’,
What I’m doin’ at the end of the road:
Pride in my words, and passion in my heart.
And ain’t a place that I’d rather start.
And if it comes down to what I’m doin’,
What I’m doin’, What I’m doin’, at the end of the road.
This path I chose you don’t see it, but believe it!
Just know that I’mma have a place to go, at the end of the road.

(Hook-Marka)

Articles regarding Vittorio's loss

Articles regarding the death of Juliano Mer Khamis:

Articles by Vittorio on Salem-News.com:

Also:

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Salem-News.com Writer/Author/Musician Agron Belica, faced many challenges growing up as a rootless street youth, situations so intense that they threatened to destroy him- that is until he rediscovered his Muslim roots a few years ago and turned his life around. In 2008, Agron Belica published his research article The Revival of the Prophet Yahya, and has caused quite a stir in scholarly circles. In 2009, a new theory was born, The Crucifixion: Mistaken Identity?> John the Baptist and Jesus the Christ. With no formal advanced education, he offers new interpretations of certain key words in the Quran along with his challenging theories about the role of John the Baptist in the Crucifixion and has attracted the attention of well-known scholars in the field of comparative religion, such as Dr. Laleh Bakhtiar, the first American woman to translate the Quran into English, the noted university professor, Dr. Mahmoud Ayoub, and the author and translator, Dr. Jay R. Crook.

Tim King is a former U.S. Marine with twenty years of experience on the west coast as a television news producer, photojournalist, reporter and assignment editor. In addition to his role as a war correspondent, this Los Angeles native serves as Salem-News.com's Executive News Editor. Tim spent the winter of 2006/07 covering the war in Afghanistan, and he was in Iraq over the summer of 2008, reporting from the war while embedded with both the U.S. Army and the Marines. Tim holds numerous awards for reporting, photography, writing and editing, including the Oregon AP Award for Spot News Photographer of the Year (2004), first place Electronic Media Award in Spot News, Las Vegas, (1998), Oregon AP Cooperation Award (1991); and several others including the 2005 Red Cross Good Neighborhood Award for reporting. Tim has several years of experience in network affiliate news TV stations, having worked as a reporter and photographer at NBC, ABC and FOX stations in Arizona, Nevada and Oregon.