I live in a place shaped by history—by borders drawn without our consent and by the long memory of cultural suppression. My grandparents’ generation knew what it meant to have one’s language forbidden, one’s traditions dismissed, one’s home defined by someone else’s map. From that perspective—and from the privilege we enjoy today in a peaceful, wealthy region—I feel compelled to speak about Palestine.
At a recent festival, I coded the Palestinian flag onto a medieval ruin. This was not an act of provocation, but an act of solidarity. A ruin carries the memory of what once stood—the lives once lived inside its walls, the futures interrupted. In Palestine today, ruins are not only archaeological remains; they are often the fresh debris of homes, schools, and places of worship destroyed in an ongoing conflict.
The situation is not simple, and it deserves clarity. Palestinians have lived for decades under occupation, with restricted freedom of movement, unequal access to resources, and recurring cycles of violence. International human rights organizations—including Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the United Nations—have documented systematic patterns of displacement, settlement expansion, and military control that violate international law. Acknowledging this does not deny the fears, traumas, and losses on the Israeli side; it insists that human dignity cannot be conditional.
As South Tyroleans, we know what it means to be a minority whose identity was once threatened. Our current comfort risks making us forget that empathy should not stop at our own borders—or our own century. The flag on the ruin was a reminder, to myself and to others, not to look away from suffering and to hold fast to the demand for dignity.
With thanks
To everyone who raised their voices—thank you. To
@klang.gemaeuer : thank you for creating a truly unique and special festival, full of love and peace. Thank you for having me. Free Palestine.
#palastine🇵🇸 #freepalastine #palastinelivesmatter #gaza #savepalestine #gazaunderattack #southtyrol
