2,000 Rally in Rome in Solidarity With Israel

Arrivederci to All That: The former Jewish ghetto on the banks of the Tiber in central Rome. Image by Getty Images
An estimated 2,000 people demonstrated in solidarity with Israel in front of the Israeli Embassy in Rome.
Sunday’s rally, organized by the local Jewish community with the support of the Union of Italian Jewish Communities and other groups, included representatives from both wings of the political spectrum.
“In the media there is a constant misinformation about what is happening in Israel,” Israel’s ambassador to Italy, Naor Gilon, said at the event. “But we will win because our country is strong and determined.”
Fabrizio Cicchitto, president of the Foreign and Community Affairs Commission of the Italian Chamber of Deputies, also participated in the rally.
Also on Sunday in Rome, Pope Francis called on Israelis and Palestinians to “say no to hate.”
“In this moment there is a need for much courage and much fortitude to say no to hate and vendetta and make gestures of peace,” the pope said Sunday after Mass in St. Peter’s Square, which is attended by tens of thousands of people.
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