"I may die and I
do not see the liberation of Palestine, but my children or my grandchildren
will certainly see their liberation, and then they will know the value of what
they have given this good land and this hard people." With these words, Italian
fighter Franco Fontana concluded his life when he died in 2015 and demanded his
burial to be in Palestine or any of the Palestinian refugee camps.
 |
| In the Palestinian refugee camp of Mar Elias, Beirut, |
The Italian fighter known as Joseph Ibrahim, since he came from his country and decided to participate in the struggle against the Israeli occupation, he comes from Bologna - Italy, joined the ranks of the Palestinian resistance in the camps in Lebanon in the seventies of the last century, Joseph belonged to the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine He was a specialist in the bombing of the Katyusha, the multi-rocket launcher.
When Joseph came to
Palestine, the struggle was a wide issue, involving all fronts. The ranks of
the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine included a number of foreign
fighters, such as the Red Army fighters from Germany, the Japanese Red Army and
other armies, And that was the time which Franco came and joined the ranks of
the Democratic Front, at a time when transatlantic fighters were not described
as "mercenaries".
Joseph arrived in
Palestine in 1969, after he heard about the guerrilla operations carried out by
the Palestinians. He then sold all the property of his father and donated it to
the Palestinian camps. Then he went to his country and returned again to visit
the comrades and the places where he left his heart at , Later he had a brain
stroke, when the embassy intervened to transport him, They found that he asked
in his will to be buried in Yarmouk Palestinian camp and if that was not
possible, then in Ein al-Hilweh.
After a long
struggle, in particular in 2015 Frank died , the Democratic Front for the
Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) made a huge funeral for the fighter, according
to a local Palestinian site, DFLP said: "Martyr Franco Fontana-Joseph, in
a solemn procession lead by the martyred man’s two children who came from
Italy: Laura and Massimo Fontana In addition to the leaders and representatives
of the Lebanese parties and Palestinian factions and a number of members of the
Political Bureau and the Central Committee and the leadership of the Democratic
Front in Lebanon and a number of comrades of the martyr who lived with him and
accompanied his struggle and the mobilization of the sons of the camps in
Beirut ».
The cross-border fighters
were faithful to the cause. Their struggle was witnessed by the Shatila
cemetery, which included foreign martyrs who had fled for the Palestinian
cause, the land where Joseph was also buried, and was then called Comrade
Joseph-Franco Fontana.
"I asked my
father one day about the Palestinian people, about his cause and about the
secret of this widespread support for the Palestinian people in all the
countries of the world. He replied:" injustice, justice and freedom.
"
His son added:
"Today we have not lost a fighter against injustice and freedom, but also
lost a clear interpretation of the Palestinian cause and justice."
0 comments:
Post a Comment
Please type your comment, Note that comments are monitored and no Zionists are allowed.