With countless articles and studio discussions almost every day, it seems that for the media and academia in Italy, there is no issue in the world more urgent than the situation in Gaza — and especially Gaza’s children. It has already become an obsession, and now another uproar has erupted after the Italian newspaper Avvenire, which is affiliated with the Catholic Church, published an initiative by a philosophy professor to promote a Nobel Peace Prize for the children of Gaza.
Professor Eugenio Mazzarella of a university in Naples published an article in the newspaper in which he explained the initiative, which contradicts the rules of the Nobel Prize, using figures provided by the UN: 300 children under the age of 18 have been killed in the Gaza Strip since the latest ceasefire, at a rate of one death per day. In his article, Mazzarella wrote that awarding the Nobel Prize to all the children, rather than to one person, would “shine a spotlight on the terrible condition of the minors who die every day.”
He published a petition that has already been signed in Italy by thousands of citizens, clergy members, municipalities, labor unions, professors from across Italy and others. He attached to the petition scathing criticism of Israel: “Enough! If you have even a little compassion, stop. You are murderers. You are lying. You are doing nothing. Stop, if there is still anything in you that resembles human beings.”
Members of Italy’s left wing also joined the supporters, and Democratic Party leader Elly Schlein issued a statement of support. “There must be no silence around the dramatic situation in Gaza and of minors in Gaza. It must be remembered that humanitarian aid is not reaching the Palestinians. Starvation continues to be used as a weapon of war,” she wrote.
Italian member of the European Parliament Matteo Ricci added that “this is a good initiative to break the conspiracy of silence around the Palestinian issue,” and Franciscan priest Ibrahim Faltas, who serves as deputy custodian of the Holy Land and director of the schools of the Custody of the Holy Land and the Terra Sancta network in Jerusalem and Bethlehem, said that “awarding the Nobel Prize to Gaza’s children means giving renewed value to the word peace. It would establish the memory of the children who were not granted a future and of the children who survived horror and hatred.” In all the statements on the matter, Hamas’ involvement was not mentioned at all.
Italy continues to claim there is starvation in Gaza
(Photo: Omar Al-Qattaa/ AFP)
By contrast, the Jewish community in Italy harshly criticized the initiative. Walker Meghnagi, president of the Jewish community of Milan, said that “drawing a dividing line between those who suffer more is dangerous. Such an initiative erases the existence of Jewish children who became victims in a war Israel did not want. This is moral apartheid.”
Daniel Nahum, a Jewish member of Milan’s City Council, suggested instead that a Nobel Prize be given to child victims of war — but to all of them. “To the Israeli children who were massacred on October 7, to the Ukrainian and Sudanese children,” he said.
Nahum expressed opposition to the Israeli government, but stressed that responsibility lies with Hamas, which “used these children as human shields and massacred people in Israel on October 7. That is where it all began.” He also criticized Italian left-wing politicians who continue to use the term “genocide in Gaza,” saying it is a “narrative meant to inflame the street and ignite antisemitism against Jews around the world.”
As for the Nobel Prize, which under the rules is awarded only to a living person — and to up to three people in each category, except for the Nobel Peace Prize, which can be awarded to human rights organizations — Italian media noted that the professor from Naples may still rely on Section 5 of the rules, which allows him to recommend a candidate for the prize who works for the welfare of Gaza’s children, even if not the children themselves.