Hussam Shaker a Palestinian researcher in the European affairs on Friday praised Italy’s Rome Court after it ordered RAI TV to issue a correction that Israel is not the capital of Israel.
In May a contestant in a quiz show aired by RAI was asked what the capital of Israel is. The answer “Tel Aviv” was deemed wrong. The right answer the contestant was told is “Jerusalem”.
Shaker in an interview with the Palestinian Information Center said that Rome Court’s ruling shows how important are the efforts made by individuals and organizations to defend the Palestinian cause and refute the Israeli narrative.
Shaker said that many lessons can be learned from this experience. The first he explained is that the Israeli propaganda and its misleading discourse in Europe should not be underestimated and should be met with equally strong and effective media campaigns.
The second important lesson according to Shaker is that resorting to the law is still an available and possible option and it must be used in the most effective ways by pro-Palestine activists and organizations.
Another advantage of this court ruling the Palestinian researcher underlined is that it will open the door for similar pro-Palestine pressure campaigns in other European countries.
The court ruling came in favor of two Italian pro-Palestine organizations who protested the host of the show’s statement that “there are different views on the issue” after the episode sparked debate and decided to bring the case to court.
Judge Cecilia Pratesi conveyed in the ruling that “the Italian State does not recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.”
“It is well known that on 21 December 2017 Italy voted in favor of a UN General Assembly Resolution rejecting the US decision to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel” the judge said.
