I’m on my way to Ronchi dei Legionari to open my exhibition dedicated to journalists killed in the Gaza Strip. The town is currently hosting the Leali delle Notizie journalism festival, and these are the pre-festival days.
This isn’t my first time here—it’s actually my third. The last time, I was invited together with Laura Cappon to present our book about Patrick Zaki.
This year, the Leali delle Notizie Award, in memory of Daphne Caruana Galizia, is symbolically dedicated to the Palestinian journalists who have lost their lives since October 7.
Ronchi dei Legionari is a small town, but it hosts a remarkably rich and ambitious festival—this year with no fewer than 180 guests. My exhibition is housed in the municipal Auditorium, the Casa della Cultura. It’s a simple setup, but it works: people stop, look, read, and engage.
Also present is Richard Sanders, director of Investigating War Crimes in Gaza, produced by Al Jazeera, accompanied by journalist Giulia Bosetti. It’s fascinating to watch Richard looking at the drawings—perhaps recognizing faces he has worked with or come across in the course of his investigations.
After the opening, the documentary is screened. It hits like a punch in the gut. In the audience, people sigh, struggle to watch without crying—or getting angry. I find it increasingly difficult to watch footage coming out of Gaza. Only through drawing can I process and confront the horror.
The documentary exposes war crimes committed by Israel in the Gaza Strip, using images and videos posted online by Israeli soldiers themselves during the year-long conflict.
Al Jazeera’s Investigative Unit has compiled an archive of thousands of videos, photographs, and social media posts, identifying—when possible—the people who posted them and those who appear in them.
The material reveals a wide range of illegal acts: indiscriminate destruction, looting, the systematic leveling of neighborhoods, and murder.
The film also tells the story of the war through the eyes of Palestinian journalists, human rights workers, and ordinary residents of Gaza. It highlights the complicity of Western governments—particularly the use of the RAF base in Akrotiri, Cyprus, for British surveillance flights over Gaza.
“The West cannot hide. They can’t claim ignorance. No one can say they didn’t know,” says Palestinian writer Susan Abulhawa. “This is the first livestreamed genocide in history. If people are ignorant, it’s because they choose to be.”
I manage to watch it all—something that’s not so easy for me these days. After the screening, there’s a discussion with Sanders and Bosetti, but the images speak for themselves. Still, the conversation helps calm the nerves; sharing these moments with others is always important, if only to feel less alone.
At dinner, I have the pleasure of a long conversation with Gianni Tartari, an Ambassador of the European Climate Pact, appointed by the European Commission under the European Green Deal, and recently founder of the association EuCliPa.IT.
He speaks with passion and boundless energy. He talks about climate change, which today is deeply intertwined with the war in Palestine and the global rearmament movement. I wrote about it here: [Link].
The next morning, I leave full of reflections and emotions—and a little renewed strength. Strength to keep drawing for a fairer world. To draw, in my own small way, in an attempt to mend it.
Photo by Luca A. D’Agostino
