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“Mara Carfagna: ‘If the West abandons Israel, it will be abandoning itself,'” a translation of “Mara Carfagna: ‘Se l’occidente abbandona Israele, abbandona se stesso,’” L’Informale, February 11, 2016: Mara Carfagna, the Minister for Equal Opportunity from May 2008 to November 2011, among Italian politicians has been one of the stoutest defenders of Israel. Mindful of ethical issues and civil rights, she was chosen by Berlusconi to be in charge of the civil and human rights section of his party, Forza Italia.We wanted to speak with her not only about Iran, but about the growing antisemitism in Europe, and the boycott...

Massimo D'Alema, the outgoing foreign minister, told Italian television: "I find the interference of a foreign country on the formation of the Italian government intolerable." Franco Frattini, the incoming foreign minister, also called for respect on internal decisions. In a newspaper interview published yesterday, he said: "It is up to us to understand the worries of governments and friendly people and listen to their advice. "But respecting decisions of those elected to the government by their people is a pillar of internal and international democracy." But Mr D'Alema said that Italy's Arab and Mediterranean partners were viewing the return of...

Italy's Jews slam minister's contact with Hezbollah during Beirut visit By Yossi Lempkowicz Updated: 16/Aug/2006 22:56 ROME (EJP)--- Leaders of Italy’s Jewish community lambasted their country’s foreign minister Wednesday for meeting Hezbollah leaders in Lebanon earlier this week and failing to condemn the Shiite group. Riccardo Pacifici, spokesman and vice-president of Rome’s Jewish community, expressed particular displeasure after seeing Massimo d’Alema walking arm-in-arm with Hezbollah deputy Hussein Haji Hassan in photographs published in the Italian press. "Jews view d’Alema’s declarations in the Middle East not only with apprehension but with indignation in so far as he failed to identify Nasrallah...

LEBANON: D'ALEMA, WE ARE NOT GOING TO DISARM HEZBOLLAH (AGI) - Rome, Aug. 17 - The Italian blue helmets will not go in the south of Lebanon to disarm the Hezbollah militias. The foreign minister Massimo D'Alema clarified this, after the arguments in recent days about the rules of recruitment for the Italian soldiers that will participate in the United Nations' mission. In an interview for Espresso, the vice-president of the Council also mentioned once again his analysis of the war: even speaking as a "friend of Israel", he repeated that he considered it "a political mistake" on the part...

Global TV coverage is increasingly turning against the US, with attitudes towards the US administration falling to an all-time low in December, according to research. According to analysis of TV news around the world, the British broadcast media is taking a hard line on the US, with 33% of all stories being classed as negative. The researchers behind the statistics have warned the coverage is likely become even more negative following the widespread coverage of the weekend's peace marches and an avalanche of opinion-based programmes such as the BBC's Iraq: Britain Decides have prompted. The figures have been released as...