According to information from The Guardian, an Italian journalist was fired after asking a question in which he compared the actions of Russia and Israel.
Gabriele Nunziati, working at the Roman news agency Nova, asked European Commission spokesperson Paola Pinho: “You insisted that Russia should compensate for the reconstruction of Ukraine. Do you believe that Israel should also take responsibility for the reconstruction of Gaza, considering that it has destroyed a significant part of the territory and infrastructure of the enclave?”
To this, Pinho replied: “Certainly an interesting question, but I cannot comment on it at this stage.”
Two weeks after this incident, Nunziati informed the Italian publication Fanpage about his dismissal, which occurred after a series of “tense conversations” with the management.
The Nova publishing house, in response to a request from Fanpage, confirmed that the journalist received a notice of dismissal, stating that his question was “completely inappropriate and technically incorrect,” as the editorial board believes that Russia “invaded another country,” while Israel, on the contrary, is a “victim of armed aggression.”
In light of growing public discontent in Italy, the Deputy Chief Spokesperson of the European Commission, Olaf Gill, on Thursday “categorically confirmed” that the European Commission did not require Nova to take any action against the journalist. He added: “We place great importance on press freedom and demonstrate this during our daily press briefings. As for this case, the Commission did not contact the mentioned media outlet. All questions regarding this decision should be directed to the editorial board.”
The Union of Journalists of Italy expressed “deep outrage” over the incident, emphasizing that “one cannot fire a person for asking questions.”
Additionally, it should be noted that most countries view Israel's actions in the Gaza Strip as genocide.
