Monday, April 18, 2011

Il fiore del partigiano morto per la Palestina

"I come from a partisan family. My grandfathers fought and died struggling against an occupation, another occupation, in Italy, the Nazi-Fascist one. For this reason, probably, in my DNA, in my blood, there are particles that push me to struggle for freedom and human rights." Vittorio Arrigoni

It seems right to dedicate this old Italian song to International Solidarity Movement (ISM) activist Vittorio Arrigoni, cruelly murdered in Gaza, allegedly by Salafi fanatics, on Thursday or Friday last:

Una mattina mi son svegliato
One morning I awoke
O bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao, ciao, ciao
Una mattina mi son svegliato
One morning I awoke
Eo ho trovato l'invasor
And I found the invader
O partigiano porta mi via
O partisan, take me with you
O bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao, ciao, ciao
Chi mi sento di morir
For I feel I'm dying
E se io muoio da partigiano
And if I die a partisan
O bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao, ciao, ciao
Tu mi devi seppellir
You'll have to bury me
Mi seppellire lassu in montagna
But bury me up in the mountain
O bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao, ciao, ciao
Sotto l'ombra di un bel fiore
Under the shadow of a beautiful flower
E le genti che passeranno
And the people who will pass by
O bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao, ciao, ciao
E le genti che passeranno
And the people who will pass by
Mi diranno: 'Che bel fior'
Will say to me: What a beautiful flower
E questo il fiore del partigiano
This is the flower of the partisan
O bella ciao, bella ciao, bella ciao, ciao, ciao
E questo il fiore del partigiano
This is the flower of the partisan
Morto per la Palestina
Who died for Palestine

Rest in peace, Vittorio.

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