A-Infos (en) Italy, Sicilia Libertaria #462 - NoMuos: Niscemi between Fire and War (ca, de, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

A scorching summer amid burning cork oak groves and the war waged from 
the U.S. military base, where the MUOS antennas and dishes send their 
commands of death. In July, suffocating heat enveloped the cork oak 
forest, and several ignition points unleashed an inferno of flames. On 
July 25 and 26, several hectares of the cork oak grove turned to ashes - 
including land belonging to the NO MUOS movement - all without the 
security apparatus around the base intervening to stop it. The Niscemi 
police claimed it was the work of the usual arsonist, and the 
Caltanissetta prosecutor's office opened an investigation as a mere 
formality.

It feels like a cruel joke. Just days earlier, the American commander of 
the Sigonella base - which controls the Niscemi site - had reaffirmed 
mutual friendship, assuring that the NRTF antennas and the MUOS were 
harmless. He even promised that the "gringos" would do everything to 
positively engage with the local population, organizing meetings to 
promote a fruitful and satisfying cultural exchange: words and speeches 
that concealed the gravity of a war scenario placing the cork oak grove 
at the center of military games. Furthermore, right inside the grove, at 
a well-known agriturismo in Contrada Pisciotto, during the commemoration 
of the WWII landings in Sicily, a gathering of old and new military 
personnel took place to honor the massacres of that war - in the 
presence of Niscemi's Lega mayor. Over these fifteen years of struggle 
against the "death base," the local administration has been the 
embodiment of the mafia-linked bourgeoisie that governs Sicily, doing 
everything possible to plunder and devastate the territory.

During the brief twelve-day armed confrontation between Israel and Iran 
- in which strategic U.S. bombers striking Iranian nuclear sites were 
supported by MUOS from Niscemi - the residents of Niscemi experienced 
anxious days, fearing possible retaliation with ballistic missiles. 
Meanwhile, the municipal administration pretended nothing was happening 
and denied the NO MUOS committee an open council meeting, because 
everything must be silenced: the ongoing world war must remain far from 
Niscemi. Yet the conflict shapes the city's daily life, marked by high 
consumption of psychotropic drugs and a deep existential unease felt by 
men and women alike. Those who govern this island - as we have long 
known - pursue only their own interests, plundering the land every day 
through failed industrialization, massive pollution, relentless 
desertification, devastating tourism, insistent militarization, and 
grand projects such as the bridge over the Strait of Messina - which, 
like the TAV in Northern Italy, serves merely as another bribe ensuring 
the power of Italy's ruling class, war permitting.

Fires and war define a July and early August marked by conflict. For 
years we have been here, with ups and downs, contradictions and 
differences, knowing we are alone but determined to carry our opposition 
to war to the very end. The NO MUOS movement remains today one of the 
few antiwar movements in Italy, with a distinctly antimilitarist and 
anti-imperialist stance, showing solidarity with Palestinians and Kurds 
who fight and resist against genocide and annihilation to build a 
different social order known as democratic confederalism. True, we 
failed to stop the construction of the satellite dishes. But we invaded 
the base, sabotaged control units, cut through fences; and every year 
(through camps, demonstrations, and street vigils) we have been here in 
Niscemi, persistently troubling those who wage war, protected against 
mafiosi in suits and uniforms.

Before August 2: two camps, an assembly, and a march through town. 
Activist presences faced reports and expulsion orders, but that did not 
stop the mobilization from continuing. On August 2, amid the war 
atmosphere under the new security decree, the forces of disorder 
deployed an unprecedentedly strong repressive apparatus: searches, 
detentions, and roadblocks prevented vehicles from approaching access 
roads to the protest site, forcing demonstrators to walk to the meeting 
point before marching toward Gate 1 of the base. It began with a brief 
assembly emphasizing the destruction of the cork oak grove, opposition 
to genocide in Palestine, and mobilization against war. The 
antimilitarist Antonio Mazzeo, returning from the dramatic experience 
with the Freedom Flotilla, recounted the brutality of the IDF raiders 
who stopped the expedition.

We set off marching - several hundred determined demonstrators despite 
the deeply disturbing presence of a police helicopter, reminiscent of 
the low flights during the G8 in Genoa. After repeated complaints, the 
helicopter eventually pulled back to a safer distance. It was a slow 
march, pausing along the way to discuss Palestine, war, social spending, 
environmental destruction, and repression. Once at Gate 1, speakers 
highlighted support for deserters in the Russia-Ukraine and Palestinian 
war zones, reviving slogans of occupation and sabotage. The importance 
of study to understand present social complexity and dynamics was also 
stressed. The event concluded by affirming that this time we didn't cut 
the fences or take further action because only we decide when and how to 
act.

We are and will always remain in Niscemi - whether you like it or not.

NO MUOS until Victory.

War on War.

Antonio Rampolla

https://www.sicilialibertaria.it/
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