Rome, a popular initiative resolution to break ties with Israel

Follow Kritica on Google

Add Kritica to your favourite sources.

Follow

The genocide of the Palestinian people continues, in a creeping form, as attention and mass mobilisation wane. The interest of media he turned towards other scenarios and the public participation all initiatives in solidarity with the Palestinians has waned. But it has not stopped.
On the pages of Kritica, in recent months, we had followed the events that had also enjoined upon the Gualtieri council, which governs the capital of Italy, to take some initiatives of solidarity with the people who are victims of genocide; but beyond the superficial positions, Rome Capital No real consequential action has ever been taken.

It is in this context that at the end of October last year, at the proposal of the Territorial Committee of Solidarity with Palestine Deleted Area III (comprising neighbourhoods such as Monte Sacro, Tufello and Val Melaina), a well-attended citizens' assembly was held, with the agenda being to find concrete issues on which to relaunch mobilisation in the city. The idea emerged of confronting the city government with its responsibilities and doing so by calling on citizens to express themselves directly. The tool identified is the People's Initiative Resolution, an institute provided for by Citizens' Statute and which consists of the possibility of drafting a genuine resolution to be put to a vote by the municipal council, which must take place within six months of the text being lodged, signed by a minimum of 5,000 Roman citizens. From the moment the signature collection begins, the steering committee has three months to gather the signatures.

The drafting of the Popular Resolution's text was the result of a collective process, which saw the active participation of the committees and associations that joined the proposal and formed the “ committee.“Roma knows which side it's on”reality of ARCI Rome, Free Citizens for Palestine, Bathroom fittings Gaza, Assopace Palestina, Potere al Popolo, grassroots trade unions (CUB, USB, USI – CT&S, SGB, SSB), the Palestinian Community, and many others, to whom further organisations are joining, from the Crocevia International Centre to the Five Star Movement. The text for which signatures are being collected provides for the suspension of all and any relations between Rome Capital and its subsidiary companies, and the State of Israel and all entities connected to it. In particular, attention is focused on the relations between Rome's ACEA and FARMACAP and Israel's Mekorot and TEVA. 

ACEA is the company that manages energy and water and is 51%-owned by the Municipality of Rome. For over ten years, an agreement has reportedly been in place with Mekorot, which manages water resources in Israel and the occupied Palestinian territories, effectively stealing water from the Palestinians. Very little is known about the contents of this agreement and its practical implications, and even a motion passed by the City Council last September failed to clarify the terms of the matter. 

Very clear, however, is the relationship that exists between FARMACAP, which manages almost 50 Roman municipal pharmacies, and TEVA, an Israeli multinational leader in the generic drugs sector. TEVA products are sold in municipal pharmacies, thereby guaranteeing a large influx of money towards the Israeli war economy and actively contributing to genocide. The Popular Resolution intends to put an end to Rome Capital's complicity with Israel's genocide and ethnic cleansing.

The clumsy attempts to deflate the popular initiative

In the first two days of collecting signatures, despite the bad weather, over five hundred signatures were reached and exceeded at the stalls placed in various neighbourhoods. The goal of five thousand signatures, necessary to bring the text to a vote by the Capitoline Assembly, therefore appears to be within reach, but the promoters' ambition is to significantly surpass that threshold. It is our duty to report a curious incident that accompanied the submission of the popular resolution proposal.

On the same day that signatures were collected for the Popular Resolution, a statement was released by the RSA of Filcams Cgil and USI 1912 of Farmacap announcing the termination of relations between Farmacap and TEVA. The statement asserts that “The Company has terminated commercial relations with the Israeli multinational TEVA and its subsidiaries (Ratiopharm, Dorom, etc.). These relations involved ordering medicines and pharmaceutical products directly from the manufacturer.” It further notes “with satisfaction the termination of the aforementioned commercial relations, following requests made concerning them by the Farmacap RSAs, dating back to last July 2025, in solidarity with the suffering Palestinian people, and in support of boycott of the Israeli genocidal economy. A result that represents a victory for the solidarity movement with the Palestinian people (...)”. .

In the following days, triumphalist statements followed of the Communist Refoundation Party and of Capitol councillor Nando Bonessio, of the Green Left Alliance. The media mainstream They are not reporting the news, there is no statement from FARMACAP or TEVA, and there are no reactions from the Jewish community and the Israeli embassy, usually launching heart-wrenching screams for much less, as happened on the occasion of the display of the Palestinian flag for a few. Capitol. The only sign of change is the sudden disappearance of the TEVA banner in the “Our Partners” section of FARMACAP's official website. 

For its part, the “Rome knows which side it's on” Committee adopts a cautious approach: the signature collection is not halted, and at the same time, responses and verifications are sought. The result is not long in coming and justifies the committee's caution: the municipal pharmacies have not stopped selling TEVA drugs at all; in fact, it is also possible to order them. The mystery is explained by a simple diversification of the supply method by FARMACAP: essentially, instead of ordering drugs directly from TEVA, the municipal company sources the same drugs from wholesalers. A trivial change in company policy, therefore.

The proof of how nonsensical the CGIL and USI 1912 statement is, and how imprudent and ill-timed the triumphalist declarations by PRC and AVS are, is provided by FARMACAP's own General Director, Giorgio Casati, who thus replies to an email asking for clarification: “Good morning Mrs [name],

I am writing to you further to your email to clarify the following:
Farmacap is the special company of the Municipality of Rome that manages municipal pharmacies and, in carrying out this role, fully respects medical choices and patients' decisions when selecting medicinal specialities. Towards the end of 2024, Farmacap unilaterally decided to terminate its partnership with Teva, particularly concerning the direct purchase of generic medicines, following an evaluation of offers from other companies on more advantageous terms.;
The request, put forward by some trade unions, to suspend the commercial partnership with Teva came in 2025, and the company offered no response, as is also evident from their statement, as it was deemed inadmissible for understandable reasons.
Based on what I have outlined, it is clear that Teva products continue to be dispensed in Rome's municipal pharmacies. The only change compared to the past concerns how Farmacap procures them; instead of ordering directly from the manufacturing company as before, they are now supplied through wholesale distributors. 
In this respect, as in Rome as in Milan, every patient can freely choose which product to obtain based on medical prescriptions.
Hoping I have resolved your understandable concern, I bid you a cordial farewell.
Giorgio Casati

No halt to the marketing of TEVA drugs in Roman municipal pharmacies. The suspicious prudence adopted by the “Rome knows which side it's on” Committee, faced with the union statement and the full-blown trumpeting by PRC and AVS, has proven to be far-sighted. Now, the collection of signatures for the Popular Resolution is picking up pace, and it will be on this that the true attitude of the political forces governing the Capital will be measured in the coming months, because in the face of genocide, it must be clear which side you want to be on: either you fight it by any means necessary, or you are complicit.

PHOTO CREDITS: Roma knows which side it's on