So, Romania is no longer part of Ancient Rome. However, many Romanians live in Italy, some say over a million at a time.
A much larger protest than is usually covered by the Romanian media. DRM News entitles it, “Israeli and Palestinian Mothers walk Barefoot for Peace In Rome.”
We see mothers of different ethnicities, walking hand in hand, barefoot, the most respectful kind of demonstration possible, solemn as a funeral. “And millions of mothers, in Israel, in Palestine, in Lebanon, in Iran, all the region, all the mothers are crying. We don’t want that our children will be killed. We don’t [want] them to kill anyone. That’s our demand.”
This demonstration was much larger than any of the demonstrations that cheered on bombs, it was much larger than any pro-war demonstration.
The English is not perfect, but it is understood by the faces in the crowd. Not everyone was barefoot, and those who were not barefoot were not barefoot all the time. But there was a sense of unity, of purpose, of inner strength that the world needs.
Now you might say, sure, that’s inspirational and all, but what does it have to do with Cluj? Why didn’t you report on every protest that happened here, on every film that showed here, on…
Well, we can’t report on every thing we see and hear, and those things we only read about second hand are often found elsewhere. But, we have heard the same kind of sentiments here in Cluj.
We heard people express concern over Iran and Greenland, in Romanian and Hungarian (and Romglish). Men and women expressed concern, in the market square and in the supermarket. Young and old expressed concern, in the malls and on the busses and walking down the street.
No one seems to be in support of the killing, (apart from those whom we see celebrate on TV. Were they paid protestors?) People want peace. We hear despair, anger, and sorrow, from private citizens in private conversations.
An overheard conversation of a private citizen is not a news story. So, we piggy back them on this story. The sentiments of these women marching are shared by many people here in Cluj. We have heard it. For every woman marching in Rome, thousands more felt the same sentiments around the world.