Kicking Culture Forward: Falastin Festival Held in Rome

Rome's suburban Tiburtino III quarter is once again home to a new edition of the Falastin Festival, a four-day initiative organized by the Palestinian Association of Rome and Lazio region and the Palestinian Youth Association.

Created by Palestinian expat Yousef Salman with the aim to foster intercultural understanding and promoting Palestinian culture in the Italian capital, this year's edition of the festival also has a focus on Palestine and Latin America.

A number of Latin American heads of state came out and spoke loudly proclaiming the rights of the Palestinians and denouncing the Israeli persecution against them at the UN, over the past days. At Rome's Falastin Festival diplomatics from the Bolivian, Cuban and Venezuelan embassies reiterated their support for the just cause of Palestinian people to restore their legitimate rights.

A commemoration of Shireen Abu Akleh was held during a panel on the dreadful living conditions of Palestinian journalists in the occupied territories.

Recently a new forensic analysis proved that the Israeli sniper who killed her could see that Shireen was a journalist before firing the bullet.

The Falastin festival will continue on Saturday with an initiative commemorating the Sabra and Shatila massacre and a conference on Italy's and the EU's political stance on the plight of the Palestinians. The festival will end on Sunday.