A-Infos (en) Italy, FAI, Umanita Nova #26-26 - The Fight Against F-35s at Trapani-Birgi: Opposing the Fighter-Bomber Pilot Training Hub (ca, de, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

Living in Sicily means contending daily with the role that central 
authorities and the military establishment have imposed upon the region. 
For decades, our territory has served as a strategic outpost for the 
logic of warfare-a node in the network of bases, radar installations, 
and command centers that transforms our land into an aircraft carrier 
for the Mediterranean. The latest, deeply troubling element of this 
scheme is the establishment of a training hub at Trapani-Birgi Airport 
for pilots of F-35 fighter-bombers-machines of death designed to project 
destruction across the globe. Faced with this reality, the very idea of 
a future is subordinated to the demands of NATO and multinational arms 
corporations, while local hospitals dismantle wards, internal transport 
links remain a pipe dream, and economic decline drives young people to 
leave.

Yet, within this seemingly static landscape, things are beginning to 
shift. The initial steps taken by the "No F-35 Trapani-Birgi" Committee 
demonstrate that a segment of the citizenry is no longer willing to bow 
its head or delegate control over its own life to others. In less than a 
year, the committee has succeeded in bringing together various groups 
and independent citizens, holding near-monthly meetings (the most recent 
was on September 17), organizing protests in Trapani and Marsala, and 
entering the local public debate through targeted press releases. Of 
course, we are under no illusions: we know full well that the road ahead 
is long, steep, and fraught with difficulties. As someone from Marsala, 
I know just how complex my province is-a territory often marked by 
fatalism, resignation, and the long-standing infiltration of a 
hierarchical, militaristic culture that is normalized daily by the media 
and institutions. Conveying the message that the presence of these 
aircraft is not a source of pride or security-but rather a mortal 
danger, an ethical outrage, and a theft of the community's 
future-requires a commitment that is constant, patient, and deeply 
rooted. Spontaneous outrage or mere token protest is not enough; we must 
radically dismantle the official narrative that frames military spending 
as "innovation" and "development," demonstrating instead that every euro 
invested in weaponry is a euro stained with blood-money taken away from 
civil society.

Yet, our perspective cannot be confined to our own backyard; the 
political work we are attempting makes sense only if it connects the 
specific situation in Trapani to the broader global order. What is 
happening at Birgi is not a local anomaly but a precise cog in the 
machine of permanent warfare, wherein various states exploit peripheral 
territories for their own interests, consciously trampling upon local 
communities. Opposing the ongoing militarization of our territories 
means denouncing a world order built on domination, violence, armed 
borders, and ecological devastation; it means affirming-through the 
practice of solidarity and social struggle-that a different kind of 
society is possible: one founded on caring for the earth, on 
cooperation, and on genuine peace. The path is arduous, but the 
construction of dissent begins here-from the grassroots, from those who 
refuse to be complicit.

Luca Lo Buglio

https://umanitanova.org/lotte-no-f-35-a-trapani-birgi-contro-lhub-delladdestramento-piloti-dei-cacciabombardieri/
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