Hang gliders fly over Calenzano during the pro-Pal demonstration, where solidarity becomes an "apology for Hamas and October 7th."

No, it was not “ an apologia for Hamas and October 7th ”, as a large group of commentators was quick to say, pointing the finger at the peaceful demonstration for Palestine organised on Monday in Calenzano , in the province of Florence.

To understand this, it didn't require much effort, but simply to hear from the person directly involved. On that motorized hang glider flying over yesterday's march, according to several newspapers, editorialists, and social media agitators of various kinds, there was someone who wanted to "pay homage" to Hamas , recalling the hang gliders used by the radical Islamic group that controls Gaza to swoop down on the Nova Festival held on October 7, 2023 , on the outskirts of the Strip, where militants massacred hundreds of innocent young people.

“It is not a folkloristic gesture, but a direct reference to the terrorist attacks with which Hamas massacred and kidnapped hundreds of innocent people on October 7, even descending from the sky with hang gliders,” the Italy-Israel Association of Florence was quick to accuse, then taken up by an army of commentators and newspapers.

On that plane, as Repubblica explains today, paradoxically featuring two opposing commentaries by Stefano Cappellini and Stefano Folli, was Carlo Berni . He, a 75-year-old who regularly uses that plane to take photos from above during demonstrations, as well as to discover new caves as a founding member of the Unione Speleologica Calenzano, clearly explains what happened on Monday. "I have a hang glider, and it has the colors of peace . Everyone here knows me. I did it out of solidarity with the demonstration, but above all to take photos from above. It's not the first time; 22 years ago, I took photos of the peace flag unfurled at Cantagrilli, and they're still online," he tells Repubblica.

Berni emphasizes that "what interests me most is the ecological aspect . I learned to fly to find caves. Drones didn't exist before, who knows? If they had, maybe I would have used them. I started in the 1980s." The 75-year-old is well aware that "the mud machine " has been deployed against him and the pro-Pal protesters; we all know how it works. My idea is to not give space to these comments, otherwise it will fuel them, and that's exactly what they want."

The board of directors of the Calenzano Speleological Union Association also intervened in his defense because he was "unjustly the victim of a very serious media lynching that appeared on social media by some uninformed users."