Transformation
She sought by her sincerity and dedication to the cause of peace to transform war to peace. She found, instead, her own personal transformation from that of a living emissary for peace to a dead metaphor. She wore a white wedding gown, as she travelled alone on her ambitious journey. Death, her bridegroom, stalked her relentlessly. She, an artist, he the destroyer of all illusions.She symbolized, in her wedding-white garb, innocence and purity. That too might have been illusory. She was not innocent of the knowledge of the stark reality of war and its gruesomely deadly impact upon humankind. She set out as a personal sacrifice, to prove to herself, perhaps, and more expansively, perhaps, to the world that a single individual could achieve much.
She has. Briefly, the hard, cold eyes of the world have turned upon her. But she is unable to stare back, her eyes unyielding, the living depths dissolved with her escaping soul. She left Milan to hitch-hike to Tel Aviv. Her wedding dress to symbolize "world peace". Little did she realize that there is no peace in the world.
Despite which, it was her intention to spur it on, welcome it as an honoured guest, and present it as a generous gift to Israel. Giuseppina Pasqualina di Marineo is mourned now by her family, her friends, and a world that can still be touched with compassion now and again for the selfless act of a hopeful soul.
She was known to those who loved her as Pippa Bacca. Who would not love a person who held claim to such a lovable name? She must once have been little Pippi, beloved of her adoring grandparents, gently guided by loving parents. She had reached northwestern Turkey alone, the companion who had set out with her from Milan, having departed.
An obviously trusting soul, she gratefully accepted a ride from a man whom she believed would take her forward on her journey. He had other plans. Her naked, decomposing body was discovered in a ditch by a forest. One imagines the knife-sharp anguish of her parents awaiting word from their daughter from whom they hadn't heard word from for days.
Investigating policing authorities have a suspect in hand. They have a confession. They also have sufficient witnesses to identify the man, and link him with the presence of the young woman. Her parents, distraught, do not place blame where it cannot comfortably settle. It was not Turkey, the country, but a lone psychopathic misogynistic misadventure that took their daughter.
The messenger of peace was raped, strangled, her lifeless body abandoned. Thirty-three years old, an art student, a passionate believer in peace and good fellowship. Much has it gained her.
Labels: Societal Failures, World News
posted by Pieface @ Sunday, April 13, 2008
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