Letters
Letters to the Editor •
Hamas praises the Nobel Peace Prize winner in the name of defending international law. Obvious, isn’t it?
Who wrote to the editor-in-chief, Claudio Cerasa
13 OCT 26
Last updated: 08:14 AM
Translated by AI
Photo: ANSA
To the Editor – Francesco La Camera is an Italian who holds a highly prestigious international post. He is Director of the International Renewable Energy Agency, supported by 168 member states and the European Union. Last Monday, he gave an interview to *Affari e Finanza* which opens with a striking opening line: “We are witnessing the final convulsions of a fossil-fuel world that is dying”. According to the report by the Energy Institute, the most authoritative source in the sector, in 2025 fossil fuels accounted for 80–82 per cent of global energy consumption—roughly the same percentage as 30 years ago. For a terminally ill patient, I fear we will have to wait decades, or perhaps centuries, to witness its final demise. Furthermore, energy consumption has more than doubled in 30 years, meaning that absolute quantities have grown enormously. In fact, coal, oil and gas are reaching record consumption levels year on year. But the conclusion of the interview is just as categorical: nuclear power? It costs too much and no one will invest in it. Where is the organisation led by La Camera based? In the United Arab Emirates, where a nuclear power station with a capacity of no less than 4,600 MW was recently commissioned, with a production cost of around 70 dollars per megawatt-hour. Yet he does not appear to have taken this into account. In the Emirates, the amount of available sunshine is double that of Lombardy and shows no seasonal fluctuations. In Italy, during winter, solar power generates roughly one-third of its summer output. Nevertheless, in the UAE they recognize that when a dense and continuous power source is required, nuclear energy performs excellently. Once again, the zealous advocates of renewables—which are extremely useful but by no means miraculous—are inadvertently proving themselves to be the best friends of fossil fuels.
Chicco Testa
To the Editor – Lucio Caracciolo writes that “the State of Israel has been in a state of emergency since its inception on 14 May 1948. Since then, it has considered itself to be in a state of permanent war”. Does it consider itself to be?
Luca Rocca
The only ongoing war worthy of mention, it seems to me, is Lucio Caracciolo’s war against everything the West stands for.
To the Editor – Reading Anne Carson is not exactly straightforward (few acknowledge this, yet it is a fact), and yet we are delighted about the Nobel Prize. Although readers seldom pick up books, let alone poetry collections, it is often poets who prevail. Even singers have been honoured (see Dylan in 2016). The Academy recognises that times change. Could the Nobel Prize one day be awarded to artificial intelligence? It is a possibility that cannot be dismissed.
Vittorio Castelnuovo
On the subject of the Nobel Prize. A brief, modest, and arguably coincidental observation that helps to understand what it meant to award the Nobel Peace Prize to an expert in international law who specialises in expressing hatred towards Israel. “The Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) has stated that the award of the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize to the South African jurist and judge Navi Pillay, in recognition of her work in defending human rights and strengthening international law, particularly in the Palestinian territories, represents an important step forward for international justice and a new international acknowledgement of the crimes committed by the occupation against the Palestinian people. The movement stated, in a press release issued today, Friday, that Pillay had contributed to the defence of African National Congress activists in the struggle against the apartheid regime and that she had also served as president of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. It added that the findings of the independent international commission of inquiry, chaired by Pillay, regarding the crimes committed in the Gaza Strip, and the conclusions of her report published in September 2025 regarding the commission of the crime of genocide, confirm the gravity of what the Palestinian people have endured and call for serious international action to translate the documented facts into legal proceedings and ensure that those responsible are held to account. Hamas has called on the international community to fulfil its legal and moral responsibilities, to take action to prosecute war criminals and bring them to account before international courts, and to put an end to the policy of impunity, so as to halt the crimes of the occupation against the Palestinian people’. Hamas feels justified in calling for respect for international law by invoking the profile associated with the Nobel Peace Prize. Your Honour, I have nothing further to add.