Is it true that Italians don't speak English?

Personally, I find it hideous to generalize, especially when it comes to whole nations. And that I say because my experience in this matter is a very bitter one (I am Greek). I am supposed to be lazy, to squander your money (think about me when you'are working for that precious paychek), to party all the time, and, I am not supposed to speak English. Once I spoke with a Dutch on the phone; I was working in the ER and had just treated a tourist from the Netherlands, so I had to speak with his insurance company about the details of his case. After our patient-related discussion was over, the kind Dutch told me: "Congratulations, you are Greek and yet you speak English so well!". Nice ha? I didn't know wether I should take it as a compliment or as an insult. My heart said the second. 

Every coin has two sides, however. It sucks when you are the victim, but you can derive a vicious pleasure fom judging; others. You can momentarily feel strong, even if this only happens in you head, even if no one else shares your experience and point of view. You feel that you can partake in the league of the strong, of the snobbish, of the sophisticated; those who reject, even if you are only trying to cover your having been rejected!

So I've found myself in this dubious and malevolent position more than once. An example is my thoughts about the Italians and their ability or their desire to speak English;or their disdain for it. I started thinking about this whole thing after the second time I travelled to Rome. My partner and I had a huge problem communicating, we felt really allienated. I can hardly recall one person that could speak to us in English. Even in multinational companies/stores like "Zara", the employees didn't as much as tell us the price of the clothes at check out in English. And it's not just their lack of English knowledge. I can get that, especially for the middle-aged and the older people. It costs money to learn a foreign language and our fathers didn't quite grow up prosperously in these parts of the world. It's also their facial expressions, their eyes, their looks, when you talk to them,  which speak volumes about how they are feeling at the time of the attempted discourse. I read disapproval, I read rejection and stubbornness and I didn't feel comfortable about it.

Is this however enough? Do I have enough evidence in my hands to reach a verdict as serious and definitive as "the Italians don't speak English" or "they don't want to speak English"? I must say "no", I can't do this and shame on me if I do it. Because if we don't ever break this chain of "bullying" other nations to feel better and to alleviate the symptoms of our having been bullied, we will never create a civilized society. Our society is a lot more civilized in some aspects than it used to be in the past but that has to do with financial prosperity a lot more than we like to think and not with true education and spirit and mental improvement. In any case, I wish our brothers the Dutch would take my example.