Italy: A far-left extremist group blacklists rabbis and a holocaust survivor

On September 18^th, the Italian “New Communist Party” (NCP), a far-left clandestine group, published an updated version of its original blacklist with Italian and Israeli companies, as well as Italian and Jewish politicians, academics, diplomats, journalists, and activists, all accused of being “Zionists” and “on Israel’s payroll”. The list also includes prominent Italian MPs from both the majority and the opposition; ministers of the Meloni government, and a former ambassador.

The first part of the list was included in a 24-page long notice published on August 22^nd, calling for the boycott of Israel and the fight against Zionism in Italy. The call was backed by other far-left groups such as the Arab-Palestinian Democratic Union and P- CARC (Committee for the Support of Communist Resistance).

The NCP defined the State of Israel as “Zionist State” and all those who support it as “Zionist entity”: “With the term Zionist Entity we indicate the set of groups (overt and covert) of businessmen, speculators, banks, investment funds, companies and their managers, men of culture, information and politics, professionals (lawyers, technical consultants, notaries, doctors, engineers, etc.), military and paramilitary, associations, pressure groups, etc. that support the Zionist State of Israel in the work of colonization of Palestine and ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians, but who also operate outside Palestine for this purpose, in particular in imperialist countries such as the USA, Italy, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, etc”.

The NCP also calls for the overthrow of the democratically elected Italian government and the establishment of a Communist regime defined as a “popular block”. However, there is more to this, because the updated version of the list, which is much longer, also includes a consistent number of rabbis who have no role in the so-called “Zionist propaganda”, members of Jewish associations, and even holocaust survivor Liliana Segre, a 94-year-old lady who is also a Senator of the Italian Parliament and who has been a frequent target of antisemites.

This case recalls situations already seen during the dark and dramatic years of the early 20th century under Nazism and that we hoped we’d never see again.

Incitement to subvert democracy, blacklist of Jews, where has Italy gone? A situation that is absurd and intolerable, to the point that MPs Sara Kelany and Francesco Filini of the ruling Fratelli d’Italia party submitted an inquiry to the Minister of the Interior, Matteo Piantedosi, on what initiatives he intends to undertake to track down those who made the list and to protect the safety of the people involved.

What sounds absurd is that MPs of the majority are making inquiries to their own Interior Minister. It is already the second time, given that in July another inquiry was forwarded about the activity of a Pakistani imam who for months has been spreading antisemitic and pro-Hamas content from an Islamic center in Bologna and on social media. On that occasion, Piantedosi had defined the imam’s positions as “intransigent”. A term totally out of place for someone who accused “Israelites” of being “terrorists and deceivers according to the Bible” adding that “deception with the aim of self-interest is part of the Jewish faith“. The preacher is still active on Italian soil today and hasn’t been expelled.

These inquiries suggest internal problems within the government majority, with MPs asking for necessary interventions on actions that are not acceptable in a democratic context and the ministerial counterpart showing uncertainty.

On September 13^th, the Police Union “COISP” formally asked Piantedosi for an intervention to ban a demonstration of Palestinians and far leftists, scheduled in Rome for October 5, to celebrate the pogrom of October 7, 2023. The request came after the minister had long considered whether to authorize it or not.

Piantedosi stated: “We have distinguished ourselves by allowing every manifestation of free thought, but we are reflecting on the fact of authorizing the celebration of a massacre” and added: “We believe that the imprint of these demonstrations constitutes a public order problem”.

The Ministry of Interior finally took the decision not to authorize it. However, there is a huge difference between “free thought” and “hate speech”; and there is a difference between “free thought” and “antisemitic statements”. The celebration of the worst pogrom against the Jews since the Shoah cannot be reduced to a simple problem of “public order”.

Tolerating such things leads to actions like the blacklisting of Jews and “Zionists”, among other things. It must be recalled that Meloni’s party, Brothers of Italy, recently had issues within its youth sections as antisemitic and pro-fascist comments were uncovered by a media investigation. The Jewish Community of Rome strongly condemned the episode and Giorgia Meloni did the same. After all, Meloni’s government has so far been backing Israel. However, the impression is that on a domestic level something isn’t working.

The antisemitic drift underway in Italy continues to be a matter of concern. The response to ideological extremism needs to be strong and tangible; let’s not forget that extremism is the doorway that leads to terrorism. Italy knows this very well considering its long history of far-left and far-right terror and the Italian institutions should very well know how to deal with it.