Marzabotto: A Choice Between Freedom and Totalitarianism

June 15, 2025. Marzabotto–Monte Sole. As the world watches with bated breath the escalation between Israel and Iran—following Israeli airstrikes on June 13 against nuclear sites in Natanz and other Iranian military installations—a peace march winds through the hills of Marzabotto and Monte Sole. But is it truly a march for peace, or a choice of sides disguised as pacifism?

The slogan “Save Gaza – Stop the Israeli Government” leads the National March for Gaza, organized by the Municipality of Marzabotto, the Committee for Honoring the Fallen, and a wide coalition of associations including ANPI (National Association of Italian Partisans), CGIL (Italy’s largest trade union), ARCI (The largest network of cultural, social, and recreational associations in Italy), UCOII (Union of Islamic Communities and Organizations in Italy), Europe for Peace, and the Perugi Assisi Foundation. Speaking on the final stage in Monte Sole will be public figures such as Valentina Cuppi (mayor of Marzabotto) Matteo Lepore (mayor of Bologna),  Maurizio Landini (National Secretary of the CGIL).

A march that divides, in a place that once united.
Marzabotto is one of the most symbolic sites of the Italian Resistance, the location of one of the most brutal Nazi-Fascist massacres of 1944. Using it today for a demonstration that condemns only Israel—on the very day the fall of the regime [in Iran] seems to have begun—raises deep moral and historical questions. But the main question concerns us, Italy, and its leadership: how is it possible that institutional, trade union, and academic representatives choose to take to the streets under a slogan that criminalizes a democratic state while remaining silent about those who fund Hamas?

An Italian short circuit
The Italian left—political, trade union, cultural—seems to have lost its historical compass. CGIL, once a defender of workers, now marches alongside groups that openly sympathize with Islamic fundamentalism. ANPI, born to preserve the memory of the Resistance, now aligns itself with a demonstration that ignores the threats posed by a dark and repressive regime like Iran. The paradox is that all of this occurs in the name of peace, in a place where, eighty years ago, people chose to fight oppression. After September 8, 1943, many Italians chose to serve Nazi Germany, while others went into the mountains to form the Resistance. Today, at the heart of the Italian left, a clear choice is re-emerging: to turn one’s back on freedom and find comfort beside totalitarianism. After September 8, there was no ambiguity: you were either with the Nazis or against them. Those who march today in favor of the Iranian regime are making a similar choice—and will not be able to claim they didn’t know.

Can we really speak of peace when the context is erased, and reality is reduced to a slogan?

The erased precedent: Amin al-Husseini and the legacy of hate
During World War II, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem, Amin al-Husseini, actively collaborated with the Nazi regime, spreading antisemitic propaganda and recruiting Bosnian Muslims into the SS. His ideology has not been forgotten; it has deeply influenced the political identity of movements like Hamas, which is today backed by Iran. Marching for Gaza without acknowledging this genealogy is an act of historical erasure.

A one-sided march, a short-sighted political class
The Marzabotto March does not call for the disarmament of Hamas, does not mention the Israeli hostages still held, does not condemn the use of children as human shields, and does not criticize the Iranian regime. All focus is placed on Israel, in the name of a peace that, in fact, amounts to a campaign of unilateral delegitimization. Most troubling, however, is the uncritical participation of mayors, parliamentarians, and civic leaders: a selective pacifism that forgets the victims of Hamas and—through silence—legitimizes Iranian expansionism.

September 8, 1943: Then against Nazism, today against fundamentalism
In 1943, Italy was divided: between those who joined the Salò Republic and those who took to the mountains. Today, in the midst of a global crisis, we face a similar choice. Either defend democratic values against those who seek to destroy them—or close our eyes. Equidistant pacifism is not neutral: in 1943 it would have favored Hitler, today it risks favoring Khamenei.

Conclusion: What’s at stake
What’s at stake is not Israel. And it’s not even Gaza. What’s at stake is the democratic identity of Italy and its left. In Marzabotto, a symbolic and political rupture is unfolding: those who evoke the Resistance while marching alongside those who justify oppressive regimes like Iran’s are not defending peace—they are choosing a side. The wrong side. Pretending this is just a humanitarian issue is a convenient excuse. The truth is that a part of democratic Italy is abandoning historical truth in order to follow a fanatical and bloodthirsty ideology.

“In Marzabotto, where the blood of the Resistance wrote history, you cannot march for those who dream of a new totalitarianism. It’s time, once again, to choose freedom.”