More perplexity from the Italian government as the Palestinians glorify 7/10

The Italian Ministry of the Interior is once again generating puzzlement on the way it is managing the phenomenon of support for pro-Palestinian extremism.

We have already discussed extensively the issue of Islamist preachers who use the pulpits of Islamic centers in Italy and social media to spread hatred.

On September 3rd, 2024, the “Young Palestinians in Italy” association published a post on Instagram announcing a demonstration in Rome, on October 5th, 2024, to celebrate the October 7th massacre:

“October 7, 2023 is the date of a revolution. After a year, the value of the Palestinian resistance operation and the battle of the “Al Aqsa Flood” is clear to the whole world. On October 5, 2024, we will take to the streets of Rome for a national demonstration, to support the Palestinian people and their national liberation movement, to honor the over forty thousand martyrs of Gaza and its fighters who have been fighting relentlessly for a year, to honor all of Palestine that resists and rises up against the invader and his colonial state.”

For the “Young Palestinians” the worst pogrom of Jews since the Shoah is a “resistance operation” and the terrorists “fighters.” The Palestinians’ announcement generated shock and indignation throughout the country, with various positions taken by both members of the government majority and the opposition.

On Thursday, September 5^th, the Italian news agency Adkronos released the following press release:

“The demonstration announced by young Palestinians with some posters on social media and scheduled for October 5 in Rome, one year after the Hamas attack of October 7, 2023, is under attention by the Ministry of the Interior. In the coming days it will be evaluated at an ad hoc summit, but the orientation of Minister Matteo Piantedosi has already leaked from the Ministry of the Interior, who is inclined to ban it.

Until now, the line of the Ministry of the Interior has always been to let the demonstrations take place, monitoring the behavior of the participants and if necessary, reporting them to the judiciary but in this case, “the initiative praises the massacre of October 7, defined as the day of the beginning of a revolution”, it is emphasized. A message that, according to the ministry, represents a risk for public order”.

A few interesting points are emerging from the Adkronos press release that are worth highlighting.

First of all, the perceived hesitation by the Italian authorities to immediately ban the event. The Ministry is evaluating; the orientation is to ban it; and there is even the need for an “ad-hoc” summit to ponder on the issue. Why not just ban it? It is indeed the celebration of a massacre perpetrated by terrorists.

Secondly, and this is perhaps the most controversial point of the entire press release, the reason given for the prohibition of the event is that “it represents a risk for public order”. Not because it is the celebration of a massacre, a pogrom against the Jews, a glorification of terrorism, and let’s recall once again that Hamas is blacklisted as a terrorist organization in the EU.

Such a statement is causing animosity, considering that in July Minister Piantedosi had already expressed a questionable statement regarding a Bologna-based Pakistani preacher who, for months, used his Facebook accounts and the pulpit of his mosque to praise Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthi, to spread hatred against Israel, the United States, to share his antisemitic views, to stigmatize homosexuals and even to verbally abuse Italian government members, MPs, and journalists who “dared” to report on him. In July, 2024, Sara Kelany and Marco Lisei, two MPs from the majority party “Brothers of Italy”, forwarded a parliamentary inquiry to Interior Minister, Matteo Piantedosi, asking for explanations regarding Khan’s presence and activity on Italian soil.

The Minister of Interior, Matteo Piantedosi, did not show up and he instead sent Undersecretary Nicola Molteni to present the Minister’s reply:

“The aforementioned (Khan) appears to be president of the Islamic cultural association “IQRAA” located in Bologna and, in the role of “expert” of the precepts of the Islamic religion, participates in numerous meetings (including television ones), where he has often expressed intransigent positions regarding issues on the West, on homosexuality, on the role of women and, after the attacks of 7 October, also on the Palestinian people and the Israeli Government, demonstrating appreciation for the actions carried out by Hamas. These statements, also reported on social profiles and on the web, have already been the subject of information to the Judicial Authority, aimed at allowing the latter to carry out its own assessments regarding the possible criminal relevance of the contents expressed.”

“Intransigent positions”? Khan’s claims are not “intransigent positions”, they are attacks against the Jewish religion and the Jews. They are statements of support for Hamas, a terrorist organization that is blacklisted by the European Union, the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia. In 2023, Germany additionally banned Hamas and Switzerland is about to do the same.

The case of the event announced by the “Young Palestinians” once again revealed the same issue. Why is the Italian Ministry of Interior so reluctant to define the problem for what it is?

The October 5th event announced by the “Young Palestinians” is a celebration of a ruthless terrorist action, a pogrom against the Jews. Something that is unthinkable and unacceptable in a democratic country that had to fight the Nazis invasion in the 1900. In addition, it may indeed be a problem for domestic public order, no doubt about that, but one thing does not exclude the other. Would the Italian Minister have “evaluated” and called for an “ad hoc summit” to evaluate a potential neo-Nazi, pro-ISIS or pro-al Qaeda demonstration?