Thank goodness Rome's Jews have got the cogliones to protest this! From the Jewish Telegraphic Agency [2], Sept. 8:
Roman Jews criticize mayor over Fascist remarks
Jewish leaders criticized Rome's right-wing mayor for declaring that Italy's Fascist-era anti-Semitic laws, not Fascism itself, constituted "absolute evil."Mayor Gianni Alemanno's remark came in an interview published Sunday in Corriere della Sera newspaper while he was on a visit to Israel.
"Fascism was a more complex phenomenon," Alemanno, who got his political start in the neo-Fascist movement, said. "Many people joined up in good faith and I don't feel like labeling them with that definition. The racial laws desired under fascism, that spurred its political and cultural end, were absolute evil."
Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini ruled Italy for two decades. Historians have estimated that thousands of Italian Jews were members of the Fascist party before the strict anti-Semitic racial laws were imposed in
1938.Renzo Gattegna, head of the umbrella Union of Italian Jewish Communities, said the racial laws "were issued by the fascist regime, so it seems to me difficult to separate the two things."
Rome's Jewish community president Riccardo Pacifici said, "We are awaiting a strong, public clarification." He added, "I hope Alemanno was misinterpreted."
We sure are glad Alemanno is blowing it with the Jews, and that the Jews are astute enough not to take his pro-Israel, anti-Arab bait. Because, as we noted a few years back, there has been growing support for the xenophobe right among Europe's Jews [3]. Meanwhile, in light of the above the following news clip becomes even more ominous. From BBC [4], July 30:
Italian troops to patrol cities
Thousands of troops will be deployed in Italian cities from next Monday to help police fight crime, the Italian government has announced.About 2,000 troops will guard "sensitive" sites such as train stations and embassies. Another 1,000 will go on street patrols with police.
The six-month deployment includes Rome, Naples, Milan and Turin. Some troops will guard migrant holding centres. It is said to be the biggest such deployment in Italy since World War II...
Defence Minister Ignazio La Russa said that after six months the government would "make an evaluation to see whether it has worked and should be extended to other cities".
"This is not a militarisation of cities but a clear response to the perceived demand for greater security," he said on Tuesday.
Don't you just love that "this is not a militarization" line? File under words-mean-whatever-we-say-they-mean [5]. Meanwhile, sending army troops to "guard migrant holding centers" bodes poorly for Europe's new immigration policy [6]...
See our last posts on the politics of anti-Semitism [7], Italy's fascist resurgence [8] and the legacy of World War II [9].
