Italian President Sergio Mattarella today condemned growing anti-Semitism and gave a strong speech in support of the Jewish people.
He was speaking at a commemoration on the eve of International Holocaust Remembrance Day, which is overshadowed by the Israeli military campaign in Gaza and the rise of anti-Israel activity in Italy.
Rome's police chief today ordered pro-Palestinian activists to postpone a Holocaust Remembrance Day rally in the capital tomorrow. The Israeli Jewish community complained that it could be an opportunity for anti-Israel forces to use the gathering against Jews.
At today's ceremony in the presidential palace Quirinale, which was attended by Prime Minister Giorgio Meloni and leaders of the Italian Jewish community, President Sergio Materala called the Holocaust "the most heinous crime" and recalled the complicity of Italians under fascism in the deportation of Jews.
He said the October 7 attacks by Hamas on Israel were a "grisly repetition of the horrors of the Shoah," which is the Hebrew name for the Holocaust.
Mattarella also expressed pain at the growing death toll in Gaza from the Israeli military offensive and called for respect for basic human rights.
"Those who suffered the evil attempt to wipe their people off the face of the earth know that the right of another people to a state cannot be denied," Matarella said, referring to the Israelis.
The number of anti-Semitic attacks in Italy reached an unprecedented peak last year, with 216 cases reported in the last three months of 2023 alone, while there were 2022 such attacks in all of 241, the Anti-Semitism Observatory said. A total of 454 anti-Semitic cases were registered last year, which is the largest increase so far.
"The dead from Auschwitz, scattered in the wind, constantly warn us: Man's path leads to difficult and risky paths. This is also manifested by the return to the world of dangerous moments of anti-Semitism, prejudices that originate in ancient anti-Jewish stereotypes, reinforced by uncontrolled social media," said Mattarella.
Matrela also strongly condemned the Nazi and Fascist regimes that committed the Holocaust.
Among those who listened to that speech was Prime Minister Đorđa Meloni, whose "Brothers of Italy" party has neo-fascist roots, but she has strongly supported Israel and the Jewish community in Italy.
Mattarella said that it should never be forgotten that Italy under fascism passed "heinous racist laws" that forbade Jews from education and work. He said the laws were "the first chapter of a terrible book of extermination."
Referring to Benito Mussolini's last government in the Nazi puppet state of Salo in northern Italy, he added that "members of the Republic of Salo actively collaborated in the capture, deportation and even massacre of Jews."
By the resolution of the UN General Assembly of November 1, 2005, January 27 was declared the International Day of Remembrance for the Victims of the Holocaust.
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