Guilty of being Jewish

Italian Jews now find themselves in a situation of extreme uncertainty, increasingly marked by a constant, palpable and visible danger: to speak merely of a toxic atmosphere is to downplay and insult the reality of the situation. There is no public, religious or even private context in which any Jewish institution or individual family does not have to think about safety, about protecting themselves from possible protests, insults, abuse, threats and violence. We have seen this clearly in recent days with what happened at the end of the Bnei Akiva summer camp near Sofia in Bulgaria.

These are known as anti-Semitic threats; they are incidents that continue to recur with an increasingly worrying frequency. Even before the evidence highlighted by the official data regularly collected by the Union of Italian Jewish Communities and the CDEC Foundation – which point to a sharp resurgence of anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism, unfortunately no longer confined to social media platforms – it is the Jewish community itself that is acutely aware of this, experiencing this constant state of alert first-hand. Of course, this is not the first time this has happened. Of course, history tends to repeat itself. However, this time, the virulence we are witnessing is – even within a democratic state – absolute and all-encompassing. The incident at the camp organised by one of the Jewish youth organisations near Sofia is further proof of this. It is our young people who are being targeted – the future generations of Italians who, sadly, cannot help but require protection simply to spend a few days together. The long-term repercussions of the situation in the Middle East – tainted by the most shameless demagoguery, the crudest falsehoods, pernicious one-sided ideologies, repugnant propaganda, and even a theological attack on Judaism itself – have brought the Jewish captain Dreyfus back into the dock. The so-called ‘Tribunal of History’ of these sowers of discord has decreed that all Jews are always guilty. Complexity is no longer in vogue, overwhelmed by black-and-white thinking; reason has given way to prejudice at any cost; facts have been obliterated to make way for conspiracy theories, the rewriting of history, and fake news. Today, an ideological test is required to be admitted to the table of debate: otherwise, one is left out. ‘Tell me what you think first, then we’ll talk’: this is demonstrated by certain talk shows, certain media outlets, and social media platforms that act as catalysts for insults and systemic hatred. The word ‘Zionist’ has become an insult, the litmus test of being a (so-called) democrat. But it is merely a pretext for attacking Jews, whatever their historical stance or position regarding the Israeli government. Just as, in the past, it was enough simply to be Jewish. The anti-Semitism we face today blends old and new traits: a sort of Hydra that multiplies its heads beyond measure. The list of acts perpetrated by this monster is long and grows longer every day, but at the same time I fear that the reaction – civil society’s capacity to mobilise – is waning. Because – and this must be remembered – anti-Semitism does not concern only Jews but the very fabric of democratic coexistence. There can be no civil society or freedom if this monster of anti-Semitism exists and grows. It must be defeated politically, ideologically and culturally, just as Italy has in the past managed to overcome other evils. For this reason, I hope that the draft bill on anti-Semitism currently under discussion in the Chamber of Deputies will be passed swiftly and by a large majority, in the version already approved by the Senate: because this version does not impose restrictions, does not impose penalties, and does not prevent criticism. And above all, it must not be seen as a courageous act; on the contrary, it is a duty.

Livia Ottolenghi

President of the Union of Italian Jewish Communities