The anti-Semitism bill reaches the Chamber of Deputies. And the ANPI is organising a protest. Zampa: “The PD must show unity”

“Criticising Israel is not anti-Semitism”. As parliamentary proceedings resume in the Chamber of Deputies following the summer recess, the great dance of political parties and associations surrounding the bill to combat anti-Semitism is also back. Indeed, one of the first pieces of legislation that the Chamber of Deputies and its committees will have to tackle upon returning from the summer break is precisely that bill which, having been approved by the Senate in March, caused the PD to fall out with itself and its coalition. The fear now is that the same spectacle will be repeated in the Chamber of Deputies, not least because a sit-in by various organisations – USB, CGIL, ANPI and Amnesty International foremost among them – is planned for 9 September in front of the Montecitorio obelisk to protest against “the gagging law”. However, Democratic Party Senator Sandra Zampa tells Il Foglio: “The demonstrations do not frighten us; we simply regret them.”

However, a split within the PD is a scenario that Zampa (who voted in favour of the bill at the time) does not wish to see: “The party must not appear divided again. We must take firm control of the situation. By failing to react to these initiatives, we end up endorsing them, or at the very least, the suspicion remains,” she told Il Foglio.

In recent months, as the Senate committees began drafting proposals for a law against anti-Semitism, the PD faced an internal row: Senator Graziano Delrio had tabled a text that his own party branded as a ‘personal initiative’, while the PD parliamentary group had tabled another, authored by MP Andrea Giorgis. The reformists had not endorsed Giorgis’s draft, disagreeing with its content. The sticking point that had caused a rift within the PD – and, more broadly, across the wider political spectrum – was the definition of anti-Semitism to be included in the law: that of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA).

According to the majority within the PD close to Secretary Elly Schlein, turning that definition into Italian law could have curtailed freedom of expression, particularly with regard to the ability to criticise the policies of the State of Israel. The reformists, on the other hand, had supported the text brought before the Chamber – the one tabled by Lega MP Massimiliano Romeo, which also incorporated the text by Ivan Scalfarotto of Italia Viva. In the final vote, the PD abstained, while the Five Star Movement and AVS voted against. Six PD senators, including Delrio and Sandra Zampa, voted in favour.

And now the same divisive scenarios are in danger of re-emerging in the Chamber of Deputies as well. “People keep getting hung up on the definition, when that definition, as it stands in the text, does not trigger criminal penalties,” Sandra Zampa adds. “And I think that within the PD, credit should be given to those who have fought this battle to prevent criminal sanctions from being introduced. We do not need violence and hatred; we need to educate. One effort we should all make is to continue to keep a level head and not give in to populism.”

Next week at 1:00 pm in Piazza Capranica, near Montecitorio, numerous organisations will gather to launch a national campaign against the approval of the measure. The protest stems from the very definition of the IHRA: “It risks severely restricting political, cultural and academic freedom, undermining the ability to express critical views of Israel, its policies and its responsibilities towards the Palestinian people,” they write. The appeal has also been signed by Amnesty International, ANPI Rome, CGIL Rome and Lazio, USB, student networks such as OSA and Cambiare Rotta, and the National Press Federation.

The statement also reads: “We consider it unacceptable that criticism of the occupation of Palestinian territories, apartheid, human rights violations and the ongoing genocide in Gaza should automatically be equated with anti-Semitism. Political criticism of a state, its institutions, its policies and its military conduct must remain entirely legitimate within a democratic society. The fight against anti-Semitism is an essential responsibility and must not be undermined by an instrumental use of its definition. Anti-Zionism is not anti-Semitism. Reaffirming this distinction means simultaneously defending the fight against all forms of racism and discrimination.” See you on Tuesday.