Emma Bonino and the strength of knowing how to draw a line

One must make an effort when recalling Emma Bonino. She cannot be described as an ecumenical figure who brought everyone together. Emma Bonino’s strength lay in her ability to divide, to provoke, and even to greatly anger those who did not share her views – but with the strength of someone who puts her own body and life in the service of her convictions. And sometimes, too, to help those with differing views to strengthen their convictions, because they could engage with those holding opposing ideas who expressed them in a clear, lucid, provocative and disruptive manner. 

We are all remembering Emma Bonino’s battles for rights – from divorce and abortion right through to end-of-life issues. But there are other rights that should be highlighted: for example, the rights she championed in the wake of 9/11.

Today is 11 September, and twenty-five years ago, following the attack on the Twin Towers, Emma Bonino began, far more so than many of her colleagues, to fully grasp the threat posed by radical Islamism. She was highly divisive on this issue and even divided those who had supported her in other causes. Similarly, throughout these years—just as Pannella did, in a way—Emma Bonino has never been afraid to defend the only democracy in the Middle East: Israel. 

Finally, there is a fundamental battle: that of pro-Europeanism, which has united more people than it has divided them through other battles. Here too, Bonino has prioritised the defence of pro-Europeanism above all else and has utilised politics in all its myriad forms to achieve certain objectives. On the other hand, when Bonino became a European Commissioner, she did so thanks to the nomination of a centre-right government led by Silvio Berlusconi.