Di Cesare: "Francesca Albanese is stirring up hatred. Yes to the anti-Semitism bill"

Rome. “Palestinianism has become the new civil religion,” philosopher Donatella Di Cesare, a professor at Sapienza University and a columnist for *Il Fatto Quotidiano*, tells *Il Foglio*. “Palestinianism,” she repeats, “is a religion with traits that are not infrequently all-encompassing, even totalitarian.” We therefore ask Di Cesare what she means by this. And also why the recent statements by Francesca Albanese – who ventured into defining anti-Semitism – have struck a chord with her. “The civil religion I’m talking about, to begin with, now has all its own rituals. Like the processions with shrouds through the streets. Are you asking me about Francesca Albanese? The fact that there are figures to be canonised does not surprise me. But I am certainly concerned by the condescension of a large part of the Italian left.” Albanese, in fact, is beloved by the Five Star Movement, AVS and the Young Democrats (whose Instagram profiles are teeming with selfies with her). “You see, when you start dividing the world into the pure and the impure, you stop judging politically. ‘Genocide’ has now become the buzzword of the new auto-da-fé. If you don’t utter it, you become an accomplice, a perpetrator. ‘Genocide’ and ‘genocidal’ are the stone-like words that unleash visceral hatred. There is no thought, no criticism, no reflection. The left should distance itself from this cult and return to making political judgements.” It should. And yet, whilst almost the entire left has turned its back on the anti-Semitism bill, Albanese offers his own definition of the phenomenon. What do you make of that? “I judge his words. To say, as he did, that anti-Semitism generically concerns ‘Semites’ erases the specific history of hatred against the Jews. Even more serious, however, was his reference to the Muselmann.”

This was the term used, in concentration camp slang, for a prisoner reduced to a state of extreme emaciation. “Primo Levi showed us who the ‘sommerso’ was – stripped of everything, almost down to their face and identity. Using this very term to obscure the victim’s specific identity is a serious distortion of the memory of the concentration camps”. The woman then apologised. She must have realised… “Yes. But the apology does not erase the gravity of her words. In Albanese’s statements, I detect hostility towards the Jewish people.” But friendship towards the Gazans. “No. I do not see how that helps the Palestinians. Helping them means recognising them as political actors. Albanese’s words do not build peace. They fuel war.” Let’s delve deeper, then, into the anti-Semitism bill: proposed by Democratic Party Senator Delrio, but boycotted by the PD’s executive committee. Do you believe, based on the IHRA definition, that this could be a ‘red-tape’ piece of legislation? “No. I’ve just written a book on dissent. And I know full well how precious the freedom to say ‘no’ to those in power is. Now, if that ‘no’ is directed at the Israeli government, it is political criticism. If a Jew living in Rome is dragged along the street and accused of choices they did not make, things change. The IHRA definition compels us to look where anti-Semitism seeks refuge today. The bill, moreover, allows for freedom of criticism. Rather, it asks that we do not turn a blind eye to hatred when it changes its name. Just as I have in the past supported the criminalisation of Holocaust denial, today I support the draft bill on antisemitism. The legal response is not an alternative to the cultural one. I identify with Senator Segre’s words.” Emanuele Fiano is currently experiencing a certain unease and intends to leave the party. What do you think of that? “I believe that in such a complex phase, everyone is called upon to make their own choice. I can say, however, that in my view the PD bears an additional responsibility, not only as the main opposition party, but because of the history and values it embodies. I would not have expected it to end up voting against the bill. I consider this a serious mistake.”

The situation is so serious that the impression today is that Italian Jewish communities are turning to the right. Is that the case? “You see, I think that in recent times the Jewish communities have made choices with which I cannot agree. The link with the left has gradually weakened to the point of disappearing. Looking back, given the serious mistakes made by the left, all this was perhaps inevitable. Yet I know many Italian Jews who do not identify at all with the choices of the right.” So where do they belong politically? “I think those who throw themselves trustingly into the arms of the right are mistaken. It is an alliance that will lead to nothing good. One need only look at what is happening in Germany. The AfD, whose ranks include those who downplay the Holocaust, has taken on an increasingly dominant role. Just in the last few days, several members of the Central Council of Jews in Germany have expressed their concern. We have truly reached the point where we must ask ourselves about the future of Jews in Europe, eighty years on from the Holocaust.”