Jews in Reggio Emilia. The increasingly blurred line between anti-Zionism and anti-Semitism

Three pieces of evidence do not constitute a clue, and in any case we’ll leave it to the judges to count the evidence. But sooner or later, someone will piece together a clue: that Reggio Emilia – a city awarded the Gold Medal of the Resistance, which witnessed the birth of the Italian tricolour, and which mourned the dead of 1960 – today has some obvious difficulty in distinguishing between the government and even the State of Israel, and the Jewish people as such. There have been dangerous slips toward anti-Semitic ideology, poorly disguised as pro-Palestinian sentiment. The latest evidence is the case linked to the Reggio Children Foundation, which is, after all, blameless. The announced visit by a group of American Jewish teachers to the distinguished, world-renowned foundation has sparked protests from the CGIL (of all people) and pro-Palestinian groups. Accusations have been levelled that they are (simply because they are Jewish?) supporters of genocide. The delegation of Jewish teachers did not take this well. PD mayor Marco Massari defended the town’s honour: “We were never asked to distance ourselves from what is happening in Gaza; we have a charter of values which simply states our rejection of all forms of genocide.” The American Jewish teachers are not entirely wrong to interpret this unusual request as political pressure.

Once again (second attempt), Mayor Massari has tried to apply a patch that is, however, worse than the hole itself. When, a year ago, his Town Council unexpectedly decided to honour Francesca Albanese, he ventured to say that, alongside the end of the ‘genocide’, there should be ‘the release of the hostages’. He was publicly humiliated by Albanese: “I’m not judging you, I forgive you. But promise me you’ll never say that again.” This was in front of an audience of knitters of both sexes from Reggio’s democratic middle class, who were railing against the mayor who had awarded the prize. He did not dare to reply. We had even defended the mayor. But something about the concept of anti-Semitism doesn’t seem to be working very well in this city.

A few months ago, with the local council’s blessing, a concert featuring the Nazi-sympathising rapper Kanye West was organised in Campovolo. Adelmo Cervi, son of one of the seven brothers killed by the Nazi-Fascists, was understandably outraged: “Someone who goes about sporting swastikas is not worthy of singing anywhere.” But in Reggio, they evidently thought the opposite. Then there was the attempted boycott of Teva. Against this backdrop, it took Professor Alberto Melloni, a native of Reggio, to set the record straight in X, following several serious incidents at the University of Modena and Reggio: “Those who wish to discriminate against the Jewish guests of Reggio Children have emerged: they were subjected to a test designed solely for Jews – in other words, an anti-Semitic test.” And again: “Here, the discrimination is against American Jews; and as for Israel and the Palestinian National Authority, I am not aware of any discrimination or threats against Palestinians on account of Hamas or the groups that carried out acts of terrorism between the 1970s and 1980s.” The evidence is not conclusive, but it gives pause for thought.