According to the UN Special Rapporteur, the bill under discussion in the Chamber of Deputies “will prevent anyone from saying that Israel is a racist state that practises the crime of apartheid – institutionalised racial segregation that has degenerated into genocide. It will turn the UN’s and others’ accusations into anti-Semitism and make Italy a pioneer of pro-Israel censorship”. Sit-ins are planned across Italy today to protest against the bill.

The United Nations Special Rapporteur admits to having misinterpreted the name “used in Nazi camps for prisoners on the brink of death, erroneously inferring that the term ‘anti-Semitism’ originally meant hatred towards all Semitic peoples”.

In Francesca Albanese’s speech, anti-Semitism refers to hatred towards anyone who is not European and comes from the Middle East. Zionism, on the other hand, has equated Jews with the West, turning them into Orientalists.

On the cover of the latest issue of Love Magazine, the UN rapporteur is wearing Loro Piana and Celine, but some pro-Palestinian websites have included them amongst the brands highlighted: “Financial links to the Israeli economy”

The small town in Emilia, led by the Democratic Party, will not follow the example of Bologna and Florence, which have suspended the award. The mayor of Cesena, Enzo Lattuca, also of the Democratic Party, warns: “Francesca Albanese does not embody the ability to unite that is required of anyone receiving this title.”

At the Green Alliance and Left party rally, ‘the alternative’ gathers, though it remains without a programme or a leader. From the crowd, people shout: ‘Get a move on!’, in thick Roman dialect. Surprise: the Greens like Silvia Salis