A-Infos (en) Italy, Umanita Nova #28-25 - New Frontiers of Repression. The Bill Against Anti-Semitism (ca, de, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

The large turnout of young people in the streets in solidarity with the 
Palestinian population against the genocide perpetrated by the Israeli 
state and army is unnerving the government and its branches. Following 
the directive from the Lazio Regional Education Office, and the 
anti-Zionism bill proposed by Gasparri in recent days, which would 
purport to ban discussion of Palestine in schools, statements from the 
Honorable Roccella also arrive, criticizing school trips to Auschwitz, 
dismissively described as field trips, which, in his view, only misled 
students by making them believe that anti-Semitism was attributable to 
fascism, thus fostering an anti-fascist culture. Evidently, Family 
Minister Roccella, in addition to believing anti-fascism to be harmful 
and counterproductive, believes that the Holocaust was caused by a 
condominium dispute.

The debate heats up, and schools become one of the hot-button sectors 
receiving delusional statements and initiatives.

Meanwhile, we publish a first contribution on the Gasparri Bill.

While the streets fill with protesters demanding an end to the genocide 
in Palestine, the Meloni government is preparing a new crackdown under 
the pretext of fighting anti-Semitism.

After the "Security" Decree, now comes the bill entitled "Provisions for 
the adoption of the operational definition of anti-Semitism, as well as 
for combating acts of anti-Semitism," proposed by the League and 
currently in the Senate committee (a nearly identical bill was 
introduced by Renzi's Scalfarotto). Officially, the measure aims to 
promote "actions aimed at repressing any expression of it" and thwart 
"the spread of anti-Semitic prejudice in Italy" (as if Italy didn't 
already have-and essentially unenforced-laws against fascism and racism, 
such as the Scelba Law and the Mancino Law). In reality, the bill in 
question effectively equates anti-Semitism with anti-Zionism, paving the 
way for the criminalization (as already happens in England, Germany, and 
other countries) of any protest against Israel's racist and genocidal 
policies.

Article 1 of the bill "adopts the operational definition of 
anti-Semitism formulated by the Plenary Assembly of the International 
Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) on May 26, 2016, including the 
relevant indicators."

Let's see what it's all about. "The IHRA (International Holocaust 
Remembrance Alliance)," we quote from the introductory statement, "is an 
intergovernmental organization-founded in 1998 and composed of 35 member 
states, including Italy, 10 observer states, and 7 permanent 
international supporters-which aims to strengthen, advance, and promote 
Holocaust education, remembrance, and research worldwide."

In 2016, this organization adopted an "operational definition of 
antisemitism," approved in 2017 by the European Parliament and also 
adopted in 2020 by Italy (Conte II Government, M5S, PD). This is 
(currently) a "non-legally binding" declaration.

The problem arises from the fact that this "operational definition" 
effectively equates antisemitism with anti-Zionism. The "indicators" 
include examples of anti-Semitism: "Denying Jews the right to 
self-determination, for example, by claiming that the existence of the 
State of Israel is an expression of racism"; or: "Making comparisons 
between contemporary Israeli policies and those of the Nazis."

In light of this bill, it would therefore be impossible to legally 
denounce the apartheid on which the State of Israel is based and the 
genocidal policy (objectively Nazi-inspired) it is pursuing against the 
Palestinians.

As anarchists, we believe that any state (including a potential 
Palestinian state) is an instrument of oppression and class domination, 
but it is useful to underline the logical paradox that-according to 
these provisions-it would be legitimate to challenge the existence of 
any state, Saharawi, Kurdish, Italian, or French, while denying the 
existence of the State of Israel alone would become illegal!

The bill, in addition to training and educational activities on the 
topic, provides for restrictions on access to social media (Article 2, 
paragraph b), with the related removal of anti-Semitic content and the 
possibility of prohibiting anti-Semitic demonstrations. Indeed, Article 
3 states verbatim: "The denial of authorization for a public meeting or 
demonstration for reasons of morality, pursuant to Article 18 of the 
Consolidated Law on Public Safety, Royal Decree No. 773 of June 18, 
1931, may also be motivated by an assessment of a serious potential risk 
due to the use of symbols, slogans, messages, or any other antisemitic 
act, pursuant to the operational definition of antisemitism adopted by 
this law."

Therefore, based not on objective facts, but solely on the "potential 
risk" of "antisemitic" slogans being raised, any demonstration could be 
preemptively prohibited!

This new attack on freedom of expression and demonstration, which has 
been in the making for a long time (the foundations for this new prison 
of thought and action have been laid for ten years, as we have seen), 
requires the broadest response and mobilization from the anarchist 
movement and anyone who cares about freedom.

Mauro De Agostini

https://umanitanova.org/nuove-frontiere-della-repressione-il-ddl-contro-lantisemitismo/
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