NEWS April 25, a Day to Overcome Divisions

By Adam Smulevich

The Italian Partisans National Association (ANPI) has asked the municipality of Rome to organize the celebration of the 70th anniversary of the end of WW2 and the Nazi occupation of Italy. The anniversary is April 25. Usually, the ceremony is organized by the Rome section of the ANPI itself.
The decision, announced after a talk between the national president of ANPI Carlo Smuraglia and the president of the Union of Italian Jewish Communities (UCEI) Renzo Gattegna, was made due to a controversy began by the National Association of Former Deportees (ANED). The ANED denounced the growing intolerance felt in the Rome demonstration towards the presence of representatives of the Jewish Brigade. The Brigade was a faction of the British Army which fought in Italy and which had over 5,000 Jewish volunteers from the territory of the British Mandate in Palestine.

“The April 25 Liberation Day is a celebration for everyone and a unique moment of reflection. It is inconceivable that the events of April 25 are marked by incidents as it has happened in Rome in the past few years. It is therefore essential to solve the conflicts and divisions among the various participants. The Jewish Brigade which represents freedom fighters should certainly not be excluded from the march on April 25. It is also necessary to prevent the presence of some foreign countries’ flags which have become a source of conflict,” the ANPI wrote in a statement.

Among the groups that were involved in the organization of the march, ANED denounced the presence of Palestinian groups in Italy such as Fronte Palestina, Rete Romana Palestina and Rappresentanza Palestina.