OCTOBER 7 – Italian PM Meloni at the Great Synagogue in Rome
Rabbi Di Segni: Stop the collective intoxication

On October 7, 2024, the Italian Jewry commemorated the victims of the Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. In Rome, a solemn ceremony began at the Great Synagogue with a minute of silence and the intonation of the prayer “El maalè rahamim” (“O God full of Mercy”), led by Chief Rabbi Riccardo Di Segni. Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni attended the event along with representatives from the Italy’s 21 Jewish communities as well as from various Jewish organizations and associations.
Rabbi Di Segni explained that the prayer he recited asks for “a just rest in heaven for the victims.” “On earth such peace has been denied,” he said. “The victims have no peace. The bodies of many have become bargaining chips, like severed heads stored in freezers, bodies charred by grenades, fused together to the point where even forensic doctors cannot distinguish them; and after the bodies, their memory has been insulted by a systematic campaign of disinformation, distortion, and blame that began the day after October 7.” According to the rabbi, this has led to a “collective intoxication that has clouded the minds of many, centering around simplistic analyses of the oppressed versus the oppressors.” The consequence of this is the celebration of terrorism “as a revolutionary act, which gains ecumenical support from newspapers, schools, universities, and public squares.” During Italy’s so-called Years of Lead (a period of political violence and social upheaval that lasted from the late 1960s until the late 1980s), “institutions and political parties managed to curb this process,” he noted, but today “it is spreading.”

Noemi Di Segni
The President of the Union of the Italian Jewish Communities (UCEI) took the floor after a video by Israeli President Isaac Herzog, who reminded the audience that even in the deepest pain, hope has always been the essential nourishment of Jewish and Israeli identity, helping to rebuild from the ruins. “The wound is that of an entire people who have always sought to inspire their actions by that imperative of life that our faith has passed down to us for millennia,” Di Segni stated. She added that Israel national anthem “reminds us of the hope of living as a free people in our own state. Here too, the hope is to be a people living alongside others, each with their own faith. In Israel and in our Jewish Communities. Alive and vital today, even if wounded.”

Victor Fadlun
The President of the Roman Jewish Community, noted that a year later the pain from the events of October 7 has not lessened but anger has grown. “After a brief period of solidarity with Israel, the ancient antisemitic prejudice resurged.” He described it as “atavistic” and noted its spread even among younger generations, “where harmful teachings have taken hold.” Fadlun expressed his “gratitude” to the government and the law enforcement agencies “for ensuring our security: but is it normal that we have to live under protection, and for how long?” Despite the anger, he voiced hope “for a future of peace and security, for Israel and for the entire Middle East.”

Jonathan Peled
The designated Israeli ambassador to Rome, Jonathan Peled, reminded the audience that the attacks on October 7 were carried out “18 years after Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza,” and the next day Hezbollah “joined in with attacks from the north.” Since then, he emphasized, “Israel and Western democracies have been constantly attacked by Iran and Islamic Jihad.” Israel did not seek this war and did not start it, Peled clarified. “But Israel, like any country in the world, has the right to defend itself. Israel is not fighting the Palestinian people or Lebanese people, but radical Islam. For itself and for Europe and the West.” Jerusalem feels Italy’s support, he affirmed calling Rome “a good friend in Europe and in the world.”

Ella Mor
The aunt of four-year-old Abigail Edan, also took the stage. Her niece was orphaned by Hamas terrorists and held captive for 51 days in Gaza. Her siblings survived by hiding in a closet for 14 hours. “I am the aunt of a little girl who became famous around the world against her will. Until October 7, until that Black Saturday, we had a completely normal life,” Mor said. October 7 was a turning point in her life, in the lives of many others in Israel and for humanity as a whole, as “Islamic terrorism revealed its darkest side: everything was executed according to an organized plan.”
She tearfully shared the agony of those 51 days. “We didn’t know if Abigail would return, and if so, how we would tell her that her parents had been killed.” Mor explained that she came to Rome with a message. “I am here because the world needs to hear what happened on October 7. I am here to warn you, because if it happened in Israel, it can happen anywhere in the world. We must all unite against terrorism and bring the captives home.” Before lighting a memorial candle with Ambassador Peled, Mor declared. “From the day Abigail returned home, I decided to dedicate my life to this cause. We need everyone’s help, because without getting the captives back, we cannot rebuild Israel or ourselves.”

Adam Smulevich

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