ROME – Former Italian parliamentarian Emanuele Fiano warns about left-wing antisemitism
“The left was born to defend the right of any people to self-determination.” This is the message launched by former Italian parliamentarian Emanuele Fiano, president of the association Sinistra per Israele – Due Popoli Due Stati (Left for Israel – Two Peoples for Two States). Speaking at an event at the European parliamentary seat in Rome, Fiano remarked that this right has been denied in many protests against Israel. For Fiano, “to switch from a legitimate political critique to denying a people’s right is the nexus between antisemitism and anti-Zionism.” For this reason, he added, “I would like the left to realize this because a fight against simplifications is needed.” Fiano did not hide his disappointment as a Jewish left-wing activist, feeling “between a rock and a hard place” in dealing with a tragic war “that is not a soccer derby but involves the destiny of millions of people in the Middle East and here.”
On these issues, Fiano dialogued with Pina Picierno, the vice president of the European Parliament who is responsible for Antisemitism and Remembrance Day. Picierno harshly criticized the Israeli government, calling it “criminal” and saying that it harms “the rule of law.” She said that in the past two years, the public debate “has not found adequate responses to unprecedented events,” including “the tribal ferocity of the October 7 attack, unparalleled in the past; Israel’s inability to protect its citizens; and Hamas’s isolation in the Islamic world.” For Picierno, a member of the Democratic Party’s reformists, “the democratic future of Israel is at stake in the next election because Israeli democracy is now lost but not gone.”
“Why doesn’t Hamas return the hostages? There is devastating cynicism in using Palestinians as human shields and as a weapon of blackmail,” Fiano said regarding Gaza. Regarding the conflict’s repercussions in Italy, the president of Sinistra per Israele addressed the “very delicate issue” of second- and third-generation young people involved in the recent chaos. They “know nothing about the Middle East or 20th-century history; they only know that Jews are the enemy.” Picierno agreed about the “shortcomings” in this regard of many squares and, even before that, about the “collective denial in the face of the violence committed on October 7. The list of responsibilities on the left is significant, and I don’t deny it.” Like Fiano, the vice president of the European Parliament also repeatedly addressed antisemitism. She declared herself “scandalized” by the gradual slide toward “unacceptable” words and behavior.
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