The Naples Jewish community did not limit its outrage over the antisemitic installation at the Festa dei Quattro Altari (Celebration of the Four Altars) to a mere verbal protest. This popular historical festival is held every year in mid-June in Torre del Greco, a municipality in the Naples metropolitan area with 80,000 residents. The controversial painting was displayed in one of the squares. Dedicated to the Last Supper, it features an “old bearded man wearing a black hat and handling money” among the protagonists. The painting recalls the way “antisemitic iconography has always portrayed the Jew as an enemy of humanity, an enemy of goodness and charity, a loan shark interested only in money.” For this reason, the Jewish Community has filed a lawsuit against the mayor, Luigi Mennella; the municipal administrator, Gaetano Camarda; and the painter, Salvatore Seme, who created the artwork bearing a “strongly antisemitic message,” as explained in a press release. The three men are accused of “propaganda and incitement to commit a crime on grounds of racial, ethnic, and religious discrimination” and will be called to answer for their actions in court. Criminal defense attorney Pier Giacinto Di Fiore will represent the Jewish institutions. “Certain events cannot be swept under the rug or reduced to statements that avoid taking responsibility,” Daniele Coppin, a Board member of the Jewish Community of Naples, told Pagine Ebraiche.
Antisemitic Installation in Torre del Greco: Naples Jewish Community Announces Lawsuit
