“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 \u2013 Due Popoli Due Stati (Left for Israel \u2013 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, \u201cto switch from a legitimate political critique to denying a people\u2019s right is the nexus between antisemitism and anti-Zionism.\u201d 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.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n