Pro-Hamas challenge tomorrow’s ban. The Dems side with the anti-Israeli –

Mira Brunello and Maria Elena Marsico

04 October 2024

The last demonstration in Milan created an uproar. With a minute of contemplation for the “sincere democrat” Hassan Nasrallah, hit by Israeli bombs in Beirut and the mug shots of Zionist agent Luciana Segre. In between, the usual insults to the “terrorist” state of Israel and encouragement for the resistance of Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon. A ranting, and clearly anti-Semitic direction of march, which did not serve to activate the denunciation of the Democratic Party, solidarity with the senator for life certainly, but nothing about the organizers. A format that seems to be reproduced in the same way also for the parade that the pro-Pal galaxy has been waiting for for months, the one on Saturday in Piazza Vittorio, although prohibited by the Rome Police Headquarters, due to the risk of creating serious problems of public order (ban confirmed by the TAR of Lazio). A date, October 5th, chosen not by chance by the Arab-Palestinian Democratic Union, implicitly (but not so much) a macabre celebration to remember the first anniversary of the Hamas massacre against the Israelis. On the side of the murderers and not the victims.

Yet “they are not entirely wrong”, explains MP Marco Furfaro, a close collaborator of Elly Schlein: “It is undeniable that there is a desire in public opinion to have their say on this conflict too. Asking for recognition of the Palestinian state is a legitimate request and there is nothing wrong if it finds citizenship in a square. Continuing to ban, to trivialize and to equate anti-Semitic imbeciles with those who want to demonstrate for peace is the worst thing that can be done.” The former president of the Chamber, Laura Boldrini, also promptly arrives to his aid: “Preventing people from demonstrating is not a good sign.” A line shared by another dem deputy, Roberto Morassut: “I think that the request to demonstrate responds to the need to protest against what is in all respects a massacre.” To confirm that the broad camp, dissolved by the arguments between Giuseppe Conte and Matteo Renzi, finds a sort of unity on the Middle East against Israel, just read the positions of the M5S and Avs. Fifteen five-star parliamentarians, including Stefania Ascari and Dario Carotenuto, wrote an urgent question to the Minister of the Interior Matteo Piantedosi to find out “what initiatives have been adopted to guarantee the constitutional right to demonstrate peacefully”.

The 5 star deputies ask the minister “if he does not deem it necessary to clarify the criteria with which demonstrations are actually prohibited, in order to guarantee that such decisions do not constitute an arbitrary limitation of the fundamental rights of citizens”. A concern for the suspended “democratic” demonstration also assails Senator Peppe De Cristoforo, group leader of Avs: “I think that banning demonstrations is always wrong and counterproductive.” The buzz on social media quantifies the activists who could still reach the capital at around thirty thousand (100 organizing groups). There will also be groups from the antagonistic world and social centers, such as the “Free/And to Fight Network”. «We will be operational to avoid accidents», promises Piantedosi. Thus checks will be triggered at motorway toll booths and in stations to intercept any arrivals of demonstrators from outside Rome and an increasingly stringent security device will be implemented on Saturday around the Piazzale Ostiense area where some groups could gather for the pro-Palestine demonstration.

Meanwhile, distinctions are also arriving within the galaxy: «We as the Palestinian Community of Rome and Lazio will not take to the streets on the 5th. After the digniego from the Police Headquarters we have decided that we will hold the demonstration on October 12th, in Piramide, to ask for: a cease of fire, the stop to the genocide and the Israeli bombings of Lebanon, free Palestine.” Without celebrating the hundreds of Israeli deaths. And just yesterday evening, the people, about thirty in total, who paid homage to the leader of Hezbollah, Sayed Hassan Nasrallah, were not discouraged by the heavy rain. They gathered at the Imam Mahdi Islamic center, in via Spello in Rome, in the Furio Camillo area, to pray during a ceremony organized in his memory. Among them also some children, a family, and a diplomatic delegation, probably Iraqi, who arrived in a black van. “We are praying, don’t disturb us,” they replied to journalists outside the centre. On the flyer that called for prayer one could read a passage from the Koran: «We will therefore fight in the path of God, those who exchange earthly life for the other. To those who fight for the cause of God, whether killed or victorious, we will soon give immense reward.”