Today we discuss a paradox, a cultural and symbolic reversal that reflects the current state of our country, and perhaps many Western democracies. It’s a side effect of the new Middle Eastern crisis sparked by the October 7, 2023 attacks in Israel, and it continues relentlessly with Israel’s harsh military response, first against Hamas in the south in Gaza, and now against Hezbollah in the north, extending into Lebanese territory.
For about a year, our streets have been filled with young Palestinians, supported by antagonists, anarchists, and many Italian students. These demonstrations are called Pro-Gaza rallies. In the latest one, in Milan last Saturday, the usual one-sided attacks on Israel were followed by an attack on Defense Minister Crosetto and a living monument to the Holocaust tragedy, Senator Liliana Segre. Both were labeled as “Zionist agents.” The silence from the left is deafening and worrying. While one might understand the attacks on Crosetto, as he is seen as an enemy of Meloni’s post-fascist government (in their simplified view), the case of Segre is harder to justify. She, with her story as a Holocaust survivor, stands as a living Pantheon of memory and a perpetual denunciation of horror.
In the past, anyone who even slightly questioned this symbol was immediately met with public outrage. Now, posts defending her on Instagram are disappearing, a fact that has angered even Enrico Mentana. So, what’s going on? In the current wave of hatred toward Israel, are we re-legitimizing anti-Semitism? Segre responded with irony, saying she didn’t know she was a Zionist agent at 94 years old. But there’s little room for irony when a significant portion of Italy’s political culture, well represented by the trendy media mainstream, has completely lost its grip on foreign policy and geopolitics.
Let’s skip, out of mercy, the confusion and differences of opinion on the Ukraine-Russia war, but the analysis of the Middle East is producing paradoxical effects. On the anniversary of the October 7 attacks, there’s maximum alert from our law enforcement, and all Jewish-sensitive targets on our territory will be under strict surveillance. And this is because a bloodthirsty man, who didn’t hesitate to kill innocent Western civilians in his attacks, was eliminated? And what about, dear friends of the left, the Sunni Muslim world celebrating the recent raid that led to Nasrallah’s elimination? Do you know that perhaps the decisive intelligence that helped Tel Aviv came from Iranian secret services, signaling that even Tehran is thinking of regime change?
The world is becoming increasingly complex, and our poor, outdated Italian ideologies are now historically atherosclerotic. Now, they make the mistake of supporting those who devour their own symbols.
