Italian Jews worry and wait as Giorgia Meloni, far-right leader, prepares to take power

(JTA) — The success of Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party in Italy’s national election last week means the country is poised to have its most right-wing government since World War II, when Italy was Hitler’s staunchest ally in Europe.

The prospect has unnerved many Italian Jews, even as several of their leaders appear to be taking a wait-and-see approach to Meloni’s leadership, refraining from making public statements about the results.

“Faced with the prospect of a prime minister that is affiliated with a party that ideologically is the heir of the Italian Social Movement, a good part of Italian Jews are concerned,” David Fiorentini, president of Italy’s Jewish Youth group, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Click here to read the full article.

Tobia Zevi is a rising star in Rome’s Jewish community. Can he become the city’s next mayor?

(JTA) — Tobia Zevi is candid: He wants to become the next mayor of Rome. “I’ve dreamed of becoming mayor of my city my entire life,” he told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency in an interview. “For years, I’ve been thinking about how to transform it and make it more liveable for its residents and more attractive for its tourists.”

If he succeeds, he is set to make history, becoming the second-ever Jewish mayor of the Italian capital, the first in over a century.

The 36-year-old, who has been involved in both local and national politics for 15 years, announced this summer his run for the capital’s mayoral primary in 2021. Since the announcement, he has gained momentum in the crowded field thanks to a series of high-profile newspaper interviews and social media posts. Over the summer, Zevi took advantage of the city’s relatively low infection rate to start campaigning, after the country was severely hit by the coronavirus pandemic in the spring. Continue reading…

🇮🇹 Casa Bianca, il “family affair” che spaventa gli addetti alla sicurezza 🇮🇹

NEW YORK—I primi di aprile, un’addetta dell’ufficio della sicurezza del personale della Casa Bianca ha confermato voci di corridoio che circolavano da tempo: alcuni alti funzionari dell’amministrazione Trump avrebbero «scavalcato» le regolari procedure di sicurezza per concedere ad almeno 25 dipendenti della Casa Bianca i security clearance, ovvero i nulla osta che permettono ai lavoratori di accedere a informazioni riservate. Uno dei venticinque pare essere Jared Kushner, senior adviser nonché genero del presidente degli Stati Uniti Donald Trump. Leggi l’articolo qui.

🇮🇹 Stati Uniti e Israele, le sfide della conferenza annuale di AIPAC 🇮🇹

NEW YORK—Non è cominciata nel migliore dei modi l’edizione 2019 della conferenza annuale di AIPAC, la più importante lobby pro-Israele degli Stati Uniti, che quest’anno ha raccolto ben 18mila partecipanti a Washington.

Prima, con il tweet poco fortunato della deputata del Minnesota Ilhan Omar. «It’s all about the Benjamins baby», è tutta una questione di soldi, ha scritto a febbraio Omar riferendosi al supporto americano per Israele. È un mantra pericoloso, che secondo molti odora di stereotipo antisemita. Alla domanda di una giornalista del Forward a quali soldi si riferisse, Omar ha prontamente risposto: «AIPAC!», sollevando un gran polverone per aver sostenuto che l’organizzazione pro-Israele «compri» il sostegno dei politici americani. (Photo: Michael Gross/ Public Domain). Continua a leggere…

Italy’s Far Right Is on the March

This fall marks 80 years since Fascist Italy passed the racist laws that reduced Italian Jews to second-class citizens. Overnight, children like my grandparents were barred from attending public schools and many of their parents from performing their jobs. In the following years, almost 8,000 Italians of Jewish descent were killed in the Nazi death camps.

Eight decades later, the Jewish population in Italy has shrunk, but it thrives. There are several Jewish day schools, kosher restaurants, and active synagogues spread all the way from Turin to Naples. Jewish culture and history are also flourishing: Public institutions are paying for a software-assisted translation of the Babylonian Talmud and the annual European Day of Jewish Culture involves the participation of nearly 90 cities across the country. And yet, thousands of Benito Mussolini’s nostalgics still visit the fascist dictator’s burial place to pay homage, and pigs’ heads are left at synagogues before Holocaust Memorial Day.

Enter the new government.