Commentary
The ideology of ‘us against everyone’ that fuels fanaticism
We too – Jews who dissent from the community leaders who have chosen to become uncritical spokespeople for Israel’s wars – are the targets of threats, and not just verbal ones.
The Jewish fascist who on April 25, 2026 opened fire on the anti-fascist rally of the National Association of Italian Partisans (ANPI), viewing himself as a warrior for Israel... I never imagined we would reach the point of having to endure such shame, such a reversal of history. We feel endless sadness.
It is within the realm of our imagination that in Milan, the ringleaders of the ruling right-wing can try to justify a thuggish beating because tearing down a commemorative poster for the horrific murder of neo-fascist student Sergio Ramelli, on the anniversary of his death, means “asking for trouble.”
But we cannot conceive of a Jew who takes aim and shoots at anti-fascists. Because we preserve the memory of the early Jewish anti-fascist martyrs, from Carlo and Nello Rosselli to Leone Ginzburg, and from Emanuele Artom to Eugenio Curiel.
And that of key figures of the Liberation such as Leo Valiani, Vittorio Foa, Umberto Terracini, Enzo and Emilio Sereni (brothers divided over Zionism but united against the black tide plaguing Italy). And, following them, we understand the contribution – welcome and deserving of honor – of the Jewish Brigade in its proper context, which landed in Puglia only in March 1945. More than 60 years after those events, the name of the Jewish Brigade has been commandeered by the Union of Italian Jewish Communities (UCEI) with the aim of fomenting Jewish separatism from the April 25 celebrations that have expressed solidarity with the Palestinians in the territories occupied by Israel.
This wholesale import of the Middle East war into the Italian public debate was a thoughtless decision and it has rubbed salt in the wounds. It has propagated a siege mentality within the Jewish communities that not even the privileged relations with the right-wing government have been able to contain. In this context, we have long denounced a thuggish degeneration on the part of some who – in the name of supposed “self-defense” – threaten and attack people in schools and on the streets whom they identify as enemies of Israel.
This is the ideology, wantonly disseminated by the Israeli right, of “us against everyone,” of an “eternal antisemitism” that disregards the crimes perpetrated by Israel itself – and thus holds it up as a model of necessary brutality.
Irresponsible leaders have driven these young people to fanaticism. And in the face of the numerous episodes of violence which they have perpetrated in Rome, a veil of silence has been cast, unfortunately even by law enforcement. They have felt welcomed within the Jewish communities, even though the majority of Italian Jews reject their extremism, and they have been treated with leniency by those who should have been keeping watch.
We too – Jews who dissent from the community leaders who have chosen to become uncritical spokespeople for Israel’s wars – are the targets of threats, and not just verbal ones. After the publication of our appeal “No to ethnic cleansing in Gaza and the West Bank,” I was astonished to receive a notice from the Interior Ministry that, given the climate, I would need police protection. I refused. After receiving so many threats from fascists and a few Lega members over the years, I certainly was not going to let these people intimidate me.
I will quote verbatim a WhatsApp message I received on Tuesday night, just a few hours before the arrest of the shooter, Eitan Bondì: “Gad, are they paying you or are you on drugs? Were there Arabs in the Jewish Brigade? Have you lost your mind? You are inciting hatred against Jews with historical revisionism. The Palestinians were Hitler's allies.” I will refrain from divulging the name of the person who sent this to me, who is as aggressive as they are ignorant. Two years before the Jewish Brigade was formed in 1944 in North Africa, the Palestine Regiment – which included both Arabs and Jews from the British Mandate – had fought in North Africa against the Nazi-Fascist armies.
History is more complicated than its distorted forms. Thus, the fact that a particular Grand Mufti of Jerusalem was a pro-Nazi antisemite certainly cannot justify equating Palestinians with Nazis in the face of a world outraged by the persecution they are suffering.
Unfortunately, it is not surprising that anti-Jewish hatred is growing once more and finding fuel in the ongoing fascistization of Israel. The isolated, obscene shouts along the lines of “failed soap bars” that besmirched Milan’s April 25 celebrations also make it urgent for those who have so far chosen to remain closed off within their own identity group to engage in some soul-searching. Feeling shame can be healthy, Carlo Ginzburg reminds us. In the face of the gunfire in Rome, we hope that many will open their eyes.
Originally published at https://ilmanifesto.it/lideologia-del-soli-contro-tutti-che-alimenta-il-fanatismo on 2026-04-30