BDS goes local: Italy’s municipal front against Israel

Two days later, Michele De Pascale, governor of affluent Emilia-Romagna, issued similar instructions. On June 11, Tuscany’s regional parliament approved a motion, tabled by the centre-left Democratic Party, calling to sever ties with Israeli institutions. Governor Eugenio Giani then urged the central government to recognise a Palestinian state.

In Sardinia, regional president Alessandra Todde of the Five Star Movement revived a motion to suspend all trade with Israel “while the serious violations in Gaza and the West Bank continue”. Cagliari, the regional capital, raised the Palestinian flag, condemned Netanyahu for human rights abuses, and called for the suspension of trade with Israel.

Tuscany and Emilia-Romagna are historic leftist strongholds, but other regions are also considering such moves. The effects are tangible: two supermarket cooperatives in northern and central Italy, managing more than 450 shops, have removed Israeli products. Mayors and city councils have also publicly backed the Palestinian cause. In May, many town halls displayed white shrouds – some stained with red paint – as part of a nationwide “50,000 shrouds for Gaza” campaign, symbolising Palestinian burial cloths. 

Bologna, capital of Emilia-Romagna, joined the campaign. Its mayor, Matteo Lepore, is no stranger to anti-Israel gestures. On May 30 last year, he flew a Palestinian flag from the medieval town hall, prompting Union of Italian Jewish Communities president Noemi Di Segni to respond: “We invite Lepore to visit Israel and the areas of the massacre before displaying flags and slogans.” Giorgia Meloni’s party, Fratelli d’Italia, condemned the act as “partisan and irresponsible”. But Lepore doubled down. Weeks ago, after displaying the Gaza shroud, he joined a march led by the mayor of Marzabotto, site of a Second World War Nazi massacre. Backed by Italy’s Union of Islamic Communities (UCOII) and a roster of NGOs, MPs and academics, some marchers equated Israeli actions in Gaza with Nazi atrocities. UCOII leader Yassine Lafram called Israel’s government “genocidal” and “terrorist”. Lepore branded Netanyahu “a war criminal”.

Milan and Naples offer further troubling examples. After the remains of hostages Shiri Bibas and her children were returned in February, cities such as Paris, Budapest and New York lit up landmarks in orange. Milan – a sister city of Tel Aviv – rejected a request by Jewish groups to do the same. The region of Lombardy, governed by the centre-right, stepped in and lit up its skyscraper instead. In Naples, the local government recognised a Palestinian state. The hostility peaked when two Israeli tourists were ejected from a restaurant for refusing to denounce their government. No surprise, then, that opposition leaders smell opportunity.

In May, Five Star leader and former prime minister Giuseppe Conte told parliament that “60,000 are dead in Gaza, 15,000 of them children, and eight million people are without food” – though Gaza’s population is only around two million. In March, he implored Italian Jews to condemn Israel: “My Jewish friends, distance yourselves – silence is complicity.” He has repeatedly accused Israel of genocide. Democratic Party leader Elly Schlein called for sanctions and a total embargo.

Italy’s federal government remains stable, with no elections due for two years. But unless this local surge of anti-Israel activism is stemmed, Rome’s friendly posture toward Jerusalem may not endure that long.

Daniel Mosseri is the editor-in-chief of Pagine Ebraiche, the monthly magazine of Italy’s Union of Jewish Communities