By JNS
The New Communist Party of Italy recently published a list of Italian Jews, including well-known personalities from politics, the media and business, and described them as “Zionist agents” who must be “condemned and fought” for their support of Israel.
The list, entitled “Zionist Organizations and Agents in Italy,” contains more than 150 names organized by category.
The categories included companies from various economic sectors such as finance, industrial, technology and military, including Ahava Dead Sea Laboratories, Electra Consumer Products, SodaStream International and Elbit Systems.
The list also included individuals in categories such as “Zionists in political parties or representatives of public organizations actively supporting the Zionist State of Israel” and “Zionists in the media and culture sector who support or promote the Zionist State in Italy.”
Prominent figures on the list include former journalist and current politician Senator Ester Mieli, former Italian Ambassador to Israel Luigi Mattiolo, former President of the Jewish Community of Rome Riccardo Pacifici, and journalists Maurizio Molinari and Emanuela Dviri.
The New Communist Party is a marginal force, but its blacklist has attracted widespread attention and ridicule from politicians and the media.
The right-wing Brothers of Italy party condemned the list. Senate President Ignazio La Russa, co-founder of the party, said: “I consider it very serious that the New Communist Party has published on its website the names and surnames of politicians, journalists and businessmen who are ‘guilty’ of supporting Israel.”
“This is a serious and unacceptable attack on freedom of expression and a worrying threat to the safety of the individuals concerned,” he said, calling for “unanimous condemnation.”
The centre-left Democratic Party also condemned the list and called for a parliamentary investigation.
“At this moment, an insane statement is circulating from an anti-Semitic group calling itself the New Communist Party of Italy. It is drawing up a banned list of people, associations, organizations and companies that should be boycotted and persecuted because of their relations with Israel and the Jewish world. It is the umpteenth episode in a long series of anti-Semitic acts,” said a statement from the Democratic Party.
The Jewish community in Rome also condemned the list, describing it as the latest in a series of acts that point to a “resurgent anti-Semitism that is raising its voice ever more loudly and widening its threats ever more violently.”
The New Communist Party defended the list, calling it retaliation for a “smear campaign” against Gabriele Rubini, a former semi-professional rugby player, chef and television presenter who performs under the name Chef Rubio and has posted numerous anti-Semitic and anti-Israel remarks on social media since October 7.
An Italian court recently ordered Rubini to remove inflammatory posts against Jews and Israel and to pay a fine for each post not deleted.
In May, he was beaten up by six attackers in front of his house. He blamed “Zionist Jews” for the attack.
Anti-Semitism is on the rise in Italy. Events include a clash with police over the inclusion of Israeli exhibitors at a jewelry fair, the destruction of Holocaust memorial stones and a disturbing incident in the pro-Israel Brothers of Italy youth movement, whose members were recorded shouting “Sieg Heil.”
