Rome – The antisemitic text of a song written by Marcello De Angelis, head of communications for the Lazio Region, first unleashed the Democratic Party and then the indignation of the Jewish community, causing a storm within the Region. A new storm, after that of the «rewriting» of the Bologna massacre.
“We repudiate the clichés of antisemitism and the shameful distortions of historical truth”. The president of the Jewish Community of Rome, Victor Fadlun, wrote on his social channels, commenting on the anti-Semitic song “Settembre Nero”, the text of which was written by Marcello De Angelis, Head of Institutional Communication of the Lazio Region.
“A text that takes up anti-Jewish stereotypes, said Fadlun, and distorts historical events, praising Palestinian terrorism guilty of unforgivable atrocities against innocent Israeli athletes in the September 1972 attack on the Olympic village in Munich”.
«Marcello De Angelis, after the fascist declarations on the Bologna massacre, repeats himself and soils the institutions of our country again, defining the Jews ‘a race of merchants, who sing peace but rape women’. In fact dusting off the old anti-Semitic, Nazi and Fascist propaganda, which Italy has known all too well», thunders the councilor for Heritage and Housing Policies of Rome Capital, Tobia Zevi.
«The song, sung by the group of which he is the frontman and author of ‘270 bis’ – he adds – was even reinserted in 2003 in the band’s best of, therefore far from being denied. Dear De Angelis, I’m Jewish, but I’m not a merchant, as if it were an insult to be one, I don’t belong to any ‘race’ and I’m not a rapist of women. With what arrogance does the Lazio Region spokesman try to justify the actions of the Black September terrorists by giving non-existent responsibilities to the Jews? I hope that the governor Francesco Rocca, faced with such a clear episode of anti-Semitism, will immediately distance himself from De Angelis – concludes Zevi – and definitively remove him from the Lazio Region and from any other institutional position”.
The response of the head of communication of the Region was not long in coming: «The text of the song Settembre Nero dates back to a period of my life in which I don’t recognize myself. Reading those words again today I feel embarrassed and horrified, just as today I wouldn’t rewrite other songs made in the past. In the last twenty years my life has radically changed, also and above all thanks to my humanitarian experience in the Red Cross. I have dedicated years to respecting the values of impartiality and neutrality, helping those who suffer and doing my best to serve others without distinction. In these twenty years I have radically changed my vision of life, of humanity and of myself. I am aware that the lyrics of that song can still cause offense and suffering today. Unfortunately I cannot go back and erase the past. I can only commit myself every day to repair».
Carlo Calenda, secretary of Action: «This De Angelis has crossed the line for a long time. Rocca should have already fired him. There is a bubbling of racist, homophobic and anti-Semitic foam in this country that needs to be stopped. And Giorgia Meloni cannot continue to pretend nothing has happened ».
