From threats to insults, the growth of cases in the ‘real’ world in proportion to the web is worrying.
An Italian Jewish student was targeted by her classmates because she was Israeli and Jewish. One of her threatened her by saying: “I’ll throw you out the window”. It is just one of the latest reports to arrive at the “Antenna antisemitismo” of the Contemporary Jewish Documentation Center Foundation (Cdec), the 24-hour service that collects episodes of antisemitic hostility and intolerance. During the month of October 2023, after the Hamas attack on Israel on 7 October, incidents of antisemitism increased: in Italy there were 42 incidents recorded by the Antisemitism Observatory, double compared to the same period last year.
From the beginning of the year to date, 278 have occurred along the Peninsula, including 28 for threats to people, 198 for defamation and insults, 10 for vandalism. From posts on social media praising the annihilation of the State of Israel to insults even in pro-Palestine marches in various centers of Italy, the growth of episodes in the ‘real’ world in proportion to those which are consumed via the web is “worrying”, which remain the most predominant part.
“Antisemitism has always increased in moments when Jews are at the center of attention, during conflicts in Israel, or on Remembrance Day, or following statements by Senator Liliana Segre. Antisemitism is not a uniform ideology or feeling but is made up of different segments of attitudes, opinions and prejudices which in the event of a crisis re-emerge with lesser or greater virulence. It is not the expression of a single attitude but of a multitude that manifests itself in forms of hatred or stereotypes towards Jews on the part of different people, of all socio-cultural levels”, explains sociologist Betti Guetta, head of the Antisemitism Observatory of the CDEC Foundation, confirming that in October 2023 “there was a significant increase in offline antisemitism episodes in Italy, a worrying sign”.
“Insults, written in premises in Jewish neighborhoods, swastikas appearing on the walls of structures belonging to Jewish professionals, what we are experiencing is a dark and rather delicate moment – underlines Betti Guetta – The reports we collect from North to South, both through Antisemitism antenna which, with other tools, are just the tip of the iceberg. Out of fear but also great concern about the risks of conflict in the Gaza Strip, many antisemitic incidents go unreported.”
