Antisemitism: Italian Inquiry Committee votes unanimously on final report
mercoledì 12 ottobre 2011 English 0 commenti
Statement by MP Fiamma Nirenstein, vice-president of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, president of the Committee for the Inquiry into Antisemitism Rome, October 12th, 2011
“I am pleased to announce that, after two years of works, the Committee for the Inquiry into Antisemitism of the Italian Chamber of Deputies that I have the honor to chair, has approved unanimously its Final Report, that will be presented to the public and the press on Monday October 17th.
The Committee has been instituted in December 2009 by the President of the Chamber of Deputies and it is formed by 26 MPs from the Institutional Affairs and Foreign Affairs Committees, from all the parties.
The Report is the result of an accurate elaboration of data and studies collected during dozens of hearings. It is an alarming and innovative document compared to the existing literature on the subject. We believe it can be a landmark and an inspiration especially for our youngsters.
The data that we examined highlight the escalation worldwide of Antisemitism and examine its several faces: according to the polls, 44% of the Italians declare “not to feel sympathy” toward the Jews. The report analyzes as well the new and widespread phenomenon of online Antisemitism, probably responsible for the 22% of Italian youngsters having a diverse hostile attitude toward the Jews.
The document, though saving the possibility to criticize Israel politics, condemns the new Antisemitism, which applies to the State of Israel typical antisemitic stereotypes.
The report examines as well the phenomenon of Holocaust denial. It also selects several cultural and legislative aims to be adopted in order to actively contrast what the historian Robert Wistrich defines as “the longest hatred”.
The Final Report will be presented to the public and the press on Monday October 17th, at the Italian Parliament (Palazzo Montecitorio, Sala della Lupa, Rome), at 10:30, by a panel of experts and members of the Committee. The participants are: Antonio Leone, Vice-president of the Chamber of Deputies; Fiamma Nirenstein, Chairperson of the Committee; MPs Margherita Boniver and Paolo Corsini, members of the Committee; Charles Small, director, Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy, USA; Mons. Rino Fisichella, president of the Pontifical Council for the Promotion of the New Evangelization; Gert Weisskirchen, Interparliamentary Coalition for Combating Antisemitism (ICCA); Leone Paserman, president of the Museum of the Shoah Foundation; Claudia De Benedetti, vice-president of the Union of the Italian Jewish Communities (UCEI); Ugo Volli, semiologist, University of Turin; Umberto Silva, psychoanalyst and writer”.
The report will be available from Monday in English as well. Attached is the invitation to the presentation.
It is necessary to confirm presence with an email to: cerimoniale.adesioni@camera.it and cc: nirenstein_f@camera.it
Men are required to wear a suit.