Fascists and Jews united for Rome mayor

[Aptrgangr]

Fascists and Jews united for Rome mayor

By Guy Dinmore in Rome
Published: May 4 2008 19:18 | Last updated: May 4 2008 19:18

Rome’s election last week of its first rightwing mayor since the time of Benito Mussolini has been celebrated by fascists as a historic victory over the left.
Packs of young, thuggish supporters of Gianni Alemanno greeted the new mayor’s appearance at the Campidoglio city hall with straight-armed “Roman” salutes, shouting abuse at communists and immigrants.

“Before, if you were a fascist you had to pretend to be part of the mainstream to have respectability. Now they are coming out of the closet,” said an aide to the defeated centre-left candidate, Francesco Rutelli.
Debate over the significance of the National Alliance’s first election victory in a major city has been intense – especially among the capital’s small but important Jewish commun­ity, which is widely thought to have swung in Mr Alemanno’s favour. Rome’s Jewish voters, numbering about 9,000, explain their shift to the right in various ways, most often because they see the National Alliance as firmly pro-Israel.

Michel Bokhobza, whose family fled from Libya to Rome in 1967 in the wake of the Arab-Israeli Six-Day war, says Italy’s centre-right is much closer to Israel than the pro-Arab bias of the centre-left.
“Even if his past was very close to fascism and ex-fascism, Alemanno belongs to the coalition guided by [Silvio] Berlusconi and [Gianfranco] Fini,” he said, referring to the People of Liberty alliance that also swept national elections last month.

Mr Bokhobza had always voted for centre-left candidates for Rome mayor. Giving his second reason for changing, he said they had not managed the city well. “The ideology of politics is finished,” he added.
Sandro Di Castro, president of the Jewish community’s Bene Berith association, says the present sense of danger posed to Israel by Islamists and Iran outweighs memories of the more distant and tragic past of the mass deportations from Rome by the Nazis and Mussolini’s anti-Jewish race laws.

Times had changed, he said, since 1993 and the first open elections for Rome. The right’s candidate then was Mr Fini, now leader of the National Alliance, who at that point was part of its neo-fascist predecessor, the MSI, the direct heirs of Mussolini.
“Fini was then seen as a demon and neo-fascist,” said Mr Di Castro. The “turning point” came in 1995 when Mr Fini became head of the new National Alliance and started to steer it towards the mainstream. That process was completed in 2003 when, as deputy prime minister in the second Berlusconi government, Mr Fini denounced fascism as an “absolute evil” in a ground-breaking visit to Israel.
Mr Alemanno’s personal journey is less certain. Leftwing commentators have called the 50-year-old former agriculture minister fascist, neo-fascist and post-fascist – in the 1980s he headed the sometimes violent youth wing of the MSI in Rome.

But, campaigning on a law-and-order platform, he was also astute in courting the Jewish vote, promising to continue school visits to Auschwitz and to complete work on a Holocaust museum in Rome.
Dominique Sicouri, from Egypt’s Jewish community, says her “heart is with the left” but she still decided to work with Mr Alemanno in building ties with France’s ruling UMP party, for which she acts as spokeswoman in Italy. She sees Mr Alemanno as intelligent, serious and a pragmatic moderniser. His Jewish supporters say that in power he will be better placed to rein in extremism. If he fails, they will be among the first to desert him.

FT.com / In depth - Fascists and Jews united for Rome mayor

[Marcus Marulus]

Sounds almost incredible...

[Aptrgangr]

Originally Posted by Marulus

Sounds almost incredible...

Why? Just have a look at the Flemish Vlaams Belang, which got support from Jews, and the BNP too I have read somewhere...

[Strengthandhonour]

To me it is not very surprising. This trend will possibly continue to spread throughout Europe I think. European Jews are beginning to feel threatened by the large amounts of Muslims so what better way to fight that than to try and unite with the fascists?

[Marcus Marulus]

Yes, at least one part of the Jews seems to be moving towards the right. Supposed common front against Muslims may be only one of the reasons for that. Another might be a larger project of Westernism which has been promoted since 2001 and in which Jews are scheduled to take active part.

[Errigal]

Originally Posted by Marulus

Yes, at least one part of the Jews seems to be moving towards the right. Supposed common front against Muslims may be only one of the reasons for that. Another might be a larger project of Westernism which has been promoted since 2001 and in which Jews are scheduled to take part in actively.

Westernism? You mean what others call Globalism or Atlanticism?

[Marcus Marulus]

Originally Posted by Errigal

Westernism? You mean what others call Globalism or Atlanticism?

Yes, I was meaning that. Promoting the unity of "Western Civilization" (whatever that means) in front of various threats (real or imagined ones).

[Errigal]

Originally Posted by Marulus

Yes, I was meaning that. Promoting the unity of "Western Civilization" (whatever that means) in front of various threats (real or imagined ones).

It is true what you said in your earlier post as well. The alliance described in the news story (and the Financial Times decision to run such a story) indicates a political shift by some Jews who are looking for new friends after 9/11 etc.

[Strengthandhonour]

I think this also raises the question about the conspiracy theories of jews controlling all the European media and politics as well.

[Kernunnos]

Originally Posted by Marulus

Sounds almost incredible...

Incredible? This AN party had refused its fascist legacy at least ten years ago, even coming to ask for immigrant citizenship in a mere five years.

They are called fascist just by the usual leftist leaning press, and with a double meaning: to scare leftist leaning people and to make believe conservative voters that that "fascist" party is still conservative, while
actually they are a sort of liberal - neocon party.

In fact both kind of electorate are duped ... as usual.

[Kernunnos]

Originally Posted by Marulus

Yes, at least one part of the Jews seems to be moving towards the right. Supposed common front against Muslims may be only one of the reasons for that. Another might be a larger project of Westernism which has been promoted since 2001 and in which Jews are scheduled to take active part in.

You have said it all

[Routasydän]

Originally Posted by Strengthandhonour

I think this also raises the question about the conspiracy theories of jews controlling all the European media and politics as well.

Well it could just be a coincidence that many of the most successful parties which have been ascribed some kind of nationalist label, happen to be usually pro-Israel and supported by Jews. I think the point made by increased Islamist presence is true, but many Jews have simply been emigrating (as have native Europeans for that matter).

Between fire and sword: Antwerp\'s choice | openDemocracy

Vlaams Blok/Belang is still completely quarantined in Belgian public and political life, though.

[Tryggr]

Originally Posted by wilpuri

Vlaams Blok/Belang is still completely quarantined in Belgian public and political life, though.

In political life, sadly they are.

But I believe it's slowly changing. With the appearance of small parties like VLOTT and LDD, and the renewed interest in N-VA - these days the Cordon Sanitaire is actually a subject that in centre right circles is under discussion again now and then.

The problem is that the big parties like the catholics and the liberals still support it. But they sold out to the left wing anyway. Bah.

As far as public life is concerned. The days that people were ashamed to voice their support of the VB are pretty much over. More and more people are "coming out of the closet", to use a silly multicult term.

[Gavril]

The jewish vote aside, is this not a positive development? Or am I being naïve? I thought the old MSI people were in the good books.

[Kernunnos]

Originally Posted by Errigal

It is true what you said in your earlier post as well. The alliance described in the news story (and the Financial Times decision to run such a story) indicates a political shift by some Jews who are looking for new friends after 9/11 etc.

True but the "alliance" lies within the sacred multicultural society framework ... no room for homogeneous societies, even if Israel is looking for a recognition as such state. If only they were less self-centered, in exchange for a just recognition of the right of the Jews to live in a jewish state by all nationalists, most of which forces are now positioned on obstinate pro-arab and even pro-moslem position, they coul give us support to our claims, who are the same. After all Israel is the last nationalist state existing in the so called liberal-democratic world. More broadly, this kind of mutual recognition could exist between any serious nationalist state in the world, building an alternate world to the soulless one world government foolish utopia.

[Kernunnos]

Originally Posted by Sergius

The jewish vote aside, is this not a positive development? Or am I being naïve? I thought the old MSI people were in the good books.

They are strongly immigrationists. Not a case if in the North they lost one elector in four to the more sanguine Lega Nord.

[Tuco]

As far as I know, Italian fascism, historicaly, was quite friendly to Jews on the start. Anyway, this all seems strange to me, as far as I know Italian (neo-)Fascist movements, they are quite "anti-Semitic".

[Marcus Marulus]

Originally Posted by M.R.

As far as I know, Italian fascism, historicaly, was quite friendly to Jews on the start. Anyway, this all seems strange to me, as far as I know Italian (neo-)Fascist movements, they are quite "anti-Semitic".

Mussolini had introduced racial laws in 1938, aimed against Jews. The Jews also could not forgive his participation in the war on the Axis side, in close relationship with Germany.

[Tuco]

Yes, I know, but I referred to the start of Fascist movement, I think the movement was financed by Jews, and if I'm not wrong the Jews also supported Italian nationalism (unification of Italy) back in 19th cenutry...

[Almost a Christian]

Mussolini had a Jewish mistress (an artist IRRC) in the early of days of his government, a few Fascist officials where Jewish and Mussolini's government also resisted pressure to deport Jews up until 1943. Mussolini's movement developed completely independent of the NSDAP until quite late in the day. Furthermore, almost everyone in the West was to a certain degree anti-semetic for want of a better word..

I have my doubts about this political coalition. Silvio is a globalist, pure and simple and whether these developments are truly positive depends on how these people stack up on questions of tradition and sovereignity. The media flinging about "far right" doesn't mean alot to me...