The Dem representative and some of his party colleagues denounce the “squadism” of those who prevented the debate on Palestine in Venice. Too bad the censors were, by their own admission, communists
Once again “it was fascism”. It is fascism that censors, fascism that destroys, fascism that produces every distortion of current society. A victim of fascism was, for example, Emanuele Fiano, an esteemed exponent of the Democratic Party. They invited him to speak at the Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, but a group of agitated pro-Palestine activists showed up in the room where the meeting was being held and started shouting to sabotage the whole thing. The slogan was “Zionists out of the universities”, and in fact the aim was achieved: Fiano had to drop the microphone and leave. Interviewed by the main newspapers, the exponent of the Democratic Party – who is a polite and conversant person – rightly becomes indignant and remembers with pain when in 1938 his father was kicked out of class at the age of 13 due to the racial laws. Then he declares: «This is a fascist attitude!». And he adds: “In this case the neo-fascists are not to blame, but those guys use a fascist method.”
On the left, most are silent (perhaps out of embarrassment or perhaps because they approve of the behavior of the pro Pals) but many others agree with Fiano. Piero Fassino explains that «a group of pro-Pal troublemakers violently prevented the holding of a peace meeting in which he should have spoken Lele Fiano», and defines the incident as «an intolerable act, the result of the prejudices and fanaticism of those who, invoking democracy, resort to squadrist methods to impose slogans and visions completely opposed to the values of peace and justice». Same line for the dem Giorgio Goriwhich declares: «Fanaticism and squad methods are of no help to the cause of the Palestinian people – on the contrary, they damage it – nor to that of peace».
Fascism, racial laws, squad methods. Small problem: the censors of Fiano they called themselves the Communist Youth Front and have the hammer and sickle as their symbol. But no one can say that they are communists. Indeed, some even go so far as to resurrect the ancient category of comrades who make mistakes. Gad Lernerfor example, sentences: «Who prevented a Emanuele Fiano to speak at the University of Venice wants war and not peace between Israelis and Palestinians. Imported fanaticism, nothing but the hammer and sickle. One more obstacle on the tiring path of coexistence.” As if to say: these are not real communists, but fascists in disguise. Which was what was said about the Red Brigades and what is said every time left-wing violence and intolerance manifest themselves.
The division is simple: the good ones are red, the bad ones are black. If you beat or prevail with the hammer and sickle you are, at best, a red fascist, and nothing else, because communists are good by definition. We cannot argue otherwise, because it would mean recognizing that communism, throughout history, has repeatedly and violently silenced political opponents, critics and free thinkers, and not only in the Soviet Union or Cambodia. And this is simply unacceptable. Absolute evil is fascist, in whatever form it manifests itself. Netanyahu bomb Gaza? He’s fascist. Hamas kills Jews? Hamas is also fascist. In practice it turns out that in Palestine a clash is taking place between fascists, as in Ukraine, with the fascist Trump which sanctions the fascist Putin. The right is always fascist unless it does left-wing things (and sometimes even then), and fascism is always evil by definition. Therefore the right is always cruel and racist, unless it becomes completely distorted. As for the left, if it carries out unbecoming actions then it is fascist, and therefore right-wing. And so we return to the starting assumption: the right is evil, the left is good. Regardless of concrete actions.
The fact is that even the definitions of good and evil change according to convenience. The case of Fiano provides, again, a very useful example. The censorship he has suffered is pathetic and shameful, and regardless of opinion it is simply intolerable that someone should be deprived of their speech in that way. However, let us remember that similar events involving centre-right exponents were treated in a very different way. When Eugenia Roccella was silenced at the Turin Book Fair a few years ago, it was said that she had just received a few boos, that she was playing the victim and that dissent couldn’t be quelled. And it was intellectuals who said it, not street militants.
The feeling is that the left does not like the weapons it has used for years being used against it. The same Fiano – to whom all our solidarity goes – over the years he has repeatedly proposed liberticidal laws which had the declared aim of “fighting fascism”. Here, in that circumstance and with that objective, censorship was considered good and right. The short circuit explodes when “anti-fascist censorship” is exercised by left-wing groups against another exponent of the left. We don’t doubt that Fianofor the comrades of the Communist Youth Front, is a dangerous fascio-Zionist who deserves to be silenced. As well as for Fiano those of the FGC are propal fascists.
This is the problem of the continuous fight against non-existent fascism: it works as long as the fascists are the others. Then one day you wake up, you discover that the one accused of fascism is you, and you realize that having your mouth shut is not pleasant at all.
