Milan’s Jews condemn meeting of right-wing movements

Milan’s Jewish community has condemned a meeting of European extreme right-wing movements due to be held at a Milan hotel Friday and Saturday.

In a statement, the Milan Jewish community expressed “alarm” at the meeting, which is to include representatives of Hungary’s Jobbik Party, the French Front National and Britain’s British National Party, among others.

They all form part of an alliance of “national” parties across Europe. Italy’s far-right movement, the Fiamma Tricolore (Tri-color Flame), is hosting the meeting.

“These organizations want to turn back the clock to the darkest period of European history,” the statement said. “The democratic institutions in the city must prevent it.”

It called on Italian authorities to see if there were provisions under Italy’s anti-racisim and anti-incitement laws to “cancel this worrying gathering, even at the last minute.”

The national “Italy-Israel Association” issued a similar statement, and the Jewish member of parliament from Milan, Emanuele Fiano, presented a note to the Interior Minister expressing concern that Milan would be the scene of a “meeting of European neo-fascist forces that, as always in history, try to take advantage of the difficult social situation to propagate their ideologies of hatred and death.”