Several Jews attending a rally in Milan marking the anniversary of Italy’s liberation from the Nazis and Fascists at the end of the Second World War were insulted and prevented from continuing along the event’s route.
Eventually, police urged Jewish participants, marching under the banners of the Second World War Jewish Brigade and other Jewish organisations, to leave the event for their own safety.
“We were kicked out; I can’t describe it in any other way,” said Emanuele Fiano, a former MP for the centre-left Democratic Party and the son of an Auschwitz survivor. “The Jewish Brigade that fought alongside the partisans against the Nazi-Fascists, the ‘Left for Israel — Two States for Two Peoples’ organisation, members of the Jewish community, and members of the socialist Jewish scout group Hashomer Hatzair were all expelled from a rally that was supposed to celebrate freedom.”
The Jewish Brigade was a unit of around 5,000 Jewish soldiers who volunteered to serve in the British Army against Nazi Germany. The Brigade fought in Italy during the final months of the war.
For several years, members of the Jewish community have taken part in the rally under the banner of the Jewish Brigade (two vertical light blue stripes separated by a white stripe in the centre, bearing a yellow Star of David).
Those marching under the Jewish Brigade symbols have regularly been targeted by pro-Palestinian activists in recent years.
