Italian authorities have shut down an anonymous online form that encouraged people to report the whereabouts of Israeli and Jewish tourists, after Jewish leaders warned it risked fuelling antisemitic attacks and echoed some of Europe’s darkest chapters.
The Google form, which circulated through social media and messaging groups before being removed, invited users to identify Israelis, Jews and people believed to have links to Zionism staying in hotels, holiday rentals, businesses and other public places across Italy.
The document said it was intended to record “Zionist tourism”, property purchases and what it described as “Zionist neo-colonisation” in Italy. It also asked contributors to report where Israeli or Jewish visitors had been seen and whether local organisations or activist groups were already “managing the phenomenon”, according to the Italian newspaper La Repubblica.
The form stated that responses would be sent to the Global Sumud Movement and would remain confidential. The group is known for organising pro-Palestinian flotillas to Gaza, although its leader denied any involvement in creating the questionnaire.
According to The Times of Israel, the form was removed following the intervention of Italy’s National Coordinator for the Fight Against Antisemitism, General Pasquale Angelosanto.
Italy’s Senate President Ignazio La Russa described the campaign as “an aberrant initiative, in open violation of fundamental human rights and the constitutional principles on which our nation is founded.”
Walker Meghnagi, president of the Jewish Community of Milan, condemned the initiative, saying: “I think we’re going back to the 1930s, to hunting Jews.”
He warned that publishing information about where Jewish people could be found could encourage extremists to act.
“What is happening today shows that there are unbalanced individuals out there, and if this kind of message spreads widely enough, you are certain to find someone willing to act on it,” he said.
“For this reason, mapping where Jews are is extremely serious.”
He also called on Italy’s judiciary and political leaders to take action against the campaign.
The European Jewish Congress said the questionnaire effectively encouraged people to identify and target individuals because they were Jewish or Israeli.
“Presented as a ‘mapping of Zionist tourism,’ the initiative effectively encourages the identification and targeting of individuals based on their actual or perceived Jewish identity or nationality,” the organisation said.
“Such attempts to single out individuals based on their identity create fear, fuel hatred and place Jewish communities at greater risk.
“The Italian authorities must act swiftly to ensure those responsible are held accountable and that such dangerous practices are stopped immediately.”
