A sign that appeared on the door of a haberdashery in the heart of Milan, in Moscova, with the words in Hebrew “Israeli Zionists are not welcome here,” underneath another sign with the words Stop War and a drawing of two rockets, one with the Palestinian flag and one with the Israeli flag, has sparked controversy and protests.

Roberto Della Rocca, a former member of the Israeli-Italian Chamber of Commerce, told the story on his social media . "As long as there is the words 'stop the war' with a rocket with the Israeli flag and a rocket in the opposite direction with the Palestinian flag, it's fine, I could put it up too," he wrote. But the sign in Hebrew "so as not to attract attention" goes further, due to "bad faith, often of anti-Semitic origin", or "acephalitis".

"I am Israeli, I am Zionist (a movement for the self-determination of an oppressed, discriminated, hated, deported, exterminated people. A movement that harks back, among other things, to the Italian Risorgimento), so I can't enter? Why?", Della Roccam asked himself. "What have I done? Am I part of this government? No. Have I killed children? No. Do I live in a colony? No. So what?"

According to Milanese city councilor Daniele Nahum of Azione, something like this is the result of the "climate of tension, which has now allowed the use of terms that foment anti-Jewish hatred". For this reason, in a situation in which "an attack like the one on the Jewish Museum in Washington could very well be repeated in Italy", "a great national mobilization against anti-Semitism is needed".

The condemnation of the sign was bipartisan, from the Green councilor Carlo Monguzzi to the FdI deputy Riccardo De Corato. In the meantime, however, the writing has been removed for "our safety because it was misinterpreted and I'm sorry and it makes me very angry" explained the owner of the haberdashery on Via Statuto. "We are not anti-Semitic or racist. We do not want to be manipulated", he added. "We are against this massacre, for peace. They misinterpreted the writing that was displayed, they threw it on religion but we do not talk about this. We talk about peace as the Pope said at his inauguration", he added, "We are also against what is happening in Ukraine".

And "it is not true that Jews are not welcome here, we have friends and acquaintances and even people who have come to us to thank us for the solidarity we give to the Palestinian people," he concluded, "I am referring to the massacre of civilians, every people must have its own nation and it should have been done some time ago. We are very sorry for what happened."

(Online Union)

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