The New Communist Party is a marginal force but its blacklist garnered widespread attention and scorn from politicians and the media.
By JNS
The New Communist Party of Italy recently published a list of Italian Jews, among them well-known figures in politics, media and business, labeling them “Zionist agents” to be “condemned and fought” for supporting Israel.
The list, titled “Zionist Organizations and Agents in Italy,” contains more than 150 names organized by category.
Categories included companies from various economic sectors, such as financial, industry, technology and military, among them Ahava Dead Sea Laboratories, Electra Consumer Products, SodaStream International and Elbit Systems.
The list also named individuals in categories such as “Zionists in political parties or representatives of public organizations active in supporting the Zionist state of Israel” and “Zionists in the media and cultural spheres who support or promote the Zionist state in Italy.”
Prominent figures on the list include former journalist and current politician Senator Ester Mieli, former Italian Ambassador to Israel Luigi Mattiolo, former President of the Jewish Community of Rome Riccardo Pacifici, and journalists Maurizio Molinari and Emanuela Dviri.
The New Communist Party is a marginal force but its blacklist garnered widespread attention and scorn from politicians and the media.
The right-wing Brothers of Italy Party denounced the list.
President of the Senate Ignazio La Russa, a co-founder of Brothers of Italy, said, “I find it very serious that the New Communist Party has published on its website names and surnames of politicians, journalists and entrepreneurs ‘guilty’ of having supported Israel.
“This is a serious and unacceptable attack on freedom of thought and a worrying threat to the safety of the people involved,” he said, calling for “unanimous condemnation.”
The center-left Democratic Party joined in denouncing the list, demanding a parliamentary inquiry.
“A delirious statement from an antisemitic group, calling itself the New Italian Communist Party, is circulating in these hours, which draws up a proscription list of people, associations, entities and companies to be boycotted and hit for their relations with Israel and the Jewish world. It is the umpteenth episode in a long series of antisemitic acts,” the Democratic Party said in a statement.
Rome’s Jewish community also condemned the list, describing it as the latest in a string of acts pointing to a “resurgent antisemitism that increasingly raises its voice and the level of its threats.”
The New Communist Party defended the list, calling it retaliation for a “smear campaign” against Gabriele Rubini, a former semi-professional rugby player, chef and TV presenter, who goes by the name Chef Rubio and has posted numerous antisemitic and anti-Israel remarks on social media since Oct. 7.
An Italian court recently ordered Rubini to remove inflammatory posts against Jews and Israel and pay a fine for any post not deleted.
In May, he was beaten up outside his home by six assailants. He blamed “Zionist Jews.”
Antisemitism is on the rise in Italy, including a clash with police over the inclusion of Israeli exhibitors at a jewelry fair, the vandalism of Holocaust memorial stones, and a disturbing episode from the pro-Israel Brothers of Italy’s youth movement, whose members were caught on tape shouting “Sieg Heil.”