The big fear after october 7th

This book by Antonino D’Anna is necessary and I would like to thank him once again for having developed a considerable part of it on Radio Libertà. When I say “necessary”, please do not imagine any ulterior motive of a merely promotional nature, at the risk of considering my contribution a simple note in the margin, rather than a preface. In this context, “necessary” means corresponding to both a historical, and everyday, necessity. Or at least, to something perceived as a necessity by anyone not yet ready to give up on that trisyllabic trifle which characterises the West: li-ber-ty. The aim is not to ruffle the feathers of Ugo La Malfa. And yet, perhaps it is, at a time when our gurus have become those such as Ghali or, at best, Fiorella Mannoia: “The freedom of the West is defended under the walls of Jerusalem”. La Malfa’s phrase (which, in reality, is nothing more than an acknowledgement of values) seems even more prescient today, especially in the wake of 7 October.


It is worth briefly recalling the events of 7 October (in-depth analysis of the multi-faceted significance of the horrors that occurred is just one of the vital contributions made over the following pages), since that terrible date has since been subject to a vast campaign of editing, if not rewriting (the anniversary of the massacre even witnessed gatherings in the name of the ‘Palestinian resistance’).

 

7 October was nothing more or less than proof that both Eric Hobsbawm and Francis Fukuyama were wrong. The twentieth century was not short; rather it continues to gnaw at the start of the new millennium. The end of history is a fallacy and we are hurtling towards yet another of its terrible convulsions. And of these multiple signs of disaster, one stands out: murderous antisemitism. 7 October marked the vicious resurgence of the pogrom – the hunting, torture, throat-slitting, execution and annihilation of the Jew, simply for being Jewish. Those who fail to cross this minimal, yet vital, threshold of understanding may even believe, in good faith (though these cases are few and far between), that the reasons why the Middle East is (once again) running with blood relate to land, settlements, statehood or diplomatic recognition. The superficial coverage in the news seems to show that the historical fault line that is (once again) gaping wide is the result of a clash of civilisations. Yet, such an inference is not put forward by Antonino, nor by me; it is the view expounded by every anti-semitic cutthroat, all the way up to the cutthroat in chief himself, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ayatollah Khamenei. They all hate the Jews (and wish to wipe the ‘Zionist entity’ off the map) since Jews are infidels, secular, governed by a liberal democracy, believe in a pluralism of values and religion, are not subject to Sharia law, do not cage their women behind a veil, permit the free pursuit of individual lifestyles and represent a blasphemous anomaly with respect to everything that surrounds them. They hate the Jews and attack them, above all because they are a reflection of the West.

 

My West and that of Antonino, the readers of this book and even those who join demonstrations, waving their rainbow flags and screaming “free Palestine!”, while unaware of the personal treatment the gentlemen of Hamas reserve for members of the LGBT community: throwing them off the roof. What happens in the Middle East affects us, too. It is our world and our lives that are at stake, shielded for now by those of the Israeli soldiers (I would direct the reader particularly to the conversations with Anna Cinzia Bonfrisco and Magdi Cristiano Allam for more on this key point). And what has been the standard response in the West – under attack through every Jewish throat cut? To spit in the face of these Israeli soldiers, of the Netanyahu government, of the State of Israel, of the Jew in general and, in an act of the utmost cultural masochism, of ourselves. In the most prestigious universities on both sides of the Atlantic, we have heard the obscene “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free”, an explicit call for the eradication of the Jewish nation, a chant with a direct echo in the beer halls of 1930s Munich (for more on this academic madness, the interview with Alexander Kestenbaum, a Jewish-American student who has denounced the antisemitism in his university, Harvard, is essential reading). In Italy, blacklists of so-called ‘Zionist agents’ are being drawn up and published. And one of those appearing on such lists (and it tears my heart even to write this) is Liliana Segre, whose registration number was 75190 in Auschwitz. What we are facing is unquestionably a complete distortion of history, morals and existence itself.

 

The horrors have returned, this time amid the applause of those kind souls who, once a year, soothe their consciences from their armchairs, by marking the International Holocaust Remembrance Day. Yet, how can such remembrance be honest or genuine without choosing a side now? With those who wish to bring back pogroms and wipe the Jewish state from the map or with the Jews themselves, who, with arms, technology and intelligence, seek to defend themselves, to ensure that #neveragain is not merely a comforting catchphrase on social media. So, yes, what follows is bloody necessary.

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