AND
n Italy is Passing something anomalous. There are those who say that something like that was not seen since the 70s, others say that since the 90s, and others that from the movement against the war in Iraq of 2003. The truth is that I, that I am 43 years old and observed politics since 1998, had never lived a season of marches and initiatives, practically permanent, radical and with such a diverse social composition, as we are seeing in support of the Palestinian people Flotilla
After the impressive day of September 22, the squares have not emptied. From Wednesday, October 1 – day of the attack on the humanitarian flotilla towards Gaza – until Saturday 4, mobilizations have occurred every day. On October 1 and 2, more than 100 cities were crossed by spontaneous demonstrations, trains blockages and protests in the streets. On October 3 something even more rare happened: a general strike called not only by combative unions, but also by the CGIL – the largest union central in the country -, which practically paralyzed Italy.
The union competition in Italy is strong, and this convergence was pushed from the bases. There is talk of labor abstention levels that in some sectors exceeded 80%, with marches everywhere: from Turin to Naples, passing through Palermo, Milan, Cagliari and Bari, and including many medium and small cities. It is impossible to count all places. It is estimated that, adding all the demonstrations of that day, more than 2 million people participated. And it is not just numbers: there were blockages in ports, highways and logistics centers, as well as strikes and occupations in schools, universities, hospitals and in public transport. The mobilization was transverse and deep.
And then, on October 4, the national march in Rome. One million people toured the capital demanding not only the end of genocide in Palestine, but also denouncing the political and military complicity of the Meloni government, as well as that of the European Union. Rabies and dignity were found in a permanent mobilization that managed to unite many souls and forms of struggle: the “liturgy” of the traditional national autumn march – a well known by Italian movements – merged with a new form of territorial activation, forged in recent years by movements such as a day (feminists), Fridays for Future, Extinction Rebellion and the collectives Students arising from the “wave” against the Gelmini reform (a neoliberal reform of the university system).
It is at this intersection of languages, practices and subjectivities where something deeply new is moving. A new genealogy of solidarity and militancy. Plazas where leftist parties and unions, activists from social centers and migrant communities, student groups and grandmothers with peace flags, second and third generations of racialized Italians and metallurgical workers, young queer and believers of all religions. A crowd, as Toni Negri would say, which today seems even more real than the one that took the streets in Genoa in 2001 and that was part of the altermundist movement of those years.
In this cycle of struggles – which does not foresee an end until the genocide and colonial occupation of Gaza ends – there is not only international solidarity. A fracture in the heart of Italian society also opens. The almost unconditional support of the government to Israel, the criminalization of protests, the silence of the great media and academic institutions, have reinforced the feeling of isolation and rejection in broad sectors of the population. Criticism of colonialism has left university thought to become political practice. And so, in that void, something has been filled. The squares have become places of word and encounter, of care and anger, of living and non -delegate policy.
No one knows if this movement will resist in time or if a new season of struggles will be born, a spring for the militants of tomorrow. While writing, the demonstration in Rome continues, and the traditional media, as there are no clashes, do not know what to say. They do not have the value of recognizing the magnitude of what is happening or the social fracture that has become evident. In many secondary schools, students are reading Palestinian poetry, seeing documentaries, carrying Keffiyehs and class flags. An entire generation – which many believed apathetic – is learning to name the word Apartheidto ask what is Zionism, who are the accomplices, what is colonialism and power.
And if solidarity has always been an engine of social struggles, today we ask ourselves if a collective consciousness is not formed that no longer accepts commitment, normalization of crime, or indifference. The cry of “Free Palestine!” It resonates everywhere: in the songs of the marches, in the murals that appear in the cities, in the posters that hang from the windows and that no longer need the professionals of the marches to make themselves heard.
* Italian journalist
