Sharp Upswing of Anti-semitic Harassment of Italian Jews

An investigation by the American Jewish Committee’s European Office has revealed a sharp upswing in anti-Semitic harassment of Italian Jews by groups calling themselves Anti-Zionist Committees or the Anti-Zionist Documentation Center. The campaign has taken the form of the distribution of lists of Jews through the mail to Italian cities, inciting the non-Jewish population to make Jews pay for “the genocide perpetrated by Israel against the Palestinians.”

The AJ Committee stated that the completeness of the lists of Jewish names indicated that the anti-Jewish groups were engaged in “constant surveillance and updating.” In other instances, the AJ Committee said, the lists have been sent directly to Jews who are addressed as “the accomplices of assassins.” An excerpt reads: “In solidarity with the struggle of the Arab people, a contribution to the common cause of anti-imperialism, we publish a short list of Zionist personalities operating in Italy in the fields of politics and journalism. They are blood relatives of the Israeli pillagers, accomplices of their plunders and their crimes.”

The attack by mail on Jews in Ferrara has been especially virulent, Morris H. Bergreen, chairman of the AJ Committee’s Foreign Affairs Commission, said: “First on the list is the synagogue, next the rabbi and the president of the Jewish community. There follows an alphabetical list of 105 persons, which would seem to include every Jewish man, woman and child in Ferrara, inasmuch as the total Jewish population in the city is estimated at approximately 120.”