In Italy, there are several bills that aim to introduce the IHRA’s operational definition of antisemitism, i.e. the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance.
Although they refer to the fight against antisemitism, these bills trivialise it and equate it with the expression of critical opinions towards the Israeli state’s occupation policies. These policies have been recognised as illegal and racially discriminatory by the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice in July 2024, and as forms of apartheid by the most important Palestinian, Israeli and international organisations working in defence of human rights. As demonstrated by these same organisations and numerous United Nations reports, the policies implemented by the State of Israel have accelerated over the last two years and have resulted in forms of genocidal violence against the Palestinian people.
With a number of academics around the peninsula, today we have started an appeal to block these bills. They have nothing to do with anti-semitism, and they are just there to undermine our capacity to contest the genocidal project of the State of Israel in Palestine.
If you work in Italian academia – or perhaps you are visiting – consider signing our petition: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1YyUjMyjVoZc5aZ23fUyoCKVLsZswkCgrMO2F83eihV8/edit?tab=t.0