Rome, 29 April (LaPresse) – “On 25 April, he turned up at the large and popular rally celebrating the anniversary of the Liberation from Nazi-Fascism, wearing a full-face helmet and armed with a pellet gun, with which he fired at two members of the ANPI (guilty of wearing the scarf of our partisan association), wounding them. The arrest last night by the police of Etihan Bondi, a 21-year-old described by the entire national press as ‘a member of the Jewish community’, highlights how victim-blaming rhetoric and media distortions crumble in the face of the facts.” So stated ANPI Rome in a press release. “This incident,” the statement continues, “is not an isolated one and forms part of a long series of raids on schools and intimidation of various kinds carried out by self-styled Zionist groups against ANPI and against teachers, students, community spaces and workers. The violence used to target the couple and, through them, ANPI and the entire anti-fascist community of Rome confirms that the historical memory of the Resistance and the popular mobilisation it continues to inspire today represent the enemy of those who not only support colonial wars of aggression and genocides such as those perpetrated for years by the Netanyahu government (against whom an international arrest warrant hangs for war crimes) against the Palestinian people, who are fighting and resisting for their self-determination and freedom, but who do not hesitate to use violence directly against those who, faithful to the ideals of the partisan struggle, support the cause of all oppressed peoples (from Venezuela and Cuba, subjected to the economic and military stranglehold of the US, to the Kurdish people) and fight alongside them. In thanking the police who identified the alleged assailant, and confident in a prompt distancing and firm condemnation by the Jewish community in Rome, we reaffirm our intention not to be intimidated by violence.”
25 April, ANPI Rome: ‘We will not be intimidated by violence’
Rome, 29 April (LaPresse) – “On 25 April, he turned up at the large and popular rally celebrating the anniversary of the Liberation from Nazi-Fascism, wearing a full-face helmet and armed with a pellet gun, with which he fired at two members of the ANPI (guilty of wearing the scarf of our partisan association), wounding them. The arrest last night by the police of Etihan Bondi, a 21-year-old described by the entire national press as ‘a member of the Jewish community’, highlights how victim-blaming rhetoric and media distortions crumble in the face of the facts.” So stated ANPI Rome in a press release. “This incident,” the statement continues, “is not an isolated one and forms part of a long series of raids on schools and intimidation of various kinds carried out by self-styled Zionist groups against ANPI and against teachers, students, community spaces and workers. The violence used to target the couple and, through them, ANPI and the entire anti-fascist community of Rome confirms that the historical memory of the Resistance and the popular mobilisation it continues to inspire today represent the enemy of those who not only support colonial wars of aggression and genocides such as those perpetrated for years by the Netanyahu government (against whom an international arrest warrant hangs for war crimes) against the Palestinian people, who are fighting and resisting for their self-determination and freedom, but who do not hesitate to use violence directly against those who, faithful to the ideals of the partisan struggle, support the cause of all oppressed peoples (from Venezuela and Cuba, subjected to the economic and military stranglehold of the US, to the Kurdish people) and fight alongside them. In thanking the police who identified the alleged assailant, and confident in a prompt distancing and firm condemnation by the Jewish community in Rome, we reaffirm our intention not to be intimidated by violence.”
