Italy’s Jewish leadership expressed “all the solidarity of Italian
Jews” to a black Italian government minister who has been targeted by
racist slurs and death threats.
In the most recent slur against Minister for Integration Cecile
Kyenge, the vice president of the Italian senate, Roberto Calderoli, at a
rally on Saturday of his Northern League party compared Kyenge to an
“orangutan.”
Kyenge, Italy’s first black national official, immigrated to Italy
from the Democratic Republic of the Congo nearly 30 years ago.
In a statement Sunday, Renzo Gattegna, the president of the Union of
Italian Jewish Communities, called Calderoli’s remarks “shameful” and
“an offense against the institutions and against Italian society as a
whole.”
He added, “There are no misunderstandings when phrases like this are
concerned, only a sense of profound uneasiness and shame for whoever has
made them. All the solidarity of Italian Jews goes to minister Kyenge.”
Since being named to Prime Minister Enrico Letta’s center-left
government two months ago, Kyenge has had to contend with an avalanche
of hate speech, mainly from extreme right political groups. Death
threats have been posted on Facebook.
Letta called Calderoli’s words “unacceptable, beyond all limits.”
Other politicians also condemned Calderoli; some called for his
resignation.
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