The historical revisionism of Giorgia Meloni

Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni has never declared herself anti-fascist and even on the anniversary of the Bologna massacre she failed to acknowledge the responsibility of the extreme right. On the anniversary of Piazza Fontana she has not yet made a statement

Rosy BindiEx ministra della Salute, presidente Commissione antimafia nella XVII legislatura

12 dicembre 2024

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Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni should have avoided accusations of nostalgia for the twenty-year fascist period from the very beginning of her government. Unfortunately, she has not done so, except episodically and selectively: the racial laws or the deportation of Italian Jews. The anniversaries of the Bologna massacre, committed by a neo-fascist organization in Bologna on the 2nd August 1980, and the Italicus Express train bombing (4 August 1974) have made it clear that the impossibility of declaring oneself anti-fascist lies in the cultural and sentimental links of the right-wing government lead by Meloni with the neo-fascism of the 1970s and 1980s.

The populism of Giorgia Meloni, who considers herself as 'one of the people'

Lack of recognition

To equate the relationship between left-wing political forces and red terrorism on the one hand, and right-wing political forces with neo-fascist terrorism on the other, is an operation of historical revisionism

It was enough for the president of the Association of Relatives of the Victims of 2 August to recall that relationship to provoke an irritated reaction from the premier. Meloni combined her typical victimhood with the historical revisionism that has long engaged the heirs of the Italian Social Movement (MSI, the far right party founded in 1946 by the supporters of Benito Mussolini). In her statement, she did not recognize the neo-fascist matrix of the massacre, as President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella did in clear words, even for the 1974 attack on the Italicus train.

Stating that 'the sentences attribute the Bologna massacre to exponents of right-wing organizations', Meloni pitted historical truth against judicial truth. Reading the interview with the chairman of the Chamber's Culture Committee, FdI deputy Federico Mollicone, gave further confirmation of this. Explicit in questioning the final judgment, Mollicone called for Justice Minister Carlo Nordio to intervene to ascertain the fairness of the trials, claiming that some magistrates had constructed theorems to strike at the right and hide the contiguity between the Italian Communist Party (PCI) and Red Brigades, a far left terrorist organization.

This too is an operation of historical revisionism by which one would like to equate the relationship between left-wing political forces and red terrorism on the one hand, and right-wing political forces with neo-fascist terrorism on the other. In fact, there are profound differences. Not only did the Italian Communist Party help write the Constitution, but in those years it took very clear positions against red terrorism. Let us remember that Fiom-Cgil worker and trade unionist Guido Rossa was killed by the Red Brigades for having denounced their presence in the factory.

During the kidnapping of Aldo Moro, the Christian Democrats, and the PCI, maintaining a position of strict loyalty to the principles of the State, in order not to endorse any kind of yielding to terrorism, sacrificed his life. Those years were terrible. We defeated terrorism thanks to Italians' love for democracy and respect for constitutional guarantees, which were never suspended.

The Italian supreme court gives broader benefits to the families of innocent victims of mafias

Authoritarian drift

They do not accept the autonomy of the judiciary, the autonomy of the press, the autonomy of sport, the autonomy of opposition forces. Winning the elections means dictating the law to everyone

This right wing is convinced that having won the elections authorizes it to rewrite history, change the Constitution and upset a pillar of our democracy, such as the separation of powers. Even the government's strong-arm approach to the boxing match at the Paris Olympics between Algerian athlete Imane Khelif and Italian Angela Carini was the umpteenth proof that the Prime Minister and this right-wing at the top of the State do not recognize the autonomy of the different legal systems.

They do not accept the autonomy of the judiciary, the autonomy of the press, the autonomy of sport, the autonomy of opposition forces. Winning the elections means dictating the law to everyone, without respecting individual orders. They really do not seem to know the abc of democracy, which is based on the autonomy of institutions and respect for people's fundamental rights.

No wonder that on the centenary of the birth of psychiatrist Franco Basaglia, FdI has presented a bill that in fact wants to reopen asylums and treat mental health with imprisonment. This is the latest attack on great civilization reforms, such as Law 180 of 1978 which imposed the closure of asylums, and Law 833 which established the National Health Service.

Norms that recognise the right to health for everyone and the dignity of the most fragile people. On the centenary of Don Lorenzo Milani, who wanted an inclusive school that welcomed everyone, they invented the ideology of merit, through a school that goes back to selecting and discriminating. On the centenary of Basaglia, who recognized therapeutic freedom, they return to segregating the supposedly insane. There is no more historical revisionism than this.

This article was translated with the support of DeepL.

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