On Saturday, we took part in the march in Milan to mark the 81st anniversary of Liberation Day, and we were able to do so by freely expressing our views, which include solidarity with the Resistance against the invasion of Ukraine. Things went less well in Bologna, Florence, Perugia and Rome, where those who sought to do the same were driven away, much to the delight of Russian trolls on Telegram. Today we also read a smug statement from Cambiare Rotta, the youth organisation of Potere al Popolo. We offer our full solidarity to those who were removed.
We also read ANPI president Gianfranco Pagliarulo assuring the press that Russian flags had not been allowed in the square in Milan.
We’ve seen a different story, and photos like this confirm it: amid the Italian tricolor flags, Russian flags appear alongside those of the puppet republics proclaimed by Russia in Donbas, along with Russian military symbols such as the letter “Z” and the St. George’s ribbon, as well as the flag of Iran’s theocratic regime. In a group calling itself ‘Coordination for Peace’.Peace amidst the rubble, ethnic cleansing, and dissent drowned in blood, evidently. One of the individuals pictured in the photo even came to provoke the demonstrators showing solidarity with Ukraine at the end of the march, to little avail. We also learn that in Genoa, on 25 April, flags of Russian imperialism were seen.
As long as the symbols of a war of invasion and genocide are allowed to parade through our squares, or the people who are suffering that war or wish to denounce it are pushed aside, we will have a huge credibility problem in pointing the finger at any other policy of oppression and violence perpetrated by any government, outside the social media bubbles where tall tales have been told for four years and everything seems to be fine.