Il 14 novembre 2006 L'UNITA' pubblicava un'intervista a David Harris dell'AJC, da noi commentata a questo link.
Dear Mr. Harris, I am afraid that you just played in the hands of the Italian extreme left and you don't even know it.
Beware of L' Unita', because the Unita' will use your good name and the AJC to show that it is not biased against Israel (all the while burying your interview on page 12) and they have done it before (yesterday an article by Furio Colombo critical of Foreign Affairs Minister D'Alema was put side by side with an article by Shulamit Aloni who because of her political agenda internal to Israel, instead praised D'Alema as if to say that Furio Colombo's just criticism is neutralized by Shulamit Aloni's praises and therefore it does not deserve attention).
L' Unita' is not just "left of Center" l' Unita' is read by those who go demonstrate in Italian streets dressed in mock suicide bomber outfits and burn Israeli and American flags, and then claim that they are "equidistanti", or "equally distant from the Israeli or Palestinian positions". L' Unita' will say they are not responsible for their readership, but when you spend 20 plus years feeding anti-Israeli and anti-Semitic propaganda to the masses, can you really be surprised if they start burning Israeli flags? They are obviously responsible for the hate they spew on a daily basis.
As I said, the article was hidden on page 12 and there was no mention of it on the first page. The title is dangerous to say the least: "Not true that Jews don't support those who seek peace", read by L' Unita' readers will only confirm their biases against Jews who support Israel, i.e. the bad Jews. In the Unita' today an article by Gabriel Bertinetto stated "troppi ebrei italiani in questa fase non manifestano un atteggiamento critico verso il governo Olmert" or "Too many Italian Jews in this period do not express criticism of the Olmert Government", as if it was a duty of Italian Jews to condemn Israel no matter what! On the Repubblica the former "civil" head of the Italian Jewish Communities Tullia Zevi was asked in an interview by Carmelo Lopapa: "Il richiamo del ministro degli Esteri agli ebrei democratici è risultato particolarmente sgradito alle Comunità. Una distinzione tra ebrei buoni e cattivi, è stata la contestazione." or "the admonition by the Foreign Affairs Ministry to Jews with democratic values did not go well with the [Jewish] Community". They contested that he was making a distinction between good and bad Jews" to which she preferred not to answer and changed subject.
Don't just take my word for it: I know you understand some Italian from the time you worked in Rome on behalf of Russian Jews. Please visit and sign up for the newsletter of www.informazionecorretta.com the Italian counterpart of HonestReporting.com. They too read your article on the Unita' and they analyzed it here in its Italian contest http://www.informazionecorretta.it/main.php?mediaId=999920&sez=110&id=18320 and in fact, I just pretty much limited myself to borrowing from it. By the way, those of InformazioneCorretta.com could use some support from a fellow Jewish organization of international importance.
The sad truth is that in Italy there is a dangerous and malicious debate by the leftists on who is a good Jew and who is not: the solution the left is endorsing is that good Jews are those who condemn Israel and dissociate themselves from Israel and the bad Jews those who support Israel and see its reasons in wanting to stay alive and protect its citizens in an all out war for Israel's destruction. The Italian Foreign Minister is fueling the fire. I am an Italian Jew and the phrase "the only good Jew is a dead Jew" is ringing in my ears even if I am so many miles removed.
I am copying our friends of Informazionecorretta.com with this e-mail.
Your friend
Emanuela Prister Toth
Dallas Texas
