February 23, 2006
Italian Jewish leaders and politicians have demanded the resignation of the mayor of the town of Marano, who took part in a pro-Palestinian demonstration. After taking part in the march in Rome last Saturday, Mauro Bertini, a Communist politician, suggested that the world would be a better place without Israel. The Jewish state, he said, was a “punch in the stomach of humanity.” The president of the Italian Chamber of Deputies, Pierferdinando Casini, called the remarks “shameful and irresponsible” and apologized to Israel. Authorities in Rome, meanwhile, have opened a criminal investigation into a group of demonstrators who during the rally burned Israeli and American flags and chanted slogans favoring insurgent attacks against Italian armed forces in Iraq.
