by Giovanni Giacalone
On September 3rd, 2024, the “Young Palestinians in Italy” association (Giovani Palestinesi) published a post on its Instagram account announcing a demonstration in Rome, on October 5th, 2024, to celebrate the October 7th massacre.
The post says:
“October 7, 2023 is the date of a revolution. After a year, the value of the Palestinian resistance operation and the battle of the “Al Aqsa Flood” is clear to the whole world.
On October 5, 2024, we will take to the streets of Rome for a national demonstration, to support the Palestinian people and their national liberation movement, to honor the over forty thousand martyrs of Gaza and its fighters who have been fighting relentlessly for a year, to honor all of Palestine that resists and rises up against the invader and his colonial state”.
It is also worth recalling that 5 days ago the Instagram page of the Youn Palestinians published another post glorifying Mohammed Jaber “Abu Shujaa”, founder and commander of the Tulkarem al-Aqsa Brigades, and recently killed by the IDF.
The event planned by the “Young Palestinians” is not the last in a series of episodes that highlight the total inadequacy of the work of the Minister of the Interior, Matteo Piantedosi.
A non-action that has allowed the galaxy of pro-Palestinian extremism to push itself further and further beyond the limit. To better understand the situation, it is useful to list a series of episodes that have been going on at least since last October.
Mohammad Hannoun and the “Association of Palestinians in Italy” glorifying Hamas terrorists
On October 10th, 2023, just three days after the October 7th pogrom, Palestinian activist Mohammed Hannoun (imam in Genoa and president of the Association of Palestinians in Italy, who was also photographed years back with both, Ismail Haniyeh and Khaled Meshaal), stated that the attack perpetrated by Hamas was “self-defense”. Such claims were made in an interview with the Italian State TV Rai3.
On January 4th, 2024, Hannoun used his Facebook account to glorify Yahya Ayyash, Hamas’ notorious bombmaker, sadly known for both developing Hamas’s use of suicide bombings against Israeli public transportation, and Saleh al-Arouri, a senior Hamas leader in Lebanon who was killed by Israel in Beirut in a drone strike on January 2nd, 2024.
On March 30th, 2024, during a pro-Palestinian demonstration outside Milan’s Central Station. Hannoun, microphone in hand, concluded his speech inciting to turn all Israeli embassies into centers for Palestinian resistance. In July 2024, Hannoun praised Izz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades former commander, Emad Akel, and Mohammad Abu Salmiya, director of the al-Shifa hospital.
Hannoun’s association has been sharing the streets with the “Young Palestinians”, with demonstrations occurring almost every week since October 2023. Needless to say, the common slogan at these events is “From the river to the sea”.
It is important to recall that in 2021, after several reports to the Anti-Money Laundering Office, Hannoun’s charity ABSPP had its bank accounts frozen due to a series of anomalies. From failure to register in the Revenue Agency register to the massive movement of cash, in some cases to subjects registered in the blacklists of European databases. However, according to the Italian media, the indictment that was launched by the judicial office did not lead anywhere due to the lack of verifiable elements in the Palestinian territories.
In July of 2023, the Israeli Ministry of Defense asked the Italian police to seize Hannoun’s money. From the investigation conducted by the Shin Bet, Israel’s domestic intelligence agency, it emerged that 500,000 euros were available to the architect who in the past was accused by Israel, without any criminal repercussions, of hiding financial support to Palestinian suicide bombers.
Despite the accounts being frozen, in June 2024, Hannoun opened a new charity named “Golden Dome” and started to collect funds once again. Inde3ed, Hannoun is still active on Italian soil with sermons and demonstrations.
The Bologna-based Pakistani preacher who glorified Hamas and spread antisemitic views
Let’s move to the following case, involving Zulfiqar Khan, a Pakistani preacher active at the Iqraa Islamic Center in Bologna. This individual went on for months, using the pulpit of his mosque and Facebook, to glorify Hamas, Hezbollah, the Houthis, to condemn homosexuals, to constantly attack Israel and the United States.
On May 26th , 2024, during another sermon, Khan made the following statements concerning Hamas:
“This little warrior, a group of people called Hamas. They made it clear to the world that these are cowards (Israel, Zionists), they can’t do anything against men, they can only go against children, against women, against civilians.” (12.58)
“We have seen, so many brothers are afraid to say that Hamas is a sincere group, mujahideen, because they had bombed all the Muslims in Europe that I must necessarily say that Hamas is a terrorist organization. They tried with me even from 7/10 onwards, we always had this position that Hamas is not a terrorist organization. They are defending their territory.” (32:47)
“We thank Allah sws through these Hamas mujahideen warriors who have discovered this reality, this truth, that these (Israelis, Americans) are terrorists, they are murderers…” (53:54)
On April 19th he had already stated that “Hamas, Hezbollah, Syria, Iran and Yemen, do not want to kill, do not want to harm civilians” and subsequently added: “That punishment which we are waiting for it to come from Allah, with the hands of Hamas and Hezbollah…”.
Khan also made a series of antisemite statements and presented some very twisted theories. For instance, on April 26th, 2024, during one of his sermons, Khan said that: “the day America was born, unbelief was also born, the idea of murder, of genocide was also born, the father of falsehood called Semitism was born… America was born in 1700, in 1700 this word, Semitism, was also born. In 1779 that word was born, it was spread in 1781.” He then calls Semitism “a lie that was born with the fake democratic government that the world knows as America”.
During another sermon held on May 24th, Khan stated: “They constructed a word, Semitism. Semitism does not exist. No book talks about Semitism, anti-Semitism. This word was widespread after 1781…Then after 1870 they constructed the word anti-Semitism which came out of Germany…”.
And again, In November 2023, while participating at the Italian mainstream TV show “Dritto e Rovescio”, Khan stated: “The Israelites are terrorists and deceivers according to the Bible“, adding that “deception with the aim of self-interest is part of the Jewish faith“.
Khan turned the pulpit of his mosque into a platform for sermons that have very little to do with religion and he even publicly attacked those journalists, MPs and government officials who dared to expose his positions. Among them, the Italian deputy Prime Minister, Matteo Salvini.
Several MPs and members of the current majority government led by Giorgia Meloni strongly criticized Khan and some even asked for his deportation, as Italy often does with Islamist extremist preachers and supporters.
In July, 2024, Sara Kelany and Marco Lisei, two MPs from the majority party “Brothers of Italy, forwarded a parliamentary inquiry to Interior Minister, Matteo Piantedosi, asking for explanations regarding Khan’s presence and activity on Italian soil.
The Ministry’s response was rather bland. The Minister of Interior, Matteo Piantedosi, did not show up and he instead sent undersecretary Nicola Molteni to present the Minister’s reply, on July 9th. Here it is:
“The aforementioned (Khan) appears to be president of the Islamic cultural association “IQRAA” located in Bologna and, in the role of “expert” of the precepts of the Islamic religion, participates in numerous meetings (including television ones), where he has often expressed intransigent positions regarding issues on the West, on homosexuality, on the role of women and, after the attacks of 7 October, also on the Palestinian people and the Israeli Government, demonstrating appreciation for the actions carried out by Hamas. These statements, also reported on social profiles and on the web, have already been the subject of information to the Judicial Authority, aimed at allowing the latter to carry out its own assessments regarding the possible criminal relevance of the contents expressed.”
“Intransigent positions”? Khan’s claims are not “intransigent positions”, they are attacks against the Jewish religion and the Jews (no matter if “not all”, as Khan often claims), against the United States, Israel, King Hussein of Jordan, homosexuals. They are statements of support for Hamas, a terrorist organization that is blacklisted by the European Union.
On July 15th, 2024, former director of the Corriere della Sera newspaper and former MEP, Magdi Cristiano Allam, had to write an open letter to the Italian Minister of the Interior, Matteo Piantedosi, after being verbally attacked by Khan.
In two videos made public at the beginning of July on the Islamic center’s Facebook page, the preacher accused Allam of misbelief (takfir) for his pro-Israel positions. It is worth remembering that Allam has been under police protection for many years following his criticism of Islam and his conversion to Christianity.
Khan’s Facebook pages are still online and, as so far known, he is still in Italy and hasn’t been expelled, unlike many other Islamists who have been deported for much less.
The far-left blacklist of “Jews and Zionists”
On August 22nd, 2024, the Italian branch of the New Communist Party (NPC), together with the Arab-Palestinian Democratic Union (UDAP) and CARC Communist Resistance Support Committee (Comitato di Supporto alla Resistenza Comunista), issued a 24-page long public notice (notice no. 145) calling for the boycott of Israel and the fight against the Zionists in Italy. The extremist formation published a list with Italian and Israeli companies, as well as Italian Jewish and non-Jewish politicians, academics, diplomats, journalists, and activists, all accused of being “Zionists” and “on Israel’s payroll”.
Notice no. 145 also refers to an event held in the province of Pisa on August 4th called “Celebration of popular redemption” (Festa della Riscossa Popolare) as part of the initiative “With Palestine that resists until victory” during which a representative of the Arab Palestinian Democratic Union known as “Maisa” stated from the stage: ”
“October 7th for us Palestinians, is a day that we claim with our heads held high and we say it calmly, we are not afraid to say it”.
During the event, the speakers also took the defense of Yaesh Anan, the leader of the al-Aqsa Brigades “Tulkarem unit” cell who was planning terrorist attacks in Israel from Italian territory and who was arrested in January 2024 in central Italy following an extradition request forwarded by Israel and rejected by L’Aquila’s Appeal court.
In conclusion
We cannot be surprised if the “Young Palestinians” are not afraid to praise the largest pogrom against Jews since the Holocaust, calling it “resistance” and organizing an event in Rome to celebrate it.
The inaction of the Ministry of the Interior leads extremists to go further and further, to carry out their campaign of hatred and apology for Palestinian terrorism. All this is very strange, considering that the Italian authorities have always been quick to intervene against those who support ISIS. It is worth remembering that Hamas is included in the European Union’s blacklist of terrorism, just like ISIS. Therefore, the difference in treatment is unclear and unjustified. The impression is that when the “Palestinian cause” is involved, then more tolerance is applied.