“What shocks symbols bring”: a neo-fascist demonstration in the center of Rome shocked Italy

Hundreds of people lined up, all dressed in black, holding out their right hands in tribute to their “fallen comrades.” Footage of fascist fireworks filmed in southeast Rome on Sunday went far beyond Italy and was viewed millions of times on social media.

“These are fanatical impulses that arose with the coming to power of the extreme right,” commented, for example, the first secretary of the Socialist Party, Olivier Faure. “If history is not taught, it is all the easier to repeat it,” commented actor Pierre Niney, referring to the founder of fascism, Benito Mussolini. But what exactly was this demonstration in the Italian capital?

This rally, organized by the Italian nationalist and neo-fascist party CasaPound, took place in Via Acca Larenzia, in front of the former headquarters of the Italian Social Movement (MSI), the fascist party created by Mussolini and dissolved in 1995. The rally is dedicated to the memory of the murders. Franco Bigonzetti and Francesco Ciavatta, two young members of the MSI, killed in 1978 in the same place by bullets attributed to the far left, during the “leadership years”. The occasion also commemorates Stefano Recchioli, another MSI activist killed by police during the riots that followed.

Roman greetings and fascist slogans

“This is not the first time such a gathering of small far-right groups has taken place,” says historian and researcher Simone Visciora, an expert on fascist movements and their evolution in Italy. Present in Rome on Sunday, he recalls that the situation surrounding this neo-fascist celebration has always been tense and that controversy over this issue in Italy continues year after year.

“What a shock are the symbols: the Roman salutes and the fascist slogans that are chanted during these rallies,” continues Simone Visciora. “But in Italy there is a law that sanctions the apology of fascism.”

It is this text that some politicians intend to rely on in order to no longer see such images on the streets of the Italian capital. “Rome, January 7, 2024. Feels like 1924. (the time when the country was led by Benito Mussolini) » Ellie Schlein, leader of the center-left Democratic Party, reacted on Monday. “Neo-fascist organizations must be disbanded, as provided for by the constitution,” she demanded then.

“Small groups of neo-fascists are taking over this place of memory”

She also called on Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, head of the Fratelli d’Italia MSI party, to condemn the incident. Nope. In a statement, Meloni’s party condemned his rivals for “using the memory of the tragic death of three boys killed by communist hatred to carry out sinister propaganda.”

The memory of the victims of the “Years of Leadership”, during which hundreds of Italians died in street violence or terrorist attacks carried out by activists from both extremes, is a source of political and social tension in Italy.

“While several mayors of Rome, whether left or right, wanted to create a public space to pay tribute to the young people killed during the years of leadership, small neo-fascist groups appropriated this place of memory, that is, Via Acca Larenzia. explains Simone Visciora. These include CasaPound, as well as Forza Nuova, another Italian neo-fascist party. The instigators of the Roman cheers and paramilitary slogans on Sunday, their presence tarnished that of other politicians.

Rome’s cultural adviser Miguel Gotor, who occupied the left of the Italian political spectrum, was able to pay his price. He drove through Acca Larencia on Sunday morning to remind “that political activism can never justify violence and bloodshed.” He, along with the right-wing president of the Lazio region, Francesco Rocca, laid a laurel wreath in front of the official commemorative plaque. Their presence, which coincided a few hours later with the presence of neo-fascist activists, caused an opposition protest. In Italy, the dispute appears to be far from over.