There is no doubt that Israel’s image in Europe is worse than ever, but the string of anti-Israel incidents in Italy seems to be breaking new records of extremism, bordering on obsession.
The latest case, which has sparked a new political storm in the country since Saturday night, took place in the city of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region. Dozens of children met with a veteran Al Jazeera journalist, while the translator at the event was Suleiman Hijazi, a radical Muslim and outspoken Hamas supporter.
The children, ages 8 to 10, were brought to the event from several elementary schools in the city as part of an educational project promoted by Modena’s teachers’ organization. At the meeting, held in a public building, the children met Al Jazeera journalist Wael Dahdouh from Gaza, whose family was killed during the war that began after the Hamas massacre on October 7.
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The children chant Free Palestine
(Photo: From the website of the newspaper "Il Giornale")
Dahdouh was accompanied by Hijazi, a well-known figure in radical Islamist circles in Italy who was investigated in a major case that erupted over the past year. In that case, he allegedly helped his boss, Mohammad Hannoun, raise funds for Hamas’ military wing in Gaza through shell companies while disguising the fundraising as donations from the Italian public for civilians in the Gaza Strip.
Hannoun has been in custody since December and is suspected of being, contrary to his image as a pro-Palestinian activist, the head of a secret Hamas cell for fundraising in Europe.
The person who accompanied the two men to the meeting with Modena’s young pupils was none other than Modena Mayor Massimo Mezzetti, from the Democratic Party, the main center-left party in Italian politics. Many of its senior figures and members have stood out over the past two years for harsh and extreme statements against Israel and have promoted in Italian discourse the boycott of Israel and genocide allegations against Israel and the IDF.
According to the newspaper Il Giornale, which revealed the affair Saturday night, during the meeting, with the encouragement and direction of the teachers present, the children began singing together in honor of the Hamas supporter and the Al Jazeera journalist the slogan “Free, free Palestine,” while clapping.
Car-ramming attack in Modena in mid-May
(Photo: Section 27A of the Copyright Law)
All this happened as Modena itself is still trying to recover from a car-ramming attack carried out a little more than two weeks ago by a Moroccan man named Salim El Qadri in the city center. After wounding at least eight passersby, he got out of his vehicle and tried to stab them before being stopped by civilians until police arrived.
So far, Italian authorities have said the motive for the ramming attack is not entirely clear. While an Islamist motive has not been completely ruled out, investigators are also examining the driver’s mental instability and “personal problems” as possible motives. Yet in that same Modena, children were now joyfully singing the anthem “Free Palestine” while standing before an outspoken Hamas supporter.
Hijazi himself, as online documentation has shown, celebrated the October 7 massacre by writing “Thank Allah.” As early as 2014, he was also known for clear statements of support for armed struggle and open support for Hamas, including calls for Israel’s destruction.
Just a day before the meeting with the students, Dahdouh attended an official event marking Italy’s national holiday on June 2, together with one of the Palestinians’ strongest supporters in the Italian parliament, Five Star Movement lawmaker Stefania Ascari. That event turned into a show of support for “free Palestine” and against the “genocide” Israel is allegedly committing.
Modena’s local branch of the Education Ministry responded to the criticism by saying that “the children wanted a meeting with Mayor Mezzetti to discuss issues of conflicts and peace in the world,” according to reports in Italy, and had even sent him letters on the subject. Therefore, officials said, the teachers’ leadership decided to arrange a meeting of about 180 elementary schoolchildren in a public building with the mayor and “his guests of honor.”
Mezzetti himself said Sunday morning that because of scheduling constraints, he left before the children began singing the anti-Israel slogan, and that “during the meeting with Dahdouh, the subject of the conflict with Israel did not come up at all.”
“Journalist Dahdouh was invited by the teachers to testify about the meaning of living in a war that erased his family,” he said.
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United Nations Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese with outspoken Hamas supporter Suleiman Hijazi
(Photo: YouTube)
The mayor said he knew Dahdouh from previous events, but did not know his companion, Hijazi. “While I was there, the children did not speak at all about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict or about political issues,” he said. “If that happened after I left, I regret it and think it is inappropriate.”
Despite Mezzetti’s claims, additional testimonies published Sunday morning in the Italian media said that after Dahdouh finished speaking to the children, one student began shouting “Free, free Palestine,” while a teacher dressed in yellow began clapping and encouraging him. Dozens of children in the audience then joined the chanting.
Italian political figures are now demanding a thorough investigation into the incident, and the Education Ministry’s regional office in Emilia-Romagna is demanding that authorities “shed light on the case and understand who is responsible.”
Education Minister Giuseppe Valditara called it a serios incident. “If this is true, it is a serious incident. If anyone thinks they can turn our schools into places of brainwashing, indoctrination and propaganda, they are mistaken. The Education Ministry will not allow it,” he said.
Italy’s right also condemned the incident sharply. One of the country’s more right-wing politicians, former Gen. Roberto Vannacci, said: “While in these schools they do not allow these children to learn to sing the Italian anthem, they prefer to teach them the chant of Free Palestine.”