Italian town where a White Christmas is a police matter | World news | The Guardian (2009.12.20)
On orders from the local council, controlled by the conservative Northern League, police have been carrying out house-to-house searches for illegal immigrants in an action dubbed Operation White Christmas. The operation is due to finish on December 25.Some 3,000 people have marched through the town in protest at the operation, which the Vatican called "sad and distressing". But it has been endorsed by Silvio Berlusconi's government. Visiting nearby Brescia, where he announced the opening of a detention camp for suspected illegal immigrants - a so-called centre for identification and expulsion - Berlusconi's interior minister, Roberto Maroni, a leader of the League, complimented Coccaglio's mayor. <...> ... the normal procedure was to post a letter inviting the recipient to go to the town hall. Sending round the police was "like saying these people could be dangerous and need to be checked in a special way". Claretti said that dispatching registered letters would have cost his council €3,000 it could ill afford. "Besides, if there is a letter they just put it to one side; if they see a police officer, they take it seriously. As far as I'm concerned, this is a gesture of politeness. If someone has nothing to hide, he or she has nothing to fear."
On orders from the local council, controlled by the conservative Northern League, police have been carrying out house-to-house searches for illegal immigrants in an action dubbed Operation White Christmas. The operation is due to finish on December 25.
Some 3,000 people have marched through the town in protest at the operation, which the Vatican called "sad and distressing". But it has been endorsed by Silvio Berlusconi's government. Visiting nearby Brescia, where he announced the opening of a detention camp for suspected illegal immigrants - a so-called centre for identification and expulsion - Berlusconi's interior minister, Roberto Maroni, a leader of the League, complimented Coccaglio's mayor.
<...>
... the normal procedure was to post a letter inviting the recipient to go to the town hall. Sending round the police was "like saying these people could be dangerous and need to be checked in a special way". Claretti said that dispatching registered letters would have cost his council €3,000 it could ill afford.
"Besides, if there is a letter they just put it to one side; if they see a police officer, they take it seriously. As far as I'm concerned, this is a gesture of politeness. If someone has nothing to hide, he or she has nothing to fear."
Migrant Hunt: Operation 'White Christmas' ignites in Italy | RussiaToday (2009.12.25)
The Mayor of an Italian town has wished residents a 'White Christmas'. For illegal immigrants this could mean spending the holiday in a detention center.
Question: Is Italy in some kind of contest to outdo Alabama ... Texas ... you choose? In the end, might makes right. Nothing has changed since the caveman.
In Italy overt racist acts are ignored by the public, underreported in the mainstream press, invariably dismissed as colourful eccentricities. This is a major change in the national mood since the nineties when the murder of a black worker could cause a major backlash in public opinion.
Italy presently far outdoes "Texas and Alabama." Thanks to the Lega Nord and the extreme right wing that presently governs Italy, large portions of the population are overtly racist and proud of it. Europe insists on ignoring this state of affairs as if it were an "internal affair."
Over time the extreme right wing groups gather proselytites in Eastern Europe and emarginated urban areas throughout Europe. The racist political party Lega Nord has been in power on and off for the past 14 years sanctioning the idea that racism is an accepted reality and part of the public discourse. Le Pen and his like have entered Europe through the Italian gateway. If that's what political Europe- and above all the EPP- want, we're in for a shitfest.
Europe insists on ignoring this state of affairs as if it were an "internal affair."
who you gonna call?
oh yes, the new president!
have you thought about a petition to him about this? i think if you wrote a sketch, it may be a good opportunity for ETers to fill it in.
then maybe it could be simul-published somewhere else too.
bossi empowers all that is worst in this country. ~"When an inner situation is not made conscious, it appears outside as fate." Karl Jung~
The law was designed to stop speculators from cramming apartments with bed renters by the hour. It is now used to harass immigrants and their inalienable right to receive guests.
