Tag Archives: racism

Provoking the Unprovocative: Reactions to Norway

As Italy goes into total shutdown for August, I have so much work at the day job that it’s literally made me sick for the past three weeks, but spending more than four hours on the phone with lawyers every … Continue reading

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Enoch Powell

Apropos of the histrionic tone towards immigration that Italy’s runoff elections took recently, it’s interesting to take a look at how the issue was approached in Britain 43 years ago by Enoch Powell, the conservative firebrand best remembered for his … Continue reading

Posted in BBC, Bossi, decline of empire, immigration, italy, lega nord, the italian right, the right in europe | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Osama, Mladic, Berlusconi: rough winds do shake

May ended up being a very bad month for the intolerant: first Osama bin Laden, then Ratko Mladic, and now Silvio Berlusconi, whose coalition was dealt a serious blow in run-off mayoral elections all over Italy this past week. Of … Continue reading

Posted in electoral crisis, gypsies, human rights, humor, il cav, immigration, italy, lega nord, roma, the italian left, the italian right | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Magdi Allam’s Politics of Fear

Some readers have criticized my use of the word “nutjob” to describe Magdi Allam. That is admittedly an imprecise description of a journalist-turned-demagogue whose views are nativist at best and racist at worst. Like Oriana Fallaci before him, Allam has … Continue reading

Posted in Bossi, Chinese, gypsies, human rights, il cav, immigration, italy, lega nord, roma, the italian left, the italian right, the right in europe, Via Sarpi | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Life among the Lowly

Journalist-cum-politican Magdi Cristiano Allam loves Italy, he tells us. The Egyptian-born Italian, who made a publicized conversion to Catholicism, seems quick to absorb Italian values — if rampant, no-holds-barred race baiting is an Italian value.  Going far beyond provocative and … Continue reading

Posted in Bossi, Chinatown, Chinese, fini, gypsies, human rights, il cav, immigration, italy, lega nord, maroni, roma, the italian right, the right in europe, Via Sarpi | Tagged , , , | 7 Comments

Human Rights Watch Condemns Italy

Human Rights Watch released a report on the state of racism and xenophobia in Italy yesterday.  The results are not cheerful reading. I wrote about this two years ago for the American, and it’s not heartening to see that things … Continue reading

Posted in immigration, italy, lega nord, libya, maroni, the italian right, the right in europe | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Swiss Intolerance

If you thought Lega Nord images stereotyping Southern Italians and immigrants were bad, check out this new poster against the opening of Swiss borders to Italian (and other European – presumably Romanian) workers. Given that hordes of Milanese commute to … Continue reading

Posted in eu, human rights, immigration, lega nord, romania, the right in europe | Tagged , , | 1 Comment