Chronicles of ordinary racism 2011 - Cronache di ordinario razzismo

national press did not grant these events an equal degree of attention. Only the local
edition of La Repubblica went into the case in detail, even promoting, along with Ciss, a
local NGO, a fund‐raising initiative that raised €20,000 to support Nourredine’s family:
his 21‐year‐old wife, a two‐and‐a‐half‐year‐old daughter, his father and brother in
Palermo and seven more brothers and his mother in Morocco. The local Chamber of
Commerce and the President of the Senate Renato Schifani also participated in the
initiative, the latter publicly asking the mayor, putting him in an awkward position, to
open an administrative investigation. The petition for a day of public mourning, put
forward by some members of the opposition, was turned down by the mayor who
chose to limit himself to offering to reimburse the family’s funeral expenses, a move
which was met with a firm refusal. Nourredine’s body was repatriated with the help of
the Moroccan embassy. The judicial inquiry opened by the Public Prosecutor of
Palermo is still ongoing: the alleged offence is instigation to commit suicide. It has been
observed that, unlike Mohamed Bouazizi, the 26‐year‐old Tunisian man from Sidi
Bouzid who set fire to himself on 17 December 2010, becoming the symbol of the
Tunisian uprising, Nourredine Adnane met with a different fate: “The life of an
immigrant, particularly a poor one, counts for less than nothing. Adnane’s name does
not make the list of martyrs like Bouazizi, nor does he stir the conscience of Italian
citizens making them aware of the daily episodes of discrimination and humiliation
undergone by immigrants or the abuse that they are forced to undergo at the hands of
domineering individuals, whether in uniform or not”. 381 The hope is that, at the very
least, the investigations will continue and eventually lead to a fair trial.
381 A. Rivera, “La riscossa della sinistra e i nostri Bouazizi ignorati” – (Left to the rescue and our ignored Bouazizi’s) 19 May
2011, http://blog-micromega.blogautore.espresso.repubblica.it/2011/05/19/annamaria-rivera-la-riscossa-della-sinistra-e-i-nostribouazizi-ignorati/
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