Chronicles of ordinary racism 2011 - Cronache di ordinario razzismo

Source: Corriere della Sera
18 November 2009 Coccaglio (BS), Lombardy
The mayor of a small town in the Brescia area, with three Northern League councillors,
sets up the “White Christmas” operation, in order to “cleanse” the place of immigrants.
The name was chosen because the deadline for the operation is Christmas day. The
Northern League Councillor, Claudio Abiendi, who came up with the initiative,
explains: “for me Christmas is not the feast of welcoming, but a celebration of the
Christian tradition and thus of our identity”. Local policemen have until 25 December
to pay a visit to the houses of about 400 foreign nationals, those with a residence permit
that expired more than six months ago and who are supposed to have begun the
procedures for its renewal. “If they cannot provide evidence that they have done so,”
Mayor Franco Claretti says, “their permit is automatically revoked”. “Since last 25
October we have carried out 150 inspections. About the 50% of the individuals in
question were found to be irregular,” Abendi claims, adding that the initiative was
taken up by other Northern League mayors in the neighbouring villages. “Last 24
October, in Milan, during the first convention of Northern League mayors, the ‘White
Christmas’ operation received open support from the party leadership. Minister Maroni
is a hands‐on man,” Claretti resumes, “and gave us important suggestions on how to
enforce the measure in such a way as to avoid the usual court appeals”.
Source: La Repubblica
27 November 2009 Aviano (PN), Friuli Venezia Giulia
Mario Balotelli, 19, black forward for FC Inter, after being heavily insulted by some
hard‐line Bologna FC fans yelling racist chants, is on this occasion the victim of
offensive graffiti. It would appear that this is the second instance of xenophobic graffiti
directed at Balotelli at the entrance to the stadium and promptly scrubbed off. “The
graffiti was dealt with at once but appeared again not long after, Mayor Del Cont
Bernard states. “I feel extremely indignant about it. And all the citizens of Aviano agree.
It is unacceptable behaviour. This is not vandalism, it is racism.”
Source: Messaggero Veneto
2 December 2009 Egna (BZ), Trentino Alto Adige
A young Pakistani couple on a regional train is caught by an inspector without a ticket.
The inspector raises his voice several times and eventually orders that they get off the
train. When the two young Pakistanis refuse, the inspector asks to see their documents.
In a fit of pique, the inspector then throws the documents out of the window on to a
bench by the side of the tracks. The young man rushes off the train to get his belongings
back, but the doors close behind him and the train sets off again, leaving the man on the
platform and his wife alone on the train. The inspector – witnesses state – says: “This
kind of thing happens every day, foreigners often don’t have tickets and we need to
subject them to this sort of treatment in order to teach them a lesson. They must respect
our rules.” Informed of the incident, the Democratic Party decides to lodge a complaint
to the Public Prosecutor’s Office.
Source: altoadige.gelocal.it
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