Chronicles of ordinary racism 2011 - Cronache di ordinario razzismo
Chronicles of ordinary racism 2011 - Cronache di ordinario razzismo
Chronicles of ordinary racism 2011 - Cronache di ordinario razzismo
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Source: Corriere della Sera<br />
18 November 2009 Coccaglio (BS), Lombardy<br />
The mayor <strong>of</strong> a small town in the Brescia area, with three Northern League councillors,<br />
sets up the “White Christmas” operation, in order to “cleanse” the place <strong>of</strong> immigrants.<br />
The name was chosen because the deadline for the operation is Christmas day. The<br />
Northern League Councillor, Clau<strong>di</strong>o Abien<strong>di</strong>, who came up with the initiative,<br />
explains: “for me Christmas is not the feast <strong>of</strong> welcoming, but a celebration <strong>of</strong> the<br />
Christian tra<strong>di</strong>tion and thus <strong>of</strong> our identity”. Local policemen have until 25 December<br />
to pay a visit to the houses <strong>of</strong> about 400 foreign nationals, those with a residence permit<br />
that expired more than six months ago and who are supposed to have begun the<br />
procedures for its renewal. “If they cannot provide evidence that they have done so,”<br />
Mayor Franco Claretti says, “their permit is automatically revoked”. “Since last 25<br />
October we have carried out 150 inspections. About the 50% <strong>of</strong> the in<strong>di</strong>viduals in<br />
question were found to be irregular,” Aben<strong>di</strong> claims, ad<strong>di</strong>ng that the initiative was<br />
taken up by other Northern League mayors in the neighbouring villages. “Last 24<br />
October, in Milan, during the first convention <strong>of</strong> Northern League mayors, the ‘White<br />
Christmas’ operation received open support from the party leadership. Minister Maroni<br />
is a hands‐on man,” Claretti resumes, “and gave us important suggestions on how to<br />
enforce the measure in such a way as to avoid the usual court appeals”.<br />
Source: La Repubblica<br />
27 November 2009 Aviano (PN), Friuli Venezia Giulia<br />
Mario Balotelli, 19, black forward for FC Inter, after being heavily insulted by some<br />
hard‐line Bologna FC fans yelling racist chants, is on this occasion the victim <strong>of</strong><br />
<strong>of</strong>fensive graffiti. It would appear that this is the second instance <strong>of</strong> xenophobic graffiti<br />
<strong>di</strong>rected at Balotelli at the entrance to the sta<strong>di</strong>um and promptly scrubbed <strong>of</strong>f. “The<br />
graffiti was dealt with at once but appeared again not long after, Mayor Del Cont<br />
Bernard states. “I feel extremely in<strong>di</strong>gnant about it. And all the citizens <strong>of</strong> Aviano agree.<br />
It is unacceptable behaviour. This is not vandalism, it is <strong>racism</strong>.”<br />
Source: Messaggero Veneto<br />
2 December 2009 Egna (BZ), Trentino Alto A<strong>di</strong>ge<br />
A young Pakistani couple on a regional train is caught by an inspector without a ticket.<br />
The inspector raises his voice several times and eventually orders that they get <strong>of</strong>f the<br />
train. When the two young Pakistanis refuse, the inspector asks to see their documents.<br />
In a fit <strong>of</strong> pique, the inspector then throws the documents out <strong>of</strong> the window on to a<br />
bench by the side <strong>of</strong> the tracks. The young man rushes <strong>of</strong>f the train to get his belongings<br />
back, but the doors close behind him and the train sets <strong>of</strong>f again, leaving the man on the<br />
platform and his wife alone on the train. The inspector – witnesses state – says: “This<br />
kind <strong>of</strong> thing happens every day, foreigners <strong>of</strong>ten don’t have tickets and we need to<br />
subject them to this sort <strong>of</strong> treatment in order to teach them a lesson. They must respect<br />
our rules.” Informed <strong>of</strong> the incident, the Democratic Party decides to lodge a complaint<br />
to the Public Prosecutor’s Office.<br />
Source: altoa<strong>di</strong>ge.gelocal.it<br />
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