If Not Now, When?
It had been in the air for some time. The massive rally in Berlin over the weekend was only the latest sign of a growing continental momentum. The mobilisation in Italy has taken this dynamic to a new level. No one expected a wave of such magnitude: On Monday 22 September, tens of thousands marched across Italy to condemn the genocide in Gaza, taking part in strikes and blockades in a demonstration under the Slogan “Blocchiamo Tutto” (“Let’s Block Everything”).
The general strike called by grassroots trade unions, primarily the Unione Sindacale di Base (USB), and the popular mobilisation have given voice to the demands for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, an Israeli withdrawal from the occupied territories, the immediate entry of humanitarian aid into the besieged Gaza Strip, the halt of all arms trade, as a complete break in economic and institutional relations with Israel. Union leaders claimed up to half a million people joined the strike, halting 90% of public transport and half of rail services while dockworkers blocked major ports in solidarity with Palestinians. To the phrase “Let’s block everything!” a powerful tide poured into the streets across the country. In over eighty cities nationwide, from Aosta Valley to Sicily, hundreds of thousands of people mobilised in the name of international solidarity.
It had been years since a mobilisation of such size, both in numbers and geographical scale, had been seen. But its peculiar characteristic was, beyond the mass street demonstrations, the blockade of many of the country’s nerve centres. The major ports on the Tyrrhenian and Adriatic seas were blocked, as were the main railway stations: Milan, Rome, Bologna, Florence, Naples. Similarly, many of the country’s motorway junctions were invaded by a huge mass of Palestinian flags, those of the grassroots union USB and the radical left-wing organisation Potere al Popolo. A general strike of historic proportions.
The Italian Working class hates the Indifferent
With roots in the past, the movement in support of the Palestinian cause has historically been cross-cutting in the country, sometimes openly, sometimes more covertly, bringing together strange bedfellows, such as the extra-parliamentary left and pacifist movements and the ruling Christian Democrats in the seventies and eighties. A movement, therefore, that however heterogeneous and fluctuating, has been long-lived and in its own way historically transversal in the country. All of which fell into oblivion with the end of the Cold War.
As in many European countries, since the start of military operations in the Gaza Strip, mobilisation in support of the Palestinian people has reignited a new, largely youth-led movement. In Italy, the protests have followed one another uninterrupted and have grown steadily, despite facing police repression, being largely ignored by the mainstream media and the blind stance of the far-right government in support of any action taken by Netanyahu’s government. Giorgia Meloni’s government has gone so far as to call the recognition of a Palestinian state “counter-productive.” The move has drawn fire from left-wing opponents, who accuse the prime minister of failing to outline her stance on Israel to parliament. This comes as other European countries, including France and the UK, plan to formally recognise a Palestinian state at this week’s UN General Assembly.
The escalating brutality in Gaza has highlighted a critical disconnect within Italy. While a broad segment of the population is revolted by what they see as the complicity of Italian institutions, the political establishment has failed to adopt a clear position. This dynamic has revealed a fundamental rift between the Italian people and their political representation. The conflict has thrown into sharp relief the contrast between a hesitant or silent leadership and a citizenry that is actively and loudly insisting that some historical moments demand a moral stance .Ever since Genoa’s Autonomous Port Workers Collective (CALP), in support of the Global Sumud Flotilla, pledged that any form of aggression against the Flotilla would lead to a nationwide blockade, the movement has accelerated in an unprecedented way. At Venice’s port, police used water cannon to disperse demonstrators, while workers held protests at the ports of Genoa, Livorno, and Trieste. The dockworkers’ aim is clear: to stop Italy from serving as a transit hub for weapons and other supplies used to perpetrate the genocide in Gaza.
Without a doubt, the deteriorating events and the escalation of the genocide, coupled with the complicit inaction of the majority of the European governments, have sharpened the indignation among large sections of the population, pushing them to take a stand and mobilise. But probably it was the stance of the workers *as such* that gave a strong impetus to events. The moment the widespread discontent found an organised structure with a clear, radical line and precise objectives, it became an overwhelming movement.The sectors involved were indeed cross-cutting: industry, logistics, public sectors, commerce, energy, and transport. Large sections of workers felt called upon by the strike call and, above all, sensed the necessity for the world of labour to take a leading role at this historical juncture.
The Struggle Pay Off
What the outcomes of this mobilisation in Italy will be remains uncertain. Reflecting on what might hold it together and allow it to grow in the coming months and years is perhaps still premature. Some observers are already speaking of the birth of a new and unprecedented movement. For a certain segment of the trade union movement, grassroots unionism, led above all by the USB and Potere al Popolo, has achieved an incredible victory, alongside the organisations that have mobilised against the massacres in Gaza from the very beginning. But even more, it marks a historic triumph for the world of labour itself, which has demonstrated strength, determination, and above all the capacity to be the engine of an overflowing mass mobilisation.
The Government is barricading itself behind the few clashes that occurred at Milan station, ploughing ahead, refusing to recognise a Palestinian State, and organising repression by virtue of the security decrees put in place to suppress dissent. But it is losing ground, losing ground because the country has firmly expressed a clear line that diverges from that of the establishment, and losing ground because the determination of the mobilisation is a warning of a balance of power and a capacity for popular resolve and organisation that is resurfacing unexpectedly.
We could dwell at length on analysing the peculiarities of the Italian situation. The discontent that exists, albeit silent, the historical or moral roots. But these are all matters of analytical delight. The real question emerging from the Italian squares, however, is quite another. If the mobilisation of workers was possible in the Italy of Meloni’s far-right government, is a leading role by the working class to stop the horrors in Gaza also possible in the squares across all of Europe? And even louder and stronger is the question that resonates, addressed to everyone: if not now, when?
Federico Tomasone is Project Manager at the Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung Brussels and focuses for Social Rights and Labour Policies, as all activities related to Italy.