An 89-year-old Auschwitz survivor who is a senator-for-life in Italy is assigned police protection in response to revelations that she is subject to 200 social media attacks each day.
Italian state radio says Milan’s prefect, who reports to the interior minister, has assigned a Carabinieri paramilitary police security detail to Liliana Segre because of the threats against her.
Holocaust survivor Liliana Segre, file (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Segre unwittingly provoked one of the country’s most intense confrontations with anti-Semitism since the end of its Fascist dictatorship during World War II. She called for the creation of a parliamentary committee to combat hate, racism and anti-Semitism. Parliament approved her motion — but without votes from Italy’s right-wing parties.
Matteo Salvini’s euroskeptic League party, Silvio Berlusconi’s center-right Forza Italia and Giorgia Meloni’s far-right Brothers of Italy all abstained, in a move that defied the kind of social consensus that has marked Italian post-war politics.
Israel’s ambassador to Italy tweets his dismay about the threats. “An 89-year-old survivor under escort symbolizes the danger that the Jewish communities in Europe are facing today,” says Ambassador Dror Eydar.
— with AP
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