The truce reached in Gaza has not brought calm to Europe. In Italy, where for months the Palestinian cause has been turned into a political banner, the streets are once again filled with protesters. But the message has changed: no more peace, no more solidarity. Now pro-Palestinian demonstrations are turning into clashes, attacks, and hate campaigns.
In recent weeks, from Rome to Milan, Turin, Bologna, and Udine, incidents of violence have multiplied. Journalists have been attacked for "not telling the truth," police officers have been wounded with flagpoles, and operators have been jostled and threatened. These scenes evoke a climate of political tension not seen in decades. Behind these protests is an organized network. This is not a spontaneous phenomenon. Security services confirm that there is a new bond between subversive antagonism and pro-Palestinian movements, an alliance cemented by hatred towards Israel and, more generally, towards democratic institutions.
Many of the marches are promoted or logistically supported by the CGIL, Maurizio Landini's trade union. In the name of peace, local offices are made available as meeting points or starting points for marches. Flyers, posters, megaphones, and banners are produced with internal resources. It is a political operation disguised as civil mobilization. Landini, who has not hesitated to comment on every government decision on labor, pensions, and minimum wage, is silent this time.
No condemnation of the violence, no words of solidarity for the reporters who were attacked or the police officers who ended up in hospital. The same silence also weighs on Giuseppe Conte and Elly Schlein, who only a few weeks ago were marching in the same squares, calling for a ceasefire. Now, faced with images of the degenerate marches, they prefer to look the other way.
This political ambiguity comes at a price. Because behind the slogan "Free Palestine" there are forces at work today that are anything but peaceful. These are the same circles that in recent years have attempted to revive the season of "no global," "no Tav," occupations, and blockades. A galaxy that blends the old culture of class hatred with the new anti-Western ideology.
Intelligence agencies report the presence of groups linked to the old autonomy movement, insurrectionary anarchism, and movements that in the past had contacts with international protest networks. Now, the Palestinian cause provides the perfect cover: an emotional, exploitable cause capable of attracting young people and justifying all forms of disobedience.
The strategies are always the same: infiltrate legitimate demonstrations, provoke a reaction from the police, and spread manipulated images on social media to fuel outrage. At the same time, the narrative equating the Israeli state with "Western fascism" and the Italian police with "servants of imperialism" is growing. This language is a direct throwback to the Years of Lead, adapted to digital language. "This is no longer social protest, but political subversion," observe sources at the Interior Ministry. "It is a movement that uses peace as a smokescreen to legitimize violence."
In many marches, symbols and gestures reminiscent of the Red Brigades have reappeared: clenched fists, chants against the "occupying forces," slogans about "armed resistance." Meanwhile, the institutional left remains silent. Conte and Schlein prefer not to disturb their militant base. They avoid making statements, remain silent on the attacks, and do not take a position on the drift of a movement that declares itself "anti-fascist" but behaves like fascists. The fear of breaking the consensus front weighs more heavily than political responsibility. It is a paradox that does not escape observers: those who call for a ceasefire in Gaza cannot stop themselves in their own cities. Those who claim to defend freedom trample on it against those who do not think the same way. And those who fill their mouths with words like "peace," "justice," and "human rights" end up using their fists as a political argument.
In terms of internal security, alarm is growing. Pro-Palestinian demonstrations are now considered to be at high risk of subversive infiltration. Police forces have increased surveillance levels in several cities. The concern is not only physical violence, but also the ability of these groups to create a climate of media intimidation: hate campaigns against journalists, lists of "traitors," threats on social media. Instead of curbing this drift, the CGIL is accompanying it. Some local union leaders have participated in the marches, openly justifying the demonstrators' 'reaction' against the police. It is a snapshot of a union that, having lost its role as mediator, has chosen radicalization as a means of political survival. While the guns are silent in Gaza, a different war is being fought in Italy: ideological, media, identity. A war that does not aim at peace, but at the delegitimization of democratic institutions.
And the silence of the leaders of the left—Landini, Conte, Schlein—is the bitterest proof of this moral surrender. Today, those who talk about peace but tolerate violence are not defending rights: they are betraying them. Those who say they are fighting for freedom but attack a journalist or a police officer are not militants: they are subversives. And those who remain silent while all this is happening are accomplices. The truce in Gaza could last weeks or days. But the truce in Italy is already over. And if subversion returns to march under the banners of peace, the risk is not only to public order: it is the short memory of a country that has forgotten how much it costs to look the other way.
