In this article I attempt to lay out at least the bones of an argument for a shift in the terms of world Jewish life. Against the Hobson’s choice of “religion” or “state,” I offer an older paradigm of diaspora nation, the Yiddishe Folk. Because I am opposed to both the mononational state and cosmopolitanism (of the classic Appiah-like variety), I work out a description (not fully defined) of diaspora that comprises dual loyalties, to the place where I am and especially its oppressed people and to others of my nation scattered in many places (ideally!). This statement constitutes a vade mecum to a longer manifesto to be published by Yale University Press, late in 2022.

This article traces the evolution of anti-semitism in post-war Italy, from the early responses to the Holocaust to the increasingly concerning signs of contemporary anti-Jewish prejudice. Tracing the discourses of religious and secular attitudes towards Jews, the piece shows how resilient certain stereotypes are, and how assumptions about citizenship continue to undermine the respect of difference in Italy. With a reflection that is meant to be personal and scholarly at the same time, this contribution has the aim of facilitating a broader reflection, that spans instances of anti-semitism among the anti-racist Left, the correlation between unresolved anti-Jewish prejudice and widespread racist, anti-immigrant discourses, the challenges of a politicised memorialisation of the Holocaust, and also the role Jewish communities may play in this unsettling context.

There are few issues that better illustrate the unresolved condition of the Italian right in the postwar period (neo-fascist in identity, democratic from necessity) than that of its stance on Israel, the Jews and Zionism. In the aftermath of the fall of fascism, the right had no difficulty in combining the defence of anti-Jewishness with domestic anti-anti-fascist policies and a foreign policy that was hostile towards the ‘allies’ of 1940–1945. Yet as soon as political competition became oriented around pro- and anti-communism, the right was, over time, driven to play down the recollections of fascism and specifically its antipathy towards Israel, not to mention its anti-Zionism. The exacerbation of the Middle East problem and the right's foreign policy response to it led to a further evolution in its stance, eventually culminating in a definitive end to any ambivalence on the issue with the birth of the ‘National Alliance’. From that point onwards, anti-Zionism found support only in the utterances of neo-Nazi skinheads and the banners of rowdy fans at the ‘northern end’ of football stadia.