June 2nd celebration in Bologna, Lepore condemns Gaza massacres: “We must rebel”
Bologna, 2 June 2025 - Many people this morning in Piazza Nettuno to celebrate the Republic Day in the presence of the prefect Enrico Ricci , the mayor Matteo Lepore , the police commissioner Antonio Sbordone , parliamentarians and mayors. After the reading of the speech of the head of state by the prefect in which Sergio Mattarella hopes that the celebrations "are a moment of unity and harmony around the values of the Republic", Lepore takes the floor, citing in his speech both the referendums of 8 and 9 June and the massacre in Gaza , following which the Municipality and the Emilia-Romagna Region interrupted institutional relations with the government of Israel. A massacre for which the President of the Republic himself (also applauded in Piazza Nettuno) called for "a ceasefire because it is inhumane that an entire population is reduced to starvation".
The mayor, in his speech, after the necessary introduction (“today we celebrate the birth of the Italian Republic, which took place on June 2, 1946, when the Italian people, with the first universal suffrage vote, chose democracy and freedom. A choice that, 79 years later, continues to guide our daily commitment to a more just and supportive society”), cites the founding values of our Constitution: freedom, democracy, equality, solidarity. “Values that, as Mattarella recalled in his message, must not remain abstract ideals, but become “inspiring criteria for choices”, in institutions and in civil society”. A reminder that looks to 2022 and the Ius Soli introduced in the municipal statute, with “the institutional commitment to a national reform of citizenship. Not out of generosity, but out of justice. Because those who grow up, study, live here are part of our community”. From here, the mayor calls for the need to go to the polls for the referendum on June 8 and 9, since "we will also vote on this issue". At this point Lepore cites the need for "an Italy that is truly for everyone. That does not limit itself to including, but also knows how to protect".
The mayor recalls Bologna's commitment "to welcoming and caring for many people coming from the Gaza Strip". We are talking about a hundred people, the mayor specifies on the sidelines of the celebrations, and they will soon reach 150. "We can no longer bear what is happening, we cannot remain silent", insists Lepore in line with the decision of the Municipality and the Emilia-Romagna Region (with Puglia) to interrupt institutional relations with the Israeli government. A stop not shared by the Jewish Community of Bologna and its president Daniele De Paz, yesterday in the square.
“The Israeli people should not be penalized,” Lepore says, “but we have to do something, we have to rebel. We have been talking about it with the Jewish community for months, but I fear that it is quite powerless in the face of a war criminal (Benjamin Netanyahu, ed.) recognized by the International Criminal Court.” De Paz did not comment, but this afternoon he will meet with the cardinal and archbishop of Bologna, Matteo Zuppi .
İl Resto Del Carlino
