The Reggio Children case, the Jewish community of Milan: 'Third Reich methods, the administration resigns'

"The methods and climate established by certain Emilian municipalities remind me very much of those of Goebbels and what the fascist hierarch Roberto Farinacci wrote: 'Jews, an unclean race to be buried as such'. You cannot ask an American citizen, a teacher, a Jew, to respond as a Jew, as such. It is the total denial of the inclusion that in words they say they want to promote. It is anti-Semitism. I ask that the municipal administration of Reggio Emilia resigns." This was stated by Walker Meghnagi, president of the Jewish Community of Milan, after the controversy over the case of the Jewish delegations visiting the Reggio Children.

"At the Municipality of Reggio Emilia - he states - projects on inclusion and democratic values ​​are promoted, American teachers of the Jewish religion are invited for educational and dialogue activities, and then they are attempted to be dictatorially forced to take a position on a political issue, solely and exclusively because for the Municipality of Reggio Emilia these teachers belong to the 'Jewish race'. It is a principle of racially based filing". The request for resignation, Meghnagi reasons, is "due to the unworthy method used and the enormous damage to the image caused to Italy, given that the news is now all over the American news and is going around the world". Italy, he concludes, "cannot afford to pass for a country that discriminates against Jews because they are Jews".

The response from the mayor, Marco Massari, arrived shortly. "The statements of the president of the Jewish Community of Milan, Walker Meghnagi, surprise us," he says. "We firmly reject the accusations of anti-Semitism directed at the Municipality of Reggio Emilia, which in no way correspond to our values, our history and the reasons for our educational commitment. We hope that these words are the result of incomplete information and that it will be possible to clarify any misunderstanding, without superimposing political evaluations on the educational comparison".

The story

From Monday 12th to Friday 16th October, Reggio Emilia will welcome 25 teachers and educators from Israel, who have confirmed their participation in the study visit to Reggio Children, the international center for the defense and promotion of the rights and potential of boys and girls which enhances the Reggio Emilia Approach pedagogical approach. In response to the concerns that emerged in the city, they were asked to explicitly distance themselves from the policies of the Netanyahu government. A group of teachers from American Jewish schools, after having remotely followed the debate in recent days in the city, have "collectively considered postponing the trip".