Simone Carabella traveled from Rome to Venice for Friday prayers. Not to pray, but to protest and provoke. The ex-bodybuilder now works as an “athletic trainer and communicator”; He fights “against humiliation and illegality,” advocates for the “restoration of the dignity of places and people,” and takes to the streets for “all those who don’t give up.” This is what you can read on his social media channels, along with his motto “Orgoglio Italiano” (Italian Pride).
Along with Massimiliano Zossolo, who runs the “Welcome to Favelas” channel, Carabella is the capital’s best-known right-wing influencer. The two and their followers use cell phone photos and videos to record the “degrado” of Rome, the neglect of public space: fallen trees, wild garbage dumps, car windows and tires removed by thieves, homeless people sleeping in parks and on sidewalks, fights between rival dealers in front of market halls.
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With ham rolls next to the prayer leader
Carabella came to Venice to intervene in the dispute that has been simmering for years over the planned construction of a large mosque for the many thousands of migrants from Bangladesh. They work primarily at the Fincantieri shipyard in the suburb of Mestre, where cruise ships are welded together. But many “Bengalesi”, as immigrants from Bangladesh are called in Italy, also work in the tourist industry in Venice itself. Their number is estimated at 20,000 to 40,000. It is difficult to determine an exact number because many Bangladeshis live seasonally or illegally in the block settlements in the suburbs. They are by far the largest migrant group in the greater Venice area.
Simone Carabella's "trip" to Venice shows that the dispute over the Venice mosque is currently the main arena in Italy's "culture war" over migration, especially Muslim migration. On Friday, as usual, hundreds of men gathered in a park in Mestre for weekly prayers because there is no large mosque. Carabella filmed the prayer in the open air with his cell phone, crouched down right next to the prayer leader, holding a ham sandwich in his free hand.
In the presence of local media representatives, the escalation desired by the influencer occurred. They would not allow “two hundred braggarts to change the way of life of the Italians,” shouted Carabella, complaining that women could not move around the park freely and in light clothing. Soon the police came. And brought Carabella to safety from the increasingly angry Muslim prayer community. Some shouted “Bastard!” Some wanted to attack him.
“Do you want to take a chance?”
The dispute over the mosque seemed to have already been resolved. According to their own statements, the Bangladeshi community has collected the necessary 15 million euros for the construction in recent years. After negotiations with the town hall, under the former mayor Luigi Brugnaro, the site of a former sawmill in Via Giustizia was acquired, around 8,000 square meters of floor space for a price of 1.5 million euros. But now the new mayor Simone Venturini, who was elected last May, is slowing down. Like his predecessor and mentor Brugnaro, he came into office as a candidate from a center-right alliance.
Venturini's town hall now says that the area around the former sawmill is designated as a commercial area. In order to grant permission to build a place of worship there, the city council must first change the development plan. This can take time and requires a majority among the 40 city councilors. Venturini says he is ready for dialogue as long as the Bangladeshi Muslim community takes further steps to integrate into Italian society.
Meanwhile, Prince Howlader threatens a strike by the Bangladeshis. The 33-year-old entrepreneur came to Mestre from Bangladesh with his father at the age of seven when he took a job at Fincantieri. Prince Howlader is chairman of the Islamic association “Giovani per l’umanità” (Youth for Humanity), which is pushing forward the construction plans for the grand mosque.
“We are ready to shut everything down,” says Howlader. The town hall cannot continue to play for time. "This matter has been dragging on for at least 15 years. If we are not allowed to build our mosque, we will take to the streets. And if we strike, Mestre and Venice will come to a standstill - the Fincantieri shipyard and tourism in kitchens, restaurants and hotels. Do you want to take a chance on that?" There is no date for the strike yet. Both sides say that efforts are being made to promote dialogue.
