Reggio Children, Jewish teachers refuse to participate. «Third Reich methods»

Storm in Reggio Emilia after the Reggio Children company, with mixed public-private capital, asked Israeli and American teachers who wanted to participate in a program on early childhood education to sign, as Jews, a declaration of dissociation from the actions of the Israeli government. Request rejected by the delegation of American Jewish teachers, who abandoned the visit to the city.

The president of the Jewish community of Milan Walker Meghnagi denounces: «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 they say they want to promote. It's anti-Semitism. I ask that the municipal administration of Reggio Emilia resigns."

The mayor of Reggio Emilia Marco Massari «firmly rejects the accusations of anti-Semitism aimed at the Municipality of Reggio Emilia, which do not correspond in any way 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."

For the group leader of the Brothers of Italy in the Chamber of Deputies, Galeazzo Bignami «it is necessary for the municipal administration to clarify every aspect of the matter, ensuring maximum transparency on the decisions taken and on any pressure that led to the resignation of the delegation. Anti-Semitism cannot find space, nor be minimized or justified through ideological contrasts." "We expect a clear and unambiguous condemnation from all political forces."