Hate speech against Elly Schlein: misogynistic, homophobic, anti-Semitic

Schlein has been the leader of the largest Italian opposition party for a week – with a clear counter-proposal to the ultra-right politics of the Melonis government. The hatred and agitation she faces is enormous.

A scrawl on a wall in the town of Viterbo north of Rome: “Elly Schlein, your face is a macabre fate.” Underneath a swastika.

The picture caused outrage and expressions of solidarity from all political sides. Italy’s Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni condemned the insults as a “shameful and undignified act”. Viterbo’s graffiti is part of a series of slurs against the top left politician, including anti-Semitic abuse.

Jewish community concerned

Photomontages are circulating on social media, in which the Swiss-born woman with a Jewish father is disfigured as a raffia tooth. It is hate speech on an enormous scale against the top left politician.

The Jewish community in Rome is deeply concerned about the increasing number of anti-Semitic attacks on Elly Schlein. “I express my solidarity with the party leader of the Partito Democratico because of the anti-Semitic writing. These are unacceptable threats to which we must react decisively,” writes the president of the Jewish community, Ruth Dureghello, on Twitter.

Very left politics provoked

The 37-year-old Schlein has so far let the attacks bounce off her. But maybe that was just the beginning. Because the new leader of the Italian Social Democrats is challenging the patriarchal system with a very left-wing, emphatically feminist and LGBTQ-friendly policy.

It presents itself as an alternative to the ultra-conservative Melonis government. That’s provocative, says Daniela Preziosi, a journalist for the newspaper “Domani” who deals with the new feminism in Italy.

“Obviously, she had the strength to free herself from certain misogynistic, even paternalistic, shackles that are inherent in the structure of the party itself,” Preziosi said. It is a symbolic revolution. For the first time in the history of the Partito Democratico, a woman has made it to the top.

Fight against Meloni’s ultra-right government

Above all, Schlein is declaring war on the ultra-right Melonis government, which is committed to preserving conservative and nationalist values. Elly Schlein and Giorgia Meloni – two women now occupy top positions in Italian politics, but on opposite edges.

“I’m Giorgia, I’m a woman, I’m a mother, I’m Italian, I’m Christian.” With this sentence, Meloni campaigned for votes in Italy. “I’m a woman. I love another woman and I’m not a mother, but that doesn’t make me any less feminine,” Schlein said recently in Rome’s Piazza del Popolo.

Italy has a problem with a fascist past

And that’s exactly why she is being massively attacked – misogynist, fascist and anti-Semitic. The worst examples are collected on the “Osservatorio antisemitismo” website: a picture of a Schlein rubbing her hands and looking slyly with a Star of David on her sleeve, threats, conspiracy theories. Italy has a problem with its unresolved fascist past.

The EUR district commissioned by Mussolini is located in the heart of Rome. The original quotes from fascism are still on the walls of the buildings. The area is very popular, and it is here, of all places, in a newly built congress center, that the general meeting of the Social Democrats takes place. The attacks on the new party leader are an issue. A young politician from South Tyrol says: “Obviously, people feel like they’re allowed to do that – even if the government doesn’t say it’s wrong.”

No clear measures against online attacks

There were statements of solidarity for Schlein from all political sides, including Meloni, but no clear measures were taken against the attacks from the Internet. In her inaugural speech, Schlein called for a law against hate and discrimination. She would also benefit from this at the moment.

Elly Schlein studied in Bologna. A liberal spirit prevails here, the city is traditionally ruled on the left. Professor Filippo Tronconi sees the election of the former student as party leader as the result of a laborious search for an identity by the social-democratic Partito Democratico.

Left-wing enemy, feminist, Jewish

The party had made compromises almost beyond recognition. “In the end, it was a very moderate party that could govern with almost anyone. And maybe that’s why the voters, after so many years, have opted for a leadership with a clearly left-wing identity,” said Tronconi.

This identity now becomes the target of the most nasty personal attacks from their opponents. “Now, when these people face a political figure like Elly Schlein, a woman with a Jewish background, it triggers a lot of aggression from radical minorities. The internet and social media are a fantastic resonance box for all this hatred,” says Tronconi.

“Opens doors for young subjects”

In Bologna there is a lot of student support for Schlein and her subjects. “I’m happy and I hope that there will be more and more women in politics who manage to get positions of power,” says a student named Gulia.

Her fellow student Andrea is also happy about a female party leader: “She brings a lot of new energy, she is very young and opens the doors to young topics such as environmental protection, intersectionalism, feminism. These are the issues that interest us.”

Elly Schlein has been the official leader of the opposition for a week. A lot of hope rests on her, and a lot of hate and aggression is thrown at her. It’s tough opposition by any measure.

You can see the report on the subject in Weltspiegel – on Sunday at 6:30 p.m. in the first.