MILAN (AP) — The vandalism Monday of a mural depicting a survivor of last year’s Oct. 7 Hamas attacks that killed some 1,200 people in Israel, is an example of rising antisemitism in Italy over the last year, according to the Antisemitism Observatory in Milan.
Incidence of antisemitism has increased to about 80 or 90 a week in the last year, from about 30 a week before, said Stefano Gatti, a researcher at the observatory. He called the increase “overpowering.”
“While before October 7, the incidents were mostly on internet websites, now they consist of acts in the real world,’’ he said. “Antisemitism has also become more socially acceptable."
It includes graffiti, insults, acts of intimidation and aggression that so far have not translated into cases of bodily harm. He cited one incident during which a rabbi was followed in the port city of Genoa by someone brandishing a screwdriver, and another incident when a restaurant owner casually told a pair of diners he did not realize were Jewish that Hitler was right for seeking to wipe out Europe’s Jews.
“We have not seen a situation like this since 1945,” Gatti said, citing the end of World War II and the Nazi Holocaust that killed 6 million European Jews. “Not even in 1982,” during Lebanon's war when Israel invaded southern Lebanon. He said local mayors and university officials have not been clear in their condemnation of such events, “which has helped the phenomenon grow.”
The mural vandalized on Monday, “October 7th, Escape” by AleXsandro Palombo, depicted Vlada Patapov escaping the Hamas attack. Vandals erased the figure’s head and legs from the mural near Milan’s state university.
Palombo said in a statement that whoever “decapitated” the image “is not fighting for the liberation of Palestine. These extremist movements that are increasingly radicalizing our society have the sole purpose of defending terrorist belief in our Western democracy.”
The artist said that images of the Hamas massacre “have been removed from the collective memory too soon, and instead need to be circulated more until they are imprinted and become a warning against the threat of Islamist terrorism and religious fundamentalism.”
This picture made available on Monday, Oct. 7, 2024, shows in downtown Milan, Italy, the mural "October 7th, Escape" by Italian artist aleXsandro Palombo, which depicts Vlada Patapov, a survivor of the Hamas attacks, escaping through beheaded teddy bears. (aleXsandro Palombo via AP, HO)
A man walks past the vandalized mural "October 7th, Escape" by Italian artist aleXsandro Palombo, in downtown Milan, Italy, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)
No one is likely to be happy with the projected higher deficits laid out in a new analysis of Kamala Harris’ and Donald Trump’s economic plans.
The analysis released Monday by the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget suggests a Harris presidency could increase the national debt over 10 years by $3.5 trillion. The same analysis says former President Trump’s ideas could heap another $7.5 trillion onto the debt and possibly as much as $15.2 trillion.
Follow the AP’s Election 2024 coverage at: https://apnews.com/hub/election-2024.
Here’s the latest:
North Carolina’s bipartisan state elections board unanimously approved an emergency resolution making several changes to how voters in 13 western North Carolina counties can cast their ballots by Election Day.
The resolution comes less than two weeks after deadly Helene destroyed large swaths of western North Carolina, displacing residents, damaging homes and washing away roads.
In a critical presidential election that may hinge on which way the battleground state swings, that widespread disruption also presents major problems for how residents can cast their votes.
“I’m generally very hesitant to make changes to the normal running our election,” said Stacy Eggers IV, a Republican board member from Boone in western North Carolina. “But these have been tailored to give flexibility to the county boards to meet those specific needs.”
One of the biggest changes allows affected voters to turn an absentee ballot in on Election Day by 7:30 p.m. to polling places operated by their county elections board.
Displaced voters may also turn in ballots to another county’s elections board by the same deadline.
The resolution also expands opportunities to pick up an absentee ballot in-person from a county elections office until the day before the election.
Trump claimed in a radio interview on Monday morning that he polls so well in Israel that he could run for office.
“I could run for prime minister, although Bibi’s doing a lot better right now,” he said, referring to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Speaking on WABC radio, the former president said that in the U.S., “very conservative Jews, very, very conservative, they’re all for Trump, every, 100% because I’ve done things that are — they understand it.”
“I heard I’m doing very well with New York, Jewish people from New York, I hear I’m doing well,” Trump said.
Trump appeared on the same radio program in July with host Sid Rosenberg and claimed Vice President Kamala Harris, who is married to a Jewish man, “doesn’t like Jewish people.”
He repeated his claims that the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas never would have happened if he were still president.
Soon, the ballots will be cast, the polls will close and a campaign marked by assassination attempts, animosity and anxiety will come to an end. But for U.S. adversaries, the work to meddle with American democracy may be entering its most critical phase.
Despite all the attention on efforts to spread disinformation in the months before the Nov. 5 election, the hours and days immediately after voting ends could offer foreign adversaries like Russia, Iran and China or domestic extremist groups the best chance to mess with America’s decision.
That’s when Americans will go online to see the latest results or share their opinions as the votes are tabulated. And that’s when a fuzzy photo or AI-generated video of supposed vote tampering could do its most damage, potentially transforming online outrage into real-world action before authorities have time to investigate the facts.
It’s a threat taken seriously by intelligence analysts, elected officials and tech executives, who say that while there’s already been a steady buildup of disinformation and influence operations, the worst may be yet to come.
Turning Point’s representatives have made two things clear in meetings with state and local Republican leaders — Donald Trump has blessed their conservative organization to help lead his get-out-the-vote effort, and local party officials ought to use the group’s new voter mobilization app.
Both prospects terrify fellow Republicans.
Soaring to prominence after Trump’s unexpected 2016 win, Turning Point earned a reputation for hosting glitzy events, cultivating hard-right influencers and raising prodigious sums of money while enriching the group’s leaders. They’ve had far less success helping Republicans win, especially in their adopted home state of Arizona.
Now the organization has leveraged its ties to Trump to expand its influence in a way that could be potentially lucrative. Turning Point has sought to lead an effort to remake the GOP’s get-out-the-vote effort based on the theory that there are thousands of Trump supporters who rarely vote but could be persuaded to in this year’s election. And they are pitching their new mobile app as vital to this effort’s success.
Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger speaks during a news conference at the state Capitol in Atlanta, Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (John Spink/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)
This combination photo shows Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris at a rally in Flint, Mich., Oct. 4, 2024, left, and Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Walker, Mich., Sept. 27, 2024. (AP Photo)
FILE - Republican presidential candidate former President Donald Trump gestures as he finishes speaking at The Believers' Summit 2024 at a Turning Point Action event in West Palm Beach, Fla., July 26, 2024. (AP Photo/Lynne Sladky, File)
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks to reporters before boarding Air Force Two at Charlotte Douglas International Airport, Saturday, October 5, 2024, in Charlotte, N.C., after a briefing on the damage from Hurricane Helene. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson)
