Italian town in turmoil after far-right mayor
bans Muslim prayers
Bangladeshi residents and others in Monfalcone say
decisions to prohibit worship at cultural centres and banning burkinis at the
beach is part of anti-Islam agenda
Angela
Giuffrida in Monfalcone
Sun 18 Feb
2024 08.00 GMT
The
envelope containing two partially burned pages of the Qur’an came as a shock.
Until then, Muslim residents in the Adriatic port town of Monfalcone had lived
relatively peacefully for more than 20 years.
Addressed
to the Darus Salaam Muslim cultural association on Via Duca d’Aosta, the
envelope was received soon after Monfalcone’s far-right mayor, Anna Maria
Cisint, banned prayers on the premises.
“It was
hurtful, a serious insult we never expected,” said Bou Konate, the
association’s president. “But it was not a coincidence. The letter was a
threat, generated by a campaign of hate that has stoked toxicity.”
Monfalcone’s
population recently passed 30,000. Such a positive demographic trend would
ordinarily spell good news in a country grappling with a rapidly declining
birthrate, but in Monfalcone, where Cisint has been nurturing an anti-Islam
agenda since winning her first mandate in 2016, the rise has not been welcomed.
The town’s
population growth is mostly attributed to the sprawling shipyard owned by the
state-controlled giant Fincantieri, whose policy of outsourcing labour over the
past two decades led to a huge inflow of skilled foreign workers, mainly from
Bangladesh. The cheaper immigrant workforce far outnumbers Italians, especially
during peak periods in the construction of huge cruise ships.
Monfalcone’s
Bangladeshi community has been further boosted by relatives arriving via a
family reunification policy, which Cisint would like to restrict, and by their
Italy-born children.
Today, the
community makes up 6,600 of Monfalcone’s total 9,400 foreign-born population,
according to figures provided by Cisint during an interview with the Observer.
Immigration
has altered the makeup of the town. There is an array of foreign-owned shops
and restaurants, and a network of cycle paths mostly used by Bangladeshis,
whose bikes are their main mode of transport.
Cisint, a
politician backed by Matteo Salvini’s League party, and by Brothers of Italy,
the party led by the Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, won an easy
reelection in 2022, mostly on the anti-immigration ticket that facilitated the
rise to power of Italy’s far right.
One of her
first policies was to remove the benches in the main square, allegedly because
they were mainly used by immigrants. Cisint attempted to limit the number of
foreign children in schools, while cricket, popular among Bangladeshis, was
scrapped from the sports festival. Last summer, she banned Muslim women from
wearing burkinis at the beach.
But it was
Cisint’s ban on prayers in November, which also applies to a second Muslim
cultural centre in the town, that has reverberated most.
“It has had
an enormous impact,” said Konate, an engineer who has lived in Italy for 40
years. “We had been praying peacefully here for over 20 years. But this was not
only a place for prayer – people came to meet, chat. Children came for
after-school lessons. There are many Islamic cultural centres across Europe
where you can pray, and nobody prevents it.”
Cisint
claimed the Muslims had flouted urban planning rules because the premises was
designated for commercial use and not for worship. Safety was another factor,
she said, after citizens sent her photos showing “hundreds of people” entering.
An
estimated 8,000 people have protested against the ban
“I didn’t
say ‘close down and you must not pray’,” Cisint told the Observer. “The space
was being used in a distorted way – it was a mosque. They need to respect the
laws.”
The ban
chimes with a proposal by Meloni’s Brothers of Italy for the nationwide
shutdown of hundreds of Muslim prayer spaces that are not in mosques. Asked to
comment on “the Monfalcone situation” during a press conference in early
January, Meloni, who has long railed against “Islamisation” in Europe, said:
“Those who choose to live in Italy must respect Italian norms.”
Konate said
Monfalcone’s Muslims have always respected the laws, proof of which is seen in
the town’s extremely low crime rate, and that the mayor’s motive was to curtail
their Italian constitutional right to pray.
But after
passively living with the antagonism for years, he said the ban marked a
“watershed” moment.
On 23
December, an estimated 8,000 people protested against the move and Cisint’s
anti-Islam campaign, which many believe is being used to raise her profile in
the hope of running in June’s European elections.
The Muslim
community is also appealing against the prayer ban through the regional
administrative court. “For the first time, we said ‘we must defend ourselves’,”
said Konate, who like many of Monfalcone’s Muslims is an Italian citizen.
Cisint said
the exponential growth in the foreign-born population has put pressure on
Monfalcone’s social services. But she doesn’t have a problem with the town’s
other significant foreign community – Romanians. “They come, they integrate and
they respect Italian norms,” she said.
Cisint
recites a list of stereotypes about Muslims, such as women being forced to wear
face coverings and walk behind men. She claims she has done a lot for the
community, including building more schools “because they are having so many
babies”. She accuses Muslims of not wanting to learn Italian, and if they do
the main objective is to obtain citizenship.
But at an
Italian lesson run by volunteers, a Muslim woman said it was hard to find
places on the classes run by the authority. Her teacher, Cinzia Benussi, said:
“It seems that everything is done to make life difficult for Bangladeshi
residents.”
Amid the
tensions, a women’s group made up of native and foreign-born Italians has
emerged to bridge the divide caused by Cisint’s policies.
Nahida
Akhter, a 27-year-old student and daughter of a Fincantieri worker who has
lived in Monfalcone since she was a child, said at a recent meeting: “It’s
important to have this group to share ideas and help change the opinion of
those who are fixated on the same prejudices.”
Fulvia
Taucer, a financial adviser, added: “There has never been an issue with this
community … Monfalcone is everyone’s home.”
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