My Real Israel: A Testimony of an Italian from Central Israel

Article by Lara Baumann

I don’t usually write about politics – especially Italian – and I don’t feel I have what it takes to be able to criticize the choices and votes of the citizens of a country where I haven’t lived for a long time and whose daily reality I no longer know. But these days, Facebook is full of criticisms and judgments towards Israel, also expressed by Jews, non-Jews, Arabs and anyone who thinks they know the facts because they have seen two minutes of the news.

The “riots” and “pogroms” do not reflect the Israeli reality. Like in Italy, where not everyone is racist, there are groups (fortunately minorities) of extremists: the so-called “TikTok generation.” These are very young criminals who grew up without proper education, belonging to both sides. They don’t represent Israel.