The Council of the Municipality of Bergamo announced today (Friday 7 June) that it has withdrawn the patronage it had granted to the Bergamo Pride association, for the event scheduled for next Saturday 15 June.
Bergamo Pride does not want Israeli flags
The reason lies in the position that the organization has taken towards the war in Gaza, for which it has essentially declared that Israeli symbols will not be welcome at the demonstration in the square. «The voluntary organization Bergamo Pride – we read in a post published a few days ago on the official Facebook page – communicates the decision to openly stand in support of the Palestinian people and against the ongoing genocide».
The association explained that its ideals «are incompatible with the policies implemented against Palestinian people from the beginning of the colonialist occupation to today» and that it wants to dissociate itself from «mechanisms of pinkwashing» and refuse funding from «multinationals that economically support and finance rearmament aimed at genocide». For these reasons, Bergamo Pride concluded, “Israeli flags or flags praising the symbols connected to the state of Israel will not be welcome in the square on 15 June”.
The Municipality removes the patronage
Palazzo Frizzoni’s decision, as specified in a statement released today, is motivated by the fact that «the association has transformed the initiative, from an event in favor of civil rights, against any discrimination of sexual freedom, into a demonstration in favor of the Palestinian people, characterized by traits of intolerance that cannot be accepted. The decision was made reluctantly, after repeated attempts to bring the event back to its original contents.”
The Council of the Municipality of Bergamo reiterated its convinced support for the cause of the free expression of civil rights, which over the years has seen it alongside the organizers of Pride and the promoter of numerous initiatives.
At the same time, however, he made clear his position on the dramatic situation in Gaza, «aimed at the request for an immediate ceasefire, the release of the Israeli hostages still in the hands of Hamas, the condemnation of the October 7 massacre and the condemnation of the massacre of civilians for which the Israeli government is taking responsibility Netanyahuopposed by many citizens of that country, to the affirmation of the right to exist in security both of the State of Israel and of a free and autonomous State of Palestine, which however believes should be kept completely distinct from the reasons for Pride”.
Finally, the Municipality recalled «the importance of affirming and defending the rights of homosexual people even in the territories controlled by Hamas, where they are subject to serious violations» and stigmatized «the intolerance of the Bergamo Pride Association towards flags and symbols of Israel, which goes beyond the acceptable challenge to the behavior of the government of that country and constitutes discrimination against a people and their legitimate state”.
