The Civic Platform - A Political Journal of Ideas and Analysis

11/24/2008
A far right Italian politician — nicknamed “The Sheriff” — has reportedly been slapped with a fatwa in response to his anti-Islam, and anti-immigrant, rhetoric. But it may only encourage him.

He likes to express controversial opinions, like the notion that
police should “ethnically cleanse” homosexuals or that immigrants in
public parks should be “dressed up like rabbits” and used for target
practice. But now Giancarlo Gentilini, the deputy mayor of the
northeastern Italian city of Treviso, has reportedly had a fatwa
declared against him.

“I defend my culture, my religion and civilization without any fear,
and so it is natural that I will make some enemies,” Gentilini, who
belongs to the anti-immigrant, far-right Northern League party, told
the Italian news agency ANSA Friday.

Gentilini’s name can be found on a list of men to be killed on an
Islamic Web site based in Lebanon, according to ilpadano.com, a news
site with ties to the Northern League. The site’s name is related to
the term “Padania,” which the party uses to denote northern Italy.

According to ilpadano.com, the fatwa was issued in response to
Gentilini’s “blaspheming” Islam. Police consider the reports
credible, according to ANSA, which adds that the fatwa was issued
several months ago.

Gentilini — who served as mayor of Treviso for two terms before
taking his current job — has been no stranger to controversy. “I
want to see a revolution against those that want to open mosques and
Islamic centers,” he told a Northern League gathering in Venice in
September 2008. “This also includes the members of the church
hierarchy here who say that we should leave them alone to pray. No,
let them go pray in the desert. I’ll open a factory to give them the
carpets they need to pray on in the desert.”

He has also advocated removing benches from public parks to keep
immigrants from using them, saying “we should dress them up as
rabbits and go bang, bang, bang with a rifle.”

He even launched a crusade last summer against non-local dogs in
Treviso, according to ANSA. “We don’t want foreign breeds here,” he
said.

In response to the alleged fatwa, Gentilini’s security detail has
been augmented. His outspoken views have forced the deputy mayor —
who claims to be fearless and relishes his nickname “The Sheriff” —
to live under police protection for five years.

jtw

http://www.spiegel. de/international /europe/0, 1518,592416, 00.html