\u201cNo gag, no censorship, no repression. Bill 1004 against antisemitism contains no provisions that curtail freedom, nor does it establish powers to report, penalize, or sanction. One may disagree with a legislative proposal, but distorting the facts is unacceptable\u2014especially when done by media professionals. Characterizing the Bill as an assault on freedom of the press, freedom of opinion, and the right to legitimately criticize any government\u2014including Israel\u2019s\u2014is a clear case of fake news; the organizers of today\u2019s protest against the Bill seek instead to misrepresent its content and intent. Its sole objective\u2014I repeat for the umpteenth time\u2014is to combat antisemitism, manifestations of which (both in real life and on social media) have reached levels unseen since World War II. Labeling the Bill an attack on freedom of the press and the right to criticize\u2014even regarding the Israeli government\u2014is fake news: the text explicitly protects \u201cfreedom of political criticism, freedom of expression, and freedom of assembly and association.\u201d One need only read it without prejudice to refute the accusations leveled against it. The Bill allows full freedom to legitimately criticize any government, including Israel. It intervenes only when such criticism crosses the line into prejudice against Israel and the Jewish people, or involves the misuse of the Holocaust and Nazi comparisons. Claiming that it undermines the fight against antisemitism is a logical absurdity. It is therefore concerning\u2014and surprising\u2014to see ANPI, ANPPIA, and FNSI join the protest: organizations that ought to have the fight against antisemitism in their DNA, yet appear to have set it aside in order to align with a monolithic mindset that stifles pluralism and…\u201d …to dissent. The aim of the measure is to combat antisemitic acts, nothing else; there is no need for further falsehoods.\u201d So stated Livia Ottolenghi, President of the Union of Italian Jewish Communities. <\/p>\n