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Casa Pound - Printable Version +- Deep Politics Forum (https://deeppoliticsforum.com/fora) +-- Forum: Deep Politics Forum (https://deeppoliticsforum.com/fora/forum-1.html) +--- Forum: Organizations and Cults (https://deeppoliticsforum.com/fora/forum-13.html) +--- Thread: Casa Pound (/thread-10244.html) |
Casa Pound - Magda Hassan - 27-01-2013 An Italian friend gave me this information today. New to me but unsurprising. An interesting exercise in re-branding. But same old shit. Quote:CasaPound Casa Pound - Magda Hassan - 27-01-2013 In the House of PoundAn Interview with Gianluca IannoneBy Colin Liddell CPI Leader Gianluca IannoneCasaPound is an Italian political movement that takes its name from the American poet and Fascist sympathizer, Ezra Pound. Although it is inevitably referred to as "extremist," "racist," and "neo-fascist," the movement, which was founded in 2003, is in fact more complex and interesting, especially from an alternative right perspective. It takes a holistic and grass roots approach to politics, focusing on culture, community, and a variety of activities for its members, as much as on traditional street politics. This is an interview I did by email with Gianluca Iannone, the movement's leader, in early 2011 for an article I was writing.CasaPound is still not so well known in the English-speaking countries, even by those active in right wing politics. Could you introduce your movement to our readers and describe it? How big is CasaPound? How many members and how much support do you have?First of all, linking CasaPound to the right wing is a bit restrictive. CasaPound Italia is a political movement organized as an association for social promotion. It starts from the right and goes through the entire political panorama. Right or left are two old visions of politics, we need to give birth to a new synthesis. CPI has more than 4000 members all over Italy but the supports and sympathy we gain days after days is far larger… Just think that the Blocco Studentesco, our student organization, obtained 11,000 votes in Rome and the Province for the students' elections.Please tell us a little about yourself personally and your background.I was born in August 1973 and started political activism at 14 in the Fronte della Gioventù (Youth Front) in Acca Larenzia, one of Rome's downtown neighborhood. Since then I have never stopped to be part of this world. Journalist since 1999, I worked for TV and radio stations and also wrote for national newspapers on international conflicts, literature, cinema and music. Why did you become politically active? Was there some event, action, or person that triggered your political activism?To tell the truth, there is not one thing in particular. I think it was just fate.What are main policies and objectives of CasaPound, both short-term and long-term?CPI works on everything that concerns the life of our nation: from sport to solidarity, culture and of course politics. For sports, we have a soccer teams and academy, we do hockey, rugby, skydiving, boxing, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, scuba diving, hiking groups, caving, climbing. For solidarity, we have first aid teams, we do fundraising activities for the Karen people, and we provide help to orphans and single-mums. A phone line called "Dillo to CasaPound" (tell it to CasaPound) is active 24/7 to give free advises on legal and tax issues. On the cultural ground, we host authors and organize book presentations; we have an artist club, a theater school, free guitar, bass guitar and drum lessons, we created an artistic trend called Turbodinamismo, we have a publishing company, dozens of bookshops and websites. Politically we propose various laws like the Mutuo sociale (social mortgage), Tempo di essere Madri (Time to be a mother) or against water privatization and so many more. Speaking about CPI is never easy because all these things are CASAPOUND. All of these represent our challenges and projects for now and the millennium.Do you have any significant links with groups or parties outside Italy?No.The first thing that strikes people in the English-speaking countries is the name of your group, which, of course, refers to the famous American poet Ezra Pound. How important are Pound's ideas to your movement? Why have you chosen to include his name in your movement's title?Ezra Pound was a poet, an economist and an artist. Ezra Pound was a revolutionary and a fascist. Ezra Pound had to suffer for his ideas, he was sent to jail for ten years to make him stop speaking. We see in Ezra Pound a free man that paid for his ideas; he is a symbol of the "democratic views" of the winners.Ezra Pound is also a name routinely associated with Anti-Semitism. Some will automatically see the invocation of his name as a rallying cry for Anti-Semitism. Could you clarify CasaPound's position with regard to the Jews and Israel?To associate Ezra Pound and anti-Semitism is an absolute twist. It is the same for CasaPound, it has no sense. It is true that we are against Israel politics towards Palestinians, against the bombing of civilians, and the embargo on international help. To say so does not mean to be anti-Semitic, it means analyzing facts.You are also known for anti-usury rhetoric. Most sensible people oppose excessive usury, but are you opposed to all usury? If not, where does constructive credit end and destructive usury begin?Usury is the worst thing. It is the head of the octopus. It is it that initiated the wars that are starting around the Mediterranean Sea, which generates illegal immigration and destruction. It is it which creates unemployment, debts. It is it that threatens the future of our children, which make them weak and ready for the massacre.My impression of CasaPound is that it is very much a grass roots organization that operates successfully in the "arena of street politics," with marches, parades and events that build identity and community, rather than through conventional elections. In Anglo countries right-wing street politics backfired in the past, allowing the mainstream media to paint very negative images of the National Front in the 1970s and the BNP later. Because of this the BNP now avoids the street as a political arena. Your group's success suggests that the street is a much more acceptable political arena for the right in Italy. Why do you think this is? What are the differences that make this possible?First of all, England was never a fascist state. This creates a big cultural difference. Also, as I said before CPI works on dozens of projects and with various methods: from conferences to demonstrations, distribution of information, posters. The important thing is to generate counter information and to occupy the territory. It is fundamental to create a web of supporters other than focusing on elections. For election, you are in competition with heavily financed groups and with only one or two persons elected, you can't change anything. Politics for us is a community. It is a challenge, it is an affirmation. For us, politics is to try to be better every day. That is why we say that if we don't see you, it is because you are not there. That is why we are in the streets, on computers, in bookshops, in schools, in universities, in gymnasium, at the top of mountains or in the newsstands. That is why we are in culture, social work and sport. That is a constant work.Because of the differences between Britain and Italy do you think it is better for the right-wing in the UK to avoid street politics? In this context, what is your view of the English Defence League, a group that obviously sees the street as its arena or forum?I think that the EDL is going on the ground of the clash of civilization. For me and Casa Pound, this provokes a kind of disgust. If the British right is reduced to this, then let's speak about soccer, it will be better. http://www.alternativeright.com/main/the-magazine/in-the-house-of-pound/ Casa Pound - Magda Hassan - 27-01-2013 http://www.casapounditalia.org/ Casa Pound - Magda Hassan - 27-01-2013 Italy's fascists stay true to Mussolini's ideology Leader of anti-immigration group CasaPound describes former dictator's brand of fascism as 'our point of reference' Tom Kington in Rome The Guardian, Sunday 6 November 2011 19.03 GMT The far-right Italian group CasaPound describe Benito Mussolini's ideology as their 'point of reference'. Photograph: Topical Press Agency/Getty Images Speaking in front of a photograph of Benito Mussolini at CasaPound's Rome headquarters, Simone di Stefano does not hesitate when asked if he subscribes to the Italian dictator's brand of fascism. "It's our point of reference, a vision of the state and the economy and the concept of sacrifice," said Di Stefano, who is vice president of CasaPound, the movement that reportedly has 5,000 members in Italy, alongside 15 loyal local councillors and the support of key officials at Rome city hall, where the mayor, Gianni Alemanno, is himself a former neo-fascist. Last year, a concert in Rome by the rock band led by CasaPound's president, Gianluca Iannone, was sponsored by one of the capital's borough councils. By holding cultural debates on themes as diverse as Che Guevara and Jack Kerouac, CasaPound has sought to separate itself from Italy's old-style, street-fighting neo-fascists. The group is named after Ezra Pound, the American poet who sided with Mussolini during the war. Mussolini's racial laws were "a mistake," says Di Stefano. "We believe in the national community and the Jews in Italy are part of that." And as for Pound's own antisemitism, "at the time it was very common throughout the world". The organisation steers clear of what Di Stefano calls fascist "nostalgia" fascist salutes are saved for funerals and focuses on promoting cheap housing and occupying empty properties. Eighteen families live in CasaPound's Rome base, a disused state property it has occupied since 2003. "The city hall wouldn't evict us now, we are a cultural point of reference," said 35-year-old Di Stefano. The movement also runs a phone helpline for Romans falling victim to loan sharks, and dispatches members to help out during natural disasters, like the Abruzzo earthquake in 2009 and this autumn's floods in Liguria. CasaPound's approach to economics is pure Mussolini "We would like to see communications, transport, energy and health renationalised and the state constructing houses which it then sells at cost to families," said Di Stefano. On immigration, the stance is typical of the far right. "We want to stop it," says Di Stefano. "Low-cost immigrant workers mean Italians are unable to negotiate wages, while the immigrants are exploited." Left-wing associations have frequently accused supporters of CasaPound of violently attacking their members at demonstrations, and have claimed the group acts as a cover for young men looking for trouble. "In Rome, fascists assault people but are protected and unpunished," Pierluigi Bersani, head of the opposition Democratic Party told a rally on Saturday. Di Stefano denied the allegation, saying CasaPound was itself the victim of attacks by leftists, citing an assault on its headquarters in Cuneo in northern Italy. He also defended the behaviour of CasaPound supporters who have got into the habit of whipping each other with their belts in the moshpit during gigs by Iannone's band "It's a bit like Fight Club, a way to risk pain, to confront yourself in way society does not allow," he said. "We also go on mountain walks, it's a similar concept." http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/nov/06/italy-fascists-true-mussolini-ideology Casa Pound - Magda Hassan - 27-01-2013 CASAPOUND'S FIRST BIG OUTING IN ROME WAS A SNOOZE-FESTBy Giuseppe Pisani, Photos by Gianmarco Panucci![]() Following the protests that took place against austerity measures in cities across Europe on November 14,the people of Romeparticularly those in uniformexpected the big national demonstration set for November 24 to represent the next logical step into the inferno. It was a day when everyone, regardless of political, social, or financial standing had agreed to take to the streets and make their opposition known. Finally unionists, students, fascists, and antifascists were going to unite under one cause and something was bound to go horribly wrong. Not quite. Three days before the protests the imaginatively named antifascist group 'Rome Says No To Fascists' organized a sit-in to remind the mayor, Gianni Alemanno, that fascism is still illegal in Italy, and attempt to keep the most upsetting element of the afforemention motley crew, the fascist organization CasaPound, from marching with them. In the end, however, the mayor gave the fascists permission to take part in the demonstration, with the caveat that fascist salutes, racist signs, and anti-Semitic or Nazi sentiments would not be tolerated. ![]() On the 22nd, two days before the demo, CasaPound announced that they would be moving their declared route away from the city center, where most of the other groups would be marching. We thought this was both cowardly and sensible at the same time, so on the day of the protest we decided to ditch the mainstream marchers and their boring old chants about poverty in favor of following the "terrible beauty" around and maybe witnessing some kind of apocalyptic vision of what the future holds. CasaPound was born in Rome in December 2003, after a group of extreme-right youth occupied a building in the Esquilino district, not far from the Central train station. You'd think this would prove a pain in the mayor's ass, but he hasn't done much of anything to evict them. Antifascists claim this is because of his own involvement in far-right movements in his youth. Whether or not that's true is still unclear. ![]() CasaPound's logo, the tortoise, symbolizes their motto: "Own Your Own House." Housing policies have been at the core of the group's agenda at least since 2006, when they entered politics within the "Movimento Sociale Fiamma Tricolore" [Tricolor Flame] party. These days, CasaPound is officially a "social promotion association" complete with "two thousand members, offices throughout Italy, 15 bookshops, 20 pubs, eight sports associations, an online radio station, a WebTV channel, and a monthly and a quarterly magazine." If you are looking to rationalize the madness, according to the German historian Volker Weiss, the reason CasaPound is experiencing such an escalating success is that it "has managed to create an attractive setting for young people by combining pop-culture and neo-fascism." They also use classical literature; Quotes from Jurgen, Yeats, and Pound are splattered all across their own promotional literature and speeches, in what looks like an attempt to cover their complete inabillity at any kind of political or moral thinking. Their own name is inspired by the writer Ezra Pound, which didn't go down particularly well with the writer's daughter, who sued the group last year. Soon after that, CasaPound tried to change their name to CasaBene, after playwright Carmelo Bene, who once responded to the question "Are you fascist?" with a fart. As expected, Bene's daughter wasn't happy about it either. ![]() CasaPound's founder is Gianluca Iannone. He is also the lead singer of the hardcore band Zetazeroalfa. Asked about the controversy surrounding his group's name in an interview once, he explained: "Ezra and Carmelo are two great heretics of the twentieth century, that official criticism tries to normalize and trivialize, if not simply forget. It's just a small homage to honor those who have made a flag out of being anti-conformist: a reference point for all free men, despite cultural or political affiliations." ![]() But let us get to the march. During the demonstrationattended by 3,000 people according to the mayor's office and 8,000 according to CPstadium chants with catchy melodies ranged from demanding Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti's resignation, to simplistic rants in favor of public schools, and their traditional battle cry, "Our idea becomes action, social loan, revolution." Every now and again the crowd would break their song mid-concert to wave their flags around. ![]() Much to our disappointment, everybody was extremely well behaved. There were no Roman salutes, no Nazi imageryfrom the outside you couldn't tell if the guys with the red flags were fascists or communists. I was about to cry, but then I overheard Iannone saying he was inspired by Benito Mussolini to an interviewer, which reaffirmed my original thoughts about the group. ![]() The march came to a close under the tunes of the Italian National Anthem. Everyone knew the first chorus and they all started belting it out, but then the second verse played and the whole procession was forced to stand awkwardly in silence. ![]() The speeches were next. First up was CP Italia's two vice presidents who, after congratulating each other and their minions for the large turnout, also patted themselves on the back for not having burned down the capital like we all thought they would. ![]() Then Iannone took to the stage, only to be drowned out by a helicopter circling above. Annoyed, he started snorting like a bull in chains, making his crowd grow slightly worried. Thankfully, the helicopter flew off soon enough, allowing Iannone to begin his rant uninterupted. I'm not sure who the "them" he kept referring to are, but they managed to make him really angry. "Because they think that we're only a group of retards, because they are ugly inside and out, because we must return to an ethics in politics, because we are the Sherwood Forest and the Sherriff of Nottingham will do anything to stop us." And with that Robin Hood reference he was ready to bow out. "We're going to hurt them, a lot!" he finished. Applause. ![]() That was about it. If the protest seemed soporific, that can be attributed to their gentlemanly comportment of protesters and the worrying lack of ideas. Of course, the CasaPound Italia fascists believe themselves to be crediblethrough hastily made quotations and audacious and ready retorts, balancing themselves on the social chasm created by 20 years of bad politicsbut I doubt anybody else thinks so. Or maybe that's just what I really want to believe. See more of Gianmarco's photos here. http://www.vice.com/read/casapound-demo-rome-24-nov Casa Pound - Magda Hassan - 27-01-2013 They're not fascist, oh no siree. They like Jews and homosexuals. They're not racist or sexist. They read book and don't burn them. Same old shit. Googlish translation: Quote:Naples, arrested right-wing extremists.http://napoli.repubblica.it/cronaca/2013/01/24/news/arrestati_estremisti_di_destra_c_anche_la_figlia_di_un_ex_senatore-51175878/?ref=NRCT-51328042-3 |