January 18, 2022 2:53 pm
On 11 January, the opening ceremony of the World youth forum in Sharm el Sheikh, organized by the Egyptian regime, sparked an avalanche of ironic comments and caused much bitterness on Egyptian social networks. And it marked a new stage in the incredible itinerary of Bella Ciao, from mondine in the rice fields of the Po delta to global fame thanks to Netflix.
For Italian readers there is no need to remember the revolutionary and libertarian significance of the partisans’ song. The historical itinerary of the song of the mondine – from the partisan resistance to international recognition thanks to the Italian-French singer Yves Montand (born Ivo Livi) in the sixties, up to the interpretations of Mercedes Sosa, during her exile from the regime of the Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, by Manu Chao and Tom Waits – was mentioned in a beautiful article, with original audio, from the Financial Times, which goes back to his distant roots.
The partisan song has been picked up more recently by various people and in different places, from football stadiums to Turkish protesters against President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, from yellow vests in France to young people protesting in Brazil or Colombia. But it got new life in 2017 with the Spanish series The paper house, where a group of bandits storm the Spanish central bank and decide to print money, sending the bills flying out of the windows in a modern version of Robin Hood.
Irony and bewilderment
January 11th Bella Ciao it was sung, as the soundtrack of the Netflix series, at the opening of the World youth summit in Sharm el Sheikh by a group of young people from South Africa. In the front row, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al Sisi, responsible according to Human Rights Watch for tens of thousands of arrests of activists and opponents, was over the moon, with a satisfied smile on his face. An actress from the Paper house, the Spanish Itziar Ituño, whose character decides to leave the police to join the gang of armed revolutionaries and attack the authorities.
The World Youth Forum has been organized by the Egyptian regime since 2017, as a large North Korean type event that aims to rehabilitate its image in the eyes of a young population from whom it has stolen the dreams of freedom and democracy, but also of ” to increase tourism in Egypt, ”said Zahi Hawass, former minister of cultural heritage. For the young Egyptians not invited to the event the song Bella Ciao it was the paradox too many: social networks exploded, divided between irony, bitterness and a great feeling of bewilderment in the face of the absurdity of the situation, exactly eleven years after the days of the Tahrir square revolution.
In the presence of a tyrant
T. Hashem, replies to the tweet presidential with the translation of the text of the song from Italian to Arabic: no further comments should be needed. Another user, Abbas Naseri, judge the choice of a “limitless stupidity. A revolutionary song in the presence of a tyrant! ”. There are also many falsely naive ironic tweets like that of Azza Matar, who writes to the president: “I hope you get the song circulated Bella Ciao in schools”. Amin Sari | for his part he explains: “Someone knows that Bella Ciao is it a song against injustice and tyranny sung by workers to protest against harsh working conditions? An anti-fascist and revolutionary song? This latest event by Al Sisi encompasses all the theater of the absurd in our country and its painful reality “.
The independent newspaper Al Araby al Jadid states: “Young Egyptians on social networks mocked the organizers of the forum’s opening ceremony, because they are convinced that the officials did not understand the words of the song that incites the revolution against themselves.”
Open wounds
For the political and cultural magazine Raseef22, in addition to the ignorance of the regime, the symbolism of the scene must also be considered: “There is a conference organized by the same state in which all those who are linked to the revolution, from far or near, are imprisoned or in exile, and where any form of journalism that does not follow the regime is banned, where books are confiscated and publishing houses closed. And there are also their representatives who sit in front of the stage with their mouths open, clapping their hands to the rhythm of a revolutionary song created to resist people of their kind, thinking it’s just a beautiful melody ”.
In the regime press, whether it is ignorance or denial of reality, Bella Ciao it is presented as a “beautiful song with a classic register that is back in fashion thanks to the series The paper house”, As Youm al Sabaa writes who also cites Ituño, who arrived in Sharm el Sheikh congratulating herself on the fact that“ culture plays a great role in healing our wounds. Thanks to her we can overcome today’s important challenges with more determination ”.
The Orwellian effect is quite strong when one thinks of the fate of young revolutionaries like Alaa Abdel Fattah and others, who are aging in prison, who have been detained for years on unfounded charges. No doubt The paper house he will not heal any of their wounds.
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