Tuesday, June 12, 2007

Rome: Italians VERY Anti Bush, But PRO American

The ANNOTICO Report

 

It is extremely shocking the vehemence vs George Bush in Italy, while at the same time they are very Pro American.

 

The Italians are much more forgiving than I would be. If a country elected such an arrogant , power mad , war monger, I would hold those voters responsible, especially since they did it twice, and seem to be impotent at  reigning him in.

 

The reporter first speaks of the extreme Security needed , the numerous Anti Bush Posters and Protests, and then how quickly they can shift from their EXTREME dislike of Bush, to abruptly embark on friendly conversations inquiring about  the reporters life, and  discuss the places they have been in the US  , or would like to see.

 

Remarkable.

 

Rome: 'Anti-Bush, not Anti-Americans'

 

Brunswick Times Record 

Maine, USA

By Rachel Boyd
June 11, 2007

 

ROME, Italy  In my first week in Rome, I've enjoyed trying to live as a true Roman would: I eat pasta and gelato almost every day, I read "La Repubblica" and "Corriere della Sera," and I've become friends with the barista who makes my cappuccino each morning. But Saturday, my quest to emulate my Roman neighbors meant attending a protest against my own president.

I am living in Rome this summer to study abroad with a group of humanities students from my college. My days are wonderfully full with walks along the Tiber, visits to ancient sites and to old friends, and reading accounts of the lives of Roman emperors. Even though I'm a native of Brunswick, I lived in Rome for two years as a child, and I both love and feel at home in this city.

But these days, it's easy to assume that Italy doesn't love me back  and the ever-worsening exchange rate isn't even the biggest reason. For the past few years, Italians have been increasingly incensed by our involvement in Iraq.

Following the G-8 summit, President George W. Bush visited Rome on Saturday. And when Bush is in town, everyone knows it. Italian media chronicled his meetings with Italian Prime Minister Romano Prodi, former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and the pope, and they paid just as much attention to the popular protests to his visits.

 

Posters for a "Push Bush Out" anti-war parade covered the walls of buildings in my beautiful medieval neighborhood all this week, and on Saturday, tens of thousands of Italians gathered to show their disapproval of the Iraq war and the current U.S. administration.

Security for Bush's visit was notably high: U.S. helicopters flew over Rome for days, subway stops were closed, streets blocked off, and a visit to my neighborhood Trastevere canceled because the Secret Service worried about maneuvering vehicles through the narrow streets. The U.S. embassy warned American citizens to stay away from the protests on Saturday, which 10,000 Italian policemen patrolled.

On Saturday, ignoring the worries of my embassy, my family and my friends here, I decided to explore one of those protests anyway. I spoke with and read the literature of the dozens of anti-war groups gathered in Piazza della Repubblica, and I saw thousands of people holding peace flags, "Bush, Rome doesn't want you" posters, and various caricatures of the president. Italians came from as far away as the northern city of Vicenza to protest U.S plans to expand a military base there. Hordes of Italians seem to hate Bush and are happy to show it.

This sentiment could be construed as anti-American, but walking among these protesters and translating their signs, I didn't feel targeted. Bush as a man, not the symbol of a nation, was the focus of their posters; most of them never mentioned the United States as a whole.

"We don't agree with the foreign policy of Bush," said Lorenzo Stracquadaneo, 26, one of the protesters. "But we're anti-Bush, not anti-Americans."

This sentiment  that Bush, not the United States, is the enemy  was one echoed by almost every Italian I spoke with. I'm sad, of course, that the decisions of my president anger so many of the people I meet in foreign countries, but most Italians' nuanced view of U.S. politics mean s that I'm not caught up in their hatred. Italians know that many Americans are anti-Bush as well. Their specific slogans "No war, no Bush," "Bush: True idiot," "With the other America," "With the U.S. anti-war movements"  are careful to show this.

Italians I meet love to hear about where I'm from, and they like to hear about the lobsters and cold weather in Maine. They tell me about their own visits to the United States or ask me about the cities  usually New York and Los Angeles  they would love to see.

In my visits to Italy, I've always been struck by the warmth of Italians, and I'm lucky that this time, they've been just as friendly to me, even if not to my president, as ever.

 

Rachel Boyd of Brunswick just completed her sophomore year at Yale University. After completing a study program in Rome, she will work this summer for The Times Record as a reporting intern.

 

http://www.timesrecord.com/website/

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