From the Italian squares rises an unequivocal message: Italians are now tired of a government complicit in the genocide in Palestine and of an opposition that unhesitatingly supports a rearmament policy. Money for Ukraine can always be found, protesters denounce, but none for schools, universities, or healthcare. This discontent is no longer confined to trade union categories or militant groups, but seems to spread across ever wider sections of the population. And this is only the beginning of what promises to be a very hot autumn.
Tens of thousands of people poured into Italian squares today, inaugurating what many are already calling a new “hot autumn.” The general strike called by grassroots unions turned into a day of national mobilization that intertwined social demands with foreign policy, united by a clear thread: opposition to the government’s pro-Israel stance and to the warmongering drift that runs through the entire parliamentary spectrum, now firmly aligned with rearmament.
Milan witnessed the harshest moments. At Central Station, clashes broke out with the police: protesters, wearing keffiyehs and waving Palestinian flags, smashed the glass doors of the main entrance. According to la Repubblica, it was a true urban guerrilla, with a group of young people dressed in black trying to enter the subway station and coming into contact with officers. The entrance was left devastated, and for over an hour trains skipped the Central stop. Also in Milan, near the American consulate, a U.S. flag was burned, further fueling tensions.
In Rome, more than thirty thousand participants took to the streets, with marches carrying slogans against the war and against the Italian government’s alignment with Washington and Tel Aviv. The capital witnessed a massive day of protest, largely peaceful but with moments of tension due to the heavy police presence.
In Turin, protesters stormed the railway tracks, halting train traffic and adding further pressure to a day already marked by disruptive actions across the country.
The mobilization also had a strong impact on national logistics: ports were blocked in Genoa, Livorno, and Marghera, while in Bologna a group of activists occupied the A14 motorway with smoke bombs and banners. Traffic on the Florence-Pisa-Livorno route was also paralyzed, causing severe disruption.
The general strike marks a qualitative leap in the protests. It is no longer just about economic disputes or wage demands: the heart of the movement is now political, with a direct attack on Italy’s strategic choices, accused of subordinating its foreign and military policy to the interests of Washington and Tel Aviv.
After a summer marked by international tensions, autumn opens with a protest front that foreshadows heated days also in schools and universities, where students and teachers have already announced initiatives against war and austerity. The education sector, already severely hit by cuts and uncertainty, seems destined to become one of the epicenters of the mobilization.
The political signal is strong: a growing part of Italian society does not accept the militarization of public debate and demands a radical change of course, against rearmament and for a real peace. For the government and for the parties currently sitting in Parliament, the coming weeks will be a difficult test. The hot autumn has only just begun, and its fire threatens to spread far beyond the streets.
