Thousands of Sardines in Piazza San Giovanni in Rome: 'We are the partisans of 2020'

“Solidarity, welcome, respect, human rights”. These are some of the words that will animate Piazza San Giovanni in Rome today and that are reported on several signs displayed by the many who are arriving to take part in the flash mob of the Sardine movement. Large groups of people are pouring in front of the Basilica from the nearby metro stations and in particular from San Giovanni which will be open until 16 pm. Meanwhile, the song Bella Ciao has started from the stage and is being sung by the crowd in the square and many are displaying the sign “Rome does not bind”. The movement born to contest the policies of Matteo Salvini's League today brings together different people and realities that share the values ​​of anti-fascism. “In the open sea without a compass you get lost” reads a banner just outside the station. A group of migrants crossed the crowd with blue signs that read “Against the sharks of the planet. No more deaths, let's open the ports”. Thousands of people are expected today. A large blue cloth representing the sea with Sardines inside is spinning over the heads of the protesters. “A month after Salvini’s square, today we bring back to San Giovanni the anti-fascist values,” explains a woman.
“We are the partisans of 2020”. This was declared by one of the militants of the Sardine movement speaking from the stage set up for the demonstration underway in Piazza San Giovanni in Rome. An exclamation greeted by applause from the square. “I am Nibran, I am a woman, I am Muslim and I am the daughter of Palestinians. To those who want to reopen dark pages of history I say 'you will never have us, we will not allow you to do so”. This was said by a girl wearing a veil from the Sardine stage, after having read some articles of the Constitution together with others. “Obviously Salvini and Meloni will not like this…”, the young woman began. “We must return to being the Italy of great values ​​and not of inequalities. We have said that immigration is a problem to hide the real problems… emigration is the real problem. This is the cry of the square: politics must find the path of humanity”. Pietro Bartolo, a doctor in Lampedusa for 28 years and a member of the European Parliament, says this from the Sardine stage in Piazza San Giovanni. “This square tells us that we must turn the page,” he says.