ROME (AP) — Dozens of people raised their arms in the fascist salute and shouted a fascist chant during ceremonies Sunday to honor Italian dictator Benito Mussolini on the 79th anniversary of his execution.
Dressed in black, these nostalgics marched through northern Italian towns where Mussolini was arrested and executed at the end of World War II, and also in Predappio, Mussolini’s birthplace and final resting place.
Mussolini was stopped by anti-fascist partisans in Dongo, on the shores of Lake Como, on April 27, 1945, as he tried to escape with his lover, Clara Petacci, following the Allied liberation of Italy.
On Sunday, a group of his supporters marched through Dongo and placed 15 roses in the lake in memory of the ministers and officials from the Mussolini government who were killed there, according to video of the event by LaPresse news agency.
The partisans executed Mussolini and Petacci the following day in the nearby lakeside town of Mezzegra-Giulino, where commemorations were also held Sunday. After a rendition of Taps, the leader of the commemorations shouted “Comrad Benito Mussolini,” and the crowd responded with a stiff-armed fascist salute and chant of “present.”
Several police trucks separated the demonstrators in Dongo from hundreds of protesters who sang the famous partisan song “Bella Ciao” during the ceremony.
The anniversary of Mussolini’s execution fell on the same day that Premier Giorgia Meloni was leading her far-right Brothers of Italy party in an election rally in the city of Pescara. Brothers of Italy traces its roots to the Italian Social Movement, which was founded in 1946 by a chief of staff in Mussolini’s last government and drew fascist sympathizers and officials into its ranks after Mussolini’s fall.
Meloni, who joined the MSI's youth branch as a teenager, has tried to distance her party from its neo-fascist roots. She has condemned fascism's suppression of democracy and insisted that the Italian right handed fascism over to history decades ago. On Sunday, Meloni accused the left of being more of a totalitarian threat to Italy today.
She noted that Communist Party members had made a formal complaint about the tent structures built on the Pescara beachfront to host the Brothers of Italy rally, during which Meloni announced she would head the party's campaign ahead of European Parliament elections in June.
“I note that the Communist Party still exists, and I say so to show where the nostalgics for totalitarianism are in Italy today,” she said.
She earned rounds of applause as she listed her government's accomplishments since coming to power in 2022, and drew cheers when she reaffirmed her working-class roots.
“If you still believe in me, just write ‘Giorgia’ on the ballot, because I am and always will be one of you,” she said.
The message recalled one of her most famous campaign slogans, “I am Giorgia,” which emphasized her Christian nationalistic messaging and went onto become a viral meme and the title of her memoir.
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, center, attends the last of a three-day Brothers of Italy party conference ahead of the June elections for the European Parliament, in Pescara, Italy, Sunday, April 28, 2024. Writing on shirts and lecture stand reads in Italian "Italy changes Europe." (Roberto Monaldo/LaPresse via AP)
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni speaks on the last of a three-day Brothers of Italy party conference ahead of the June elections for the European Parliament, in Pescara, Italy, Sunday, April 28, 2024. Writing on lecture stand reads in Italian "Italy changes Europe." (Roberto Monaldo/LaPresse via AP)
Dozens of people raise their arms in the fascist salute and shout the fascist chant "present" in Dongo, northern Italy, Sunday, April 28, 2024 during ceremonies to honor Italian dictator Benito Mussolini on the 79th anniversary of his execution. Dressed in black, the neo-fascist supporters marched through northern Italian towns where Mussolini was arrested and executed at the end of World War II. (LaPresse Via AP)
TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) — Ruby Chen’s son, Itay, was killed in the Hamas attack on Oct. 7. But unlike scores of other families of soldiers killed that day, Chen doesn’t have a grave to visit because his son’s remains are held captive in Gaza.
The absence of a final resting place is being felt acutely now, as Israel marks its Memorial Day for fallen soldiers, when cemeteries are brimming with relatives mourning over the graves of their loved ones.
“Where are we supposed to go?” Chen said. “There is no burial site for us to go to.”
Memorial Day is always a somber occasion in Israel, a country that has suffered through repeated war and conflict throughout its 76-year history. But Chen’s torment underscores how this year it has taken on a profound and raw sadness coupled with percolating anger over the failures of Oct. 7 and the war it sparked.
Families of the fallen, along with broad segments of the public, are demanding accountability from political and military leaders over the blunders that led to the deaths of hundreds in the deadliest attack in the country’s history.
“Too many people were killed on that day because of a colossal misjudgment,” said Chen, who for months thought his son was still alive after he was snatched into Gaza, before receiving confirmation earlier this year that he was dead. “People who made the misjudgment need to pay, from the prime minister down.”
Israel marks its Memorial Day for fallen soldiers and victims of attacks beginning at sundown Sunday with an official ceremony and smaller events the following day at military cemeteries across the country. The solemnity is then abruptly interrupted by the fanfare of Independence Day, which begins Monday evening.
Grouping the two days together is intentionally meant to highlight the link between the costly wars Israel has fought and the establishment and survival of the state, a contrast that this year will be hard to reconcile at a time when Israel is actively engaged in warfare and Israelis feel more insecure than ever.
With the trauma of Oct. 7 looming large, each day is expected to feel dramatically different from previous years.
More than 600 Israeli soldiers have been killed since Hamas launched its surprise attack on Oct. 7, when thousands of militants rampaged across southern Israeli military bases and sleepy communities on a Jewish holiday.
Roughly 1,200 people were killed that day, about a quarter of them soldiers, and another 250 were taken captive into Gaza, according to Israeli authorities. The attack sparked the war, now in its eighth month, which has killed more than 34,700 Palestinians, most of them women and children, according to local health officials.
The militants stormed past Israel’s vaunted defenses, bursting through a border fence, blinding surveillance cameras and battling the country’s first line of defense soldiers, many of whom were outnumbered. Itay Chen, an Israeli-American, was one of them.
Militants reached roughly 20 different locations in southern Israel, stretching into cities beyond the belt of farming communities that straddles Gaza. It took hours for the region’s most powerful military to send reinforcements to the area and days for it to clear all the militants.
The attack shook Israel to its core. It shattered the broad trust the country’s Jewish population has long placed in the military, which has compulsory enlistment for most Jewish 18-year-olds.
Beyond the crisis of confidence in the military, the attack smashed Israelis’ faith in their government and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whose public support plummeted. Thousands of people take part in weekly protests demanding an early election so that a new leadership can take over.
Military and defense leaders have said they shoulder the blame for what transpired during the attack, and the country's head of military intelligence resigned as a result. But Netanyahu has stopped short of accepting responsibility, saying that he will answer tough questions after the war and even blaming his security chiefs last year in a late night post on X that he later deleted. His refusal to own up to his role has infuriated many.
But many Israelis have also lost patience with the protracted war, where soldiers continue to die and where thousands have been wounded.
The war's twin aims, of defeating Hamas' governing and military capabilities and freeing the hostages, haven't been accomplished, casting a shadow over events typically meant as a salute to the military's prowess, said Idit Shafran Gittleman, an expert on the military and Israeli society at the Institute for National Security Studies, a Tel Aviv think tank. Tens of thousands of Israelis also remain displaced from the country's south and volatile north.
“Since Oct. 7, Israelis have asked themselves how they will endure Memorial Day and Independence Day. And I don’t think anyone has an answer,” she said, adding that the one thing that might improve public sentiment is an election and a new government.
The anger that has surged is likely to boil over at the Memorial Day ceremonies, which take place at military cemeteries across the country. The ceremonies are typically seen as sacred, solemn and apolitical, even though they are attended by government ministers and lawmakers.
Some families have asked that the ministers refrain from joining, fearing a repeat of last year, when attendees at multiple ceremonies yelled at lawmakers who supported a divisive government plan to overhaul the judiciary.
“This is an event that the failing leadership and the failing security apparatus led us to,” Eyal Eshel, whose daughter, Roni, was killed at a base stormed by militants on Oct. 7 and who is leading the charge to prevent ministers from attending, told Israeli Channel 12. “Respect the families’ request: Don’t come.” Regardless, ministers are still slated to fan out across cemeteries nationwide.
But other changes are being made to reflect the somber mood, especially for Independence Day. The official ceremony marking the start of celebrations will be scaled down and have no live audience. The traditional air force flyby has been canceled.
Israelis are wondering what the right way to celebrate is — and whether there is much to celebrate at all.
“People have stopped believing that the country is able to defend us,” said Tom Segev, an Israeli historian. “The basic faith in the ability of the state to ensure a good future here has been undermined.”
Follow AP’s coverage of the war at https://apnews.com/hub/israel-hamas-war
People stand still to observe a minute of silence as air raid sirens sound to mark Israel's annual Memorial Day for fallen soldiers and victims of nationalistic attacks at a memorial for victims of the bloody Oct. 7 cross-border attack by Hamas militants, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Sunday, May 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
Family, friends and supporters of hostages held in the Gaza Strip by the Hamas militant group block a road moment ahead of Israel's annual Memorial Day for the fallen soldiers who died in the nation's conflicts and victims of nationalistic attacks in Tel Aviv, Israel, Sunday, May 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
Members of Israeli forces stand in formation to observe a minute of silence as air raid sirens sound to mark Israel's annual Memorial Day for fallen soldiers and victims of nationalistic attacks at the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray, in the Old City of Jerusalem, Sunday, May 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Israeli soldiers and family members of fallen soldiers visit their graves on the eve of the country's annual Memorial Day for fallen soldiers and victims of nationalistic attacks, at Mount Herzl military cemetery, in Jerusalem, Sunday, May 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Israeli scouts light torches during a Memorial Day ceremony, commemorating fallen soldiers, at the military cemetery of Mount Hertzl in Jerusalem, Sunday, May 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
People light candles to mark Israel's annual Memorial Day for fallen soldiers and victims of nationalistic attacks at a memorial for victims of the bloody Oct. 7 cross-border attack by Hamas militants, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Sunday, May 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
Members of Israeli forces stand in formation to observe a minute of silence as air raid sirens sound to mark Israel's annual Memorial Day for fallen soldiers and victims of nationalistic attacks at the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray, in the Old City of Jerusalem, Sunday, May 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Israeli soldiers and family members of fallen soldiers visit their graves on the eve of the country's annual Memorial Day for fallen soldiers and victims of nationalistic attacks, at Mount Herzl military cemetery, in Jerusalem, Sunday, May 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Israeli soldiers attend the funeral of Sgt. Itay Livny at Kiryat Shaul military cemetery in Tel Aviv, Israel, Sunday, May 12, 2024. Livny ,19, was killed during Israel's ground operation in the Gaza Strip, where the Israeli army has been battling Palestinian militants in the war ignited by Hamas' Oct. 7 attack into Israel. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
Israeli fighter jets fly over soldiers standing next to comrades graves during a rehearsal on the eve of the country's Memorial Day for fallen soldiers at the Mount Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem, Sunday, May 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks at a ceremony for the 'Remembrance Day for the Fallen of Israel's Wars and Victims of Terrorism' at Yad LeBanim in Jerusalem, Israel, Sunday, May 12, 2024. Israel will observe Memorial Day from sunset tonight until sunset May 13, when Independence Day begins.( Debbie Hill/Pool Photo via AP)
Family, friends and supporters of hostages held in the Gaza Strip by the Hamas militant group holds candles and stand still to observe one minute of silence as air raid sirens sound to mark Israel's annual Memorial Day for the fallen soldiers who died in the nation's conflicts and victims of nationalistic attacks in Tel Aviv, Israel, Sunday, May 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
Israeli soldiers pray after attending the ceremony marking Israel's annual Memorial Day for fallen soldiers and victims of nationalistic attacks at the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray, in the Old City of Jerusalem, Sunday, May 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Israeli president Isaac Herzog, second from left, lights the fire during the ceremony marking Israel's annual Memorial Day for fallen soldiers and victims of nationalistic attacks at the Western Wall, the holiest site where Jews can pray, in the Old City of Jerusalem, Sunday, May 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)
Israeli soldiers and family members of fallen soldiers visit their graves on the eve of the country's annual Memorial Day for fallen soldiers and victims of nationalistic attacks, at Mount Herzl military cemetery, in Jerusalem, Sunday, May 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Israeli scouts light torches during a Memorial Day ceremony, commemorating fallen soldiers, at the military cemetery of Mount Hertzl in Jerusalem, Sunday, May 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Family of Israeli solider Sergeant Yosef Dassa mourns in grief during his funeral in Kiryat Ata, Israel, Sunday, May 12, 2024. Dassa ,19, was killed during Israel's ground operation in the Gaza Strip, where the Israeli army has been battling Palestinian militants in the war ignited by Hamas' Oct. 7 attack into Israel. (AP Photo/Ariel Schalit)
Israeli soldiers and family members of fallen soldiers visit their graves on the eve of the country's annual Memorial Day for fallen soldiers and victims of nationalistic attacks at Mount Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem, Sunday, May 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
An Israeli soldier pays respect at a memorial for victims of the bloody Oct. 7, cross-border attack by Hamas militants on the eve of Israel's annual Memorial Day for fallen soldiers and victims of nationalistic attacks, in Tel Aviv, Israel, Sunday, May 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Oded Balilty)
A view of Mount Herzl military cemetery is pictured in Jerusalem, Thursday, May 9, 2024. Israel marks its annual Memorial Day in remembrance of soldiers who died in the nation's conflicts, beginning at dusk Sunday, May 12, until Monday evening, May 13. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Ruby Chen holds a poster of his son, Itay Chen, during a protest near Israel's parliament in Jerusalem, Thursday, March 9, 2024. Itay Chen was killed in Hamas' attack on Oct. 7. But unlike scores of other families of soldiers killed that day, the Chens don't have a grave to visit because their son's remains are being held by Hamas in Gaza. The absence of a final resting place is being felt by several dozen families as Israel marks its Memorial Day for fallen soldiers, when cemeteries are brimming with relatives mourning over the graves of their loved ones. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Family members and activists carry an empty casket during a mock funeral held ahead of Israel's Memorial Day for Israelis whose remains are being held by Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip, near the Israeli parliament building in Jerusalem, Thursday, May 9, 2024. Memorial Day is always a somber occasion in Israel. But in the aftermath of Oct. 7, it has taken on a profound and raw sadness coupled with percolating anger. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
A poster depicting fallen Israeli soldier Itay Chen hangs in an installation representing a tunnel in the Gaza Strip, in Tel Aviv, Wednesday, May 8, 2024. Itay was killed in Hamas' attack on Oct. 7. But unlike scores of other families of soldiers killed that day, the Chens don't have a grave to visit because their son's remains are held captive in Gaza. The absence of a final resting place is being felt acutely now, as Israel marks its Memorial Day for fallen soldiers, when cemeteries are brimming with relatives mourning over the graves of their loved ones. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
Hagit Chen holds a necklace depicting her son, fallen Israeli soldier Itay Chen, in Tel Aviv, Wednesday, May 8, 2024. Itay Chen was killed in Hamas' attack on Oct. 7. But unlike scores of other families of soldiers killed that day, the Chens don't have a grave to visit because their son's remains are held captive in Gaza. The absence of a final resting place is being felt acutely now, as Israel marks its Memorial Day for fallen soldiers, when cemeteries are brimming with relatives mourning over the graves of their loved ones. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
Hagit, left, and Ruby Chen, parents of fallen Israeli soldier Itay Chen, pose for a portrait in Tel Aviv, Wednesday, May 8, 2024. Their son Itay was killed in Hamas' attack on Oct. 7. But unlike scores of other families of soldiers killed that day, the Chens don't have a grave to visit because their son's remains are held captive in Gaza. The absence of a final resting place is being felt acutely now, as Israel marks its Memorial Day for fallen soldiers, when cemeteries are brimming with relatives mourning over the graves of their loved ones. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo)
Ruby Chen holds a poster of his son, Itay Chen, during a protest near Israel's parliament in Jerusalem, Thursday, March 9, 2024. Itay Chen was killed in Hamas' attack on Oct. 7. But unlike scores of other families of soldiers killed that day, the Chens don't have a grave to visit because their son's remains are being held by Hamas in Gaza. The absence of a final resting place is being felt by several dozen families as Israel marks its Memorial Day for fallen soldiers, when cemeteries are brimming with relatives mourning over the graves of their loved ones. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Hagit and Ruby Chen, left, carry an empty casket during a mock funeral for Israelis whose remains are being held by Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip, near the Israeli parliament building in Jerusalem, Thursday, May 9, 2024. Their son Itay, a soldier who was killed in Hamas' Oct. 7 attack, is among the more than 30 Israelis whose remains are believed to be in Gaza. The procession came ahead of Israel's Memorial Day, when cemeteries will be brimming with relatives mourning over the graves of their loved ones. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
Israeli soldiers and family members visit the graves of fallen soldiers ahead of Israel's annual Memorial Day at Mount Herzl military cemetery in Jerusalem, Thursday, May 9, 2024. Israel marks its annual Memorial Day in remembrance of soldiers who died in the nation's conflicts, beginning at dusk Sunday, May 12, until Monday evening, May 13. (AP Photo/Ohad Zwigenberg)
