by Arjun Walia (excerpt)
Despite no mainstream media coverage, people are starting to become aware of what seems to be a mass civil disobedience campaign in Italy against lockdown measures (#IoApro).
An estimated 50,000 bars, restaurants and other businesses are defying government orders and are remaining open to the public, together. We cannot confirm the exact number.
UK journalist Damian Wilson writes, “if the number of 50,000 establishments currently on board is to be believed, it’s a movement growing by the day.”
EuroNews is one of the few outlets on the scene providing coverage:
“One frustrated restaurateur said the move was as ‘a polite protest’ and another ‘civil disobedience,’ as they invited customers to dine on Friday night despite measures put in place to fight the spread of COVID-19. Armando Minotti, owner of Loste Ria restaurant in the south of the city, said ‘we cannot go on this way’ – recent losses were making it impossible to provide for his children and he said government financial aid wasn’t enough.
“Let’s call this a polite protest. If the guards come in, and they surely will, we will let them in, we will accept the fine but we are going to stay open and we won’t close any more. Because it is impossible to go on like this,” he added.
Across the city, pizzas were churned out of the ovens at Fuoco & Farina where owner Max Vietri admitted to seeing the action as ‘civil disobedience.’”
The Express in the UK also did, along with a few others.
People sit at a restaurant as bars and restaurants reopen in ‘yellow zones’ of Italy after the government relaxed some of the coronavirus disease curbs on weekdays following a strict lockdown over the holidays, in Rome, Italy January 7, 2021. © REUTERS / Yara Nardi.
A popular hashtag is also providing information from various social media users who are uploading articles and videos. The hashtag is #IoApro. If you view this hashtag on twitter, you can see some pretty large protests.
As the #IoApro (I am open) momentum builds, politicians like Vittorio Sgarbi are supporting the restaurants with a message against the rules in which he urges establishments, “Open up and don’t worry, in the end we will make them eat their fines.”