Like us

As already in the editorial of this issue, we want to talk about immigration. From the beginning of the Project, the concrete closeness of Sermig to the dramatic reality of migrations has led to declining the situation by acknowledging that underdevelopment, the immense resources destined for arms, economic and exploitation policies would have been the cause of epochal transformations. We read Giorgio Ceragioli in an article from 1982: «Florida, California, Arabia, Europe, Italy are paradise for many, even if there is violence, crimes, drugs, serious dangers, but less and less serious for those who only have the prospect of a life certainly made up of misery, malnutrition, at times a premature death from hunger or disease. It is the entire earth that risks becoming a paradise lost for everyone, even if it could be a paradise found for everyone; and, on the other hand, even if one wanted to, one can no longer think of particular paradises, of enclaves for the fortunate, with the poor looking on outside. They want to enter because they have understood that it is their right, that the earth has been given to all humanity and not just to a part, that the chances of living must be shared. Today they enter as illegal immigrants, suffering and suffering: tomorrow if the great new reality of the world is not understood and if it is not transformed into a great new solidarity, anger could become hatred and violence and the risk of losing the earth would become even more Neighbor".
Since 1987 at the Arsenale della Pace we have begun to welcome the immigrants who were knocking on the door in increasing numbers. The inadequate response from the city convinced us to open a reference and reception centre. The name came to meet us: "Come Noi", because every man wants to be treated as a person, to be considered equal to the others. “Like us” means: I treat others as I would like to be treated; I am not welcomed in a dormitory, but in a family where everyone has the same dignity, whether black or white, Christian or Muslim, Romanian, Moroccan or Italian. The regulation that guides the life of the "Come Noi" center is an opportunity - both for those who welcome and for those who are welcomed - to educate ourselves in a life together made up of common rights and duties. The glue that makes coexistence possible is mutual respect. From the outset, the style of hospitality has been and continues to be that of reciprocity of rights and duties. On the basis of this concrete experience, Progetto recounted the experience of welcome, of the need for reciprocity, of dialogue. The pages where we presented important documents are interesting, the reading of which is still very topical today.

In 1990 on no. 6, Ernesto speaks at a conference: «We can take up the prophetic challenge that immigration throws at us and seek answers of hope or be overwhelmed by a tragedy [...]. We need to start thinking together, to rethink, to lay the foundations of a multiracial society based on tolerance. The rules of the game need to be established: rights but also duties on the part of everyone, on the part of those who welcome and those who are welcomed. Integration also means trying to understand the country you are entering, and aiming at a concept of coexistence, not occupation or cultural and political colonization. [...] For those who already have this baggage of love, brotherhood, tolerance within themselves, the responsibility is to live these values first-hand and be credible. It is necessary to insist on the path of dialogue even if there may be failures. [...] Simplicity, prayer, tolerance, will once again defeat the impossible and these values will make the history of men move towards effective brotherhood, in a pacified world".

And in the January 1996 issue we find the document We want to be able to live together: «[…] We, a people of emigrants, run the very serious risk of becoming a closed people and appear racist. We do not want to accept ghettos, places of misery and violence, because, as history in every part of the world testifies, they have never contributed to building a peaceful society. We do not want to accept new slaves forced out of fear to accept infamous jobs, unworthy homes. We don't want to accept new slaves forced to sell their bodies to buy freedom. We want to welcome seriously and methodically, promoting a concrete project of coexistence. But it is also necessary for the institutions to play their role responsibly. [...] The encounter between different cultures, religions, races is positive when faced with the desire for reciprocity and with the concept of globality in the heart. Reception must not be translated into simple paternalistic assistance, it is necessary to insist on the reciprocity of rights and duties. They must be firmly asked to know and respect the society that welcomes them, in its culture, in its laws. [...] The educational effort requires a long time, effort, firmness, determination, but it is one of the few ways available to every citizen that allows to build a future of civil coexistence".
Our position hasn't changed much over the years.

In 2008, no. 1, introducing the document by Ernesto Olivero entitled Insist on the road to dialogue, it is reiterated that: «After years, the reading given by Sermig to the reality of immigration has proved prophetic. Let's re-propose what has been the key to our hospitality experiences: a family that welcomes methodically, that is, with certain rules».

In the editorial of n. 6 of 2015, we read: «Faced with the thousands of men, women and children who arrive on our shores, we divide and massacre each other with words, polemics, rigidity. It is the tragedy of our time which, however, can become an opportunity. [...] Reception is not automatic, welcoming to welcome, perhaps making a profit on a system in which too many businessmen have taken root. But to do so in the certainty of a rule of law that has the courage to set rules, values, points of contact. A State capable of welcoming would be the demonstration - as the President of the Republic said to the young people of Sermig - that democracy works better because it is capable of welcoming those who flee. I dream of a welcome without discounts, a welcome that communicates with deeds to migrant children that the land where they have landed is friendly land. A welcome like this, however, starts from a pact. Whoever is accepted must enter the heart of our Constitution, immediately learn the language, get to know our culture. He has rights, but above all duties. Only in this way can a journey of integration begin».
This is what we have been trying to build for about ten years now with the Arsenale della Piazza and more recently with the Arsenale dello Sport and the Solidarity Emporium. In particular, the Arsenale della Piazza, with the imaginary but real city of Felicizia, represents a concrete attempt to build a new citizenship involving people who come from different states and cultures, but who have in their hearts the desire to be Italian and to live together as such. Even the President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella sensed the great possibilities when, during his visit to the Arsenale della Pace in November 2019, he received the honorary citizenship of Felicizia. Like us, like them.


Guido Morganti
NP April 2023