After missing the World Cup for the third time in a row, there is not a single TV show, bar or stadium where people do not talk about substantial reforms. From the CEOs to the kids at the park, everyone keeps talking about “radically changing the system”. This only sounds natural, considering football’s relevance within Italian culture and society. Yet it is absurd to think that it took twelve years of humiliation for public opinion to finally demand significant change.
So now imagine, if this is the response for such a crucial matter, how can we expect swift reform for any other topic?
In a similar way, it took the massive wave of antisemitism for the wider Jewish world to realise the huge lack of effective communication and social media presence.
We are prisoners of the status quo, enjoying moments of stability, only to feel powerless during each cyclical resurgence of antisemitism.
For so many core issues, we have experienced only a reactionary approach, trying to frantically cover whatever urgency is at hand. However, when it comes to youth engagement, leadership development and Jewish advocacy, these small-scale solutions are drops in the ocean. Especially when compared to the overwhelming number of hostile voices that outnumber us daily on every platform and at every demonstration.
Until last year, in Italy there wasn’t a youth leadership development program. In the last round of local and national community elections there were fewer than a handful of candidates under the age of 35. Most communities barely have a budget dedicated to youth, let alone dedicated personnel. The Italian Union of Jewish Students and Young Professionals does not yet have a proper head quarter.
What needs to happen to finally take those challenges seriously?
Should we wait for all young Italian Jews to be either assimilated or to migrate to Israel?
A brick of hope, rejecting the stalemate of the status quo, is represented by Student Unions. Like many others in Europe, UGEI has the potential to be the game changer for the future of Italian Jewry. Most current and past Italian Jewish leaders have passed through UGEI’s ranks and most efforts to bring reform as well as empower the next generations have come through UGEI’s representation and amplification.
That is why ultimately we should continue to advocate for our beloved Unions, even if sometimes it might seem like tilting at gigantic windmills, foreseeing a danger that may not yet seem imminent, but whose signs are already unmistakable.
by David Fiorentini – Pulmonology Resident Humanitas Research Hospital, Milan.
This article was first published in the 5th printed EDA-editon and posted online July 15th 2026.