ROME (JTA) – A far-right rally and concert went ahead in Milan despite protests by the Milan Jewish community and other groups.
Reports said the event Saturday drew far fewer participants than anticipated. No incidents were reported.
The Italian media said about 300 skinheads and other far-right militants attended Hammerfest 2014, which was held in a privately owned outbuilding in an outlying district of Milan. According to reports before the event, some 1,000 participants had been expected.
Many of the crowd had “shaven heads, swastikas, and all the repertoire of the ‘Nazi look,’ ” the Italian news agency Ansa wrote.
The Milan Jewish community was among the organizations that had called on authorities to bar the concert, which Milan’s mayor criticized as “unacceptable.” A similar concert was held in 2013.
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