Operation White Christmas? Really? Banning "foreign food" was odd, especially because quite a few foods eaten there are not indigenous to Italy. (Think tomatoes, corn, even olives for example.) Then there was that strange village that caused outrage because Jesus was dark skinned. And now the Italian far right is organizing house-to-house searches for illegal immigrants. Just in time for Christmas. These people are disturbed.
But in this town of 8,000 inhabitants between Milan and Venice, the approach to Christianity's most sacred festival has been marked in a very special way. On orders from the local council, controlled by the conservative Northern League, police have been carrying out house-to-house searches for illegal immigrants in an action dubbed Operation White Christmas. The operation is due to finish on December 25.
Some 3,000 people have marched through the town in protest at the operation, which the Vatican called "sad and distressing". But it has been endorsed by Silvio Berlusconi's government. Visiting nearby Brescia, where he announced the opening of a detention camp for suspected illegal immigrants – a so-called centre for identification and expulsion – Berlusconi's interior minister, Roberto Maroni, a leader of the League, complimented Coccaglio's mayor.
