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PP RUEHFL RUEHNP
DE RUEHMIL #0172/01 2241023
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 121023Z AUG 09
FM AMCONSUL MILAN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1826
INFO RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME PRIORITY 8890
RUEHFL/AMCONSUL FLORENCE PRIORITY 0216
RUEHNP/AMCONSUL NAPLES PRIORITY 0211

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 MILAN 000172 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR S/P GREG BEHRMAN 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 08/12/2019 
TAGS: PHUM SMIG PGOV SCUL IT
SUBJECT: 2G,S - NORTHERN ITALIAN MUSLIMS WITHOUT A COUNTRY 
- FOLLOW UP TO THE CAIRO SPEECH 
 
REF: A. REF A: STATE 71325 
     ¶B. REF B: ROME 437 
     ¶C. REF C: ROME 438 
     ¶D. REF D: ROME 439 
     ¶E. REF E: ROME 877 
 
Classified By: CG CAROL PEREZ FOR REASONS 1.4(B) AND (D) 
 
1.(C) Summary: Despite the largely positive response to the 
President,s Cairo speech, the lingering question that 
remains for some is &Now what?8  In an effort to continue 
the dialogue begun as a result of that address, we met with 
contributors to Yalla Italia, a monthly editorial project for 
&2G,s8 or second- generation Italian Muslims, based in 
Milan.   The purpose of the meeting was to gain insight into 
the social, political, and economic hurdles faced by 2G,s 
and brainstorm on ideas of how we can help address the 
difficulties of identity and integration. End summary. 
 
LINK BETWEEN TWO WORLDS 
¶2. (SBU) In response to Ref A request, we,ve begun to 
canvass local contacts to gauge the response in Milan and 
northern Italy to the President,s Cairo speech and to 
brainstorm on ways forward.  We recently met with 
contributors to &Yalla Italia,8 a monthly magazine 
supplement first published in May 2007 by a group of eight 
young Italian Muslims of Arab origin and an Italian-Christian 
editor-in-chief.  Yalla Italia has a combined monthly 
circulation and website viewership of over 200,000 and has 20 
contributors, the majority of whom are women, and all of whom 
are &2G,s8 (&second generation8 immigrants). Their aim 
is to introduce Italians to the cultures of the Muslim 
members of their community and to assist Muslim immigrants in 
the navigation of their dual identities.  Their work is 
getting international notice in newspapers like the New York 
Times and on Muslim-oriented websites like Euro-Islam.info, 
which receives 50,000 unique hits per month. 
¶3. (C) The theme of the meeting, and of previous encounters 
with immigrant civil society groups (see Refs B, C, and D), 
is the plight of the 2G,s.  According to the director of 
Yalla Italia, one of the greatest frustrations of these 
second generation immigrants is the bureaucratic disaster 
that is the Italian citizenship process.  For most, their 
parents arrived in Italy in the early 1970s at a time when 
their migration was more about expanding their horizons than 
escaping their circumstances.  Their children were born and 
raised in Italy but can not apply for citizenship until they 
are 18 years old.  These 2G,s may have citizenship in an 
Arab nation through their parents but they are not citizens 
in the only country they have ever called home.  According to 
the GOI provisions on nationality, once this type of 
application for citizenship is begun, the GOI sets no 
required completion date for the process.  Among those 
working for Yalla Italia, including one writer who received 
his citizenship 3 years after submitting his application, the 
shortest completion time in their experience has been between 
2 and 4 years, with some waiting as long as 10 to 12 years to 
obtain their citizenship. 
NO MAN,S LAND 
¶4. (C) Young Italians across the board are finding it 
difficult to gain employment in Italy,s current economy. 
That said, according to those in the Yalla Italia group, that 
challenge is even greater for 2G,s as they are not citizens 
and it is difficult for those of Arab descent to receive work 
visas.  In addition, as laid out in official GOI materials, 
an employer interested in hiring a non-Italian citizen faces 
a daunting and arduous process that includes multiple 
documentation requirements and applications.  Thus, while 
these 2G non-citizens may have excellent skills and an 
extensive Italian education, they feel they cannot utilize 
either in a meaningful way.  Yalla,s director stressed that 
as a result of this economic marginalization, many 2G,s have 
to rely more and longer upon their parents, who are often far 
more traditional in their practices.  Our Yalla contacts 
noted that many of those 2G,s who are in contact with the 
publication express a frustration that they have no place in 
the Italian community. 
¶5. (C) One of the strong concerns of the meeting 
participants is that this type of &rejection8 by the 
broader Italian community breeds discontent and may lead 
2G,s away from integration and toward more extremist margins 
of society that would welcome their talents with open arms. 
As one Yalla contributor told us, the 2G,s human capital 
goes untapped in Italy and their alternatives are limited 
despite their education and ambition. 
A FRIEND IN THE UNITED STATES 
¶6. (C) While they may feel shunned by the government in the 
country of their birth, those with whom we met universally 
 
MILAN 00000172  002 OF 002 
 
 
praised President Obama,s speech in Cairo.  Some, like a 
blogger on the Yalla staff, see it as a new direction for the 
U.S. government toward a stronger relationship between Islam 
and America.  Those portions that seemed to resonate most 
strongly with the group were the references to the historic 
co-existence and cooperation between Islam and the West and 
the &forgotten8 contributions of Islam to nations outside 
the Middle East.  Each of the Yalla group described suffering 
indignities they attribute to media-driven misperceptions 
following September 11th.  There was a sense of vindication 
when the President called for an end to using the word Muslim 
as a synonym for terrorist.  There was also hope that since 
President Obama could make a distinction between the majority 
of Muslims who practice their faith and culture in peace and 
the minority of violent extremists, others can begin to as 
well.  The speech renewed the faith of the contacts we spoke 
with that the United States will lead other nations toward 
better relations with the Muslim world.  They are looking to 
the United States to set an example of tolerance and 
acceptance for Italy to follow. 
A COMMUNITY IN NORTHERN ITALY 
¶7. (C) With one-third of the country,s land mass and roughly 
half its population, northern Italy is also home to the 
nation,s greatest concentration of immigrants.  Over 62% of 
the country,s legal immigrants reside in the region, giving 
the 2G,s we spoke with a community, if not a country. 
However, strength in this case does not necessarily come in 
numbers.  Though anti-immigrant rhetoric is evident across 
party lines these days, the country,s most openly 
anti-immigration political party, the Northern League, is 
firmly rooted in the north. The League,s rhetoric appeared 
to find resonance with voters in recent European and local 
elections even beyond their usual strongholds in the north 
(Ref E).  With recent election successes and vigorous 
campaigning expected leading up to the spring 2010 regional 
elections, we expect anti-immigrant rhetoric to continue to 
expand north of the Po River. 
COMMENT: NOW WHAT? 
¶8. (C) While the members of the group were impressed with the 
President,s use of Arabic words and references to Islamic 
history in the Cairo speech, the director of Yalla Italia 
expressed a concern that &the wind is different but the 
direction is the same;8 that the same challenges face this 
administration that did the last and that the eloquent words 
may be forgotten when it is time to act.  Of the broader 
engagement themes the President mentioned, our contacts 
expressed a need for increased opportunities for longer and 
more substantive cultural, educational, and professional 
exchanges.  One example of our efforts to support such 
exchanges is with the International Visitor Leadership 
Program (IVLP).  Currently, the opposition leader of the 
Democratic Party at the Milan City Council is traveling in 
the United States as part of an IVLP focused on immigration 
and integration issues.  He wrote an article on immigrant 
assistance centers in the United States, which was published 
recently in the left-leaning La Repubblica (Italy,s 
second-largest daily newspaper).  He is calling for a similar 
center in Milan managed by and for immigrants.  This may be 
the type of change of direction that 2G,s seek, but that 
would require the support of local governments ) no 
guarantee in Milan or other major northern cities. 
Meanwhile, we will continue to work with local contacts to 
seek logical programming ideas within the President,s three 
areas of engagement. 
PEREZ