Jewish leaders Slam Mussolini IPhone Application
The iMussolini iPhone application
Holocaust survivors and Jewish leaders have this week condemned Italy's best-selling application for the Apple iPhone - a collection of speeches by the Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini.
The iMussolini application, subtitled "the man who changed the history of our country", became Italy's most downloaded application over the weekend, even though it has been criticised as an "insult" to the victims of Nazism and Fascism.
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The American Gathering of Jewish Holocaust Survivors and their Descendants has condemned Apple for enabling the application to be sold through iTunes. Elan Steinberg, vice-president on the organisation, said: "It is a disgrace and a surrender to crass commercialism that the Apple computing company has approved the release of this 'app' through their online iTunes store."
Steinberg added: "We are protesting to them as their tight regulation and control of release of such apps makes them responsible.
"This is an insult to the memory of all victims of Nazism and Fascism, Jew and non-Jew, and should be condemned for its offence to decency and conscience."
Mussolini, who came to power in 1922, allied himself with Adolf Hitler's Nazi Germany during World War II. He was also responsible for introducing anti-Semitic race laws in 1938, which restricted the rights of Jews.
Tullia Zevi, the former head of the Jewish community in Rome, said iMussloni was part of the "the slide towards legitimising fascism and the rehabilitation of Mussolini".
Leone Soued, head of Milan's Jewish community in Milan, said: "One can hope it will not be a success, but I can understand why the man in the street might download it."
Alessandra Mussolini, the granddaughter of the dictator and a far-right politician, however defended the application, saying: "Whether you like it or not, my grandfather's speeches are part of history."
The application's creator Luigi Marino, 25, has dismissed the criticism about iMussolini, saying that it was a "history-related application" that "does not celebrate Fascism". Though some users have posted Fascist slogans on the iTunes store, Marino has urged people not to post comments praising Fascism. Apple has vowed to delete any offensive comments but will allow the application to be bought online.
Marino has said that he would "certainly" make iMussolini compatible with the Apple's newest gadget, the iPad, when it is released later this year.
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