A group of around 20 pro-Palestine activist students interrupted a lecture at the University of Pisa’s politics department on Tuesday and reportedly physically assaulted the professor because he would not take their side on the Israel-Hamas war.
The group said in a statement on social media that “we occupied the lecture of a Zionist professor,” adding:
There is no room for Zionists and warmongers in our university!
But the professor, Rino Casella, responded that “they accuse me of being a Zionist just because I’ve always said I’m not pro-Palestinian.” Casella says he and one of his students were “kicked and punched” by the activists and that he ended up in the university’s emergency room as a result of the attack.
Political figures have responded furiously to this act of silencing, including Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, who said that “the climate of hatred is increasingly concerning and out of control.” It comes as much of Europe further withdraws its support for Israel’s fight against Hamas terrorists.
Scene che non vorremmo mai vedere, nelle aule universitarie italiane. Ho voluto esprimere solidarietà al professore dell’ateneo di Pisa Rino Casella, aggredito perché non si è voluto schierare con i pro Pal. Il clima di odio è sempre più preoccupante e fuori controllo. pic.twitter.com/7HhJ4KF69C
Former Undersecretary for Education Rossano Sasso also lamented that Italian society has reached the point where if you don’t agree with activists of certain stripes, “you can’t speak.”
Don’t protest with them? You can’t protest. Aren’t you a pro-Palestinian professor? You can’t teach. All at the expense of the students’ right to education, the professors’ freedom of research, and freedom itself.
Then, in a strong warning:
Either we all realise that these are the early signs of terrorism, or it will be too late. Expel them from all public universities and arrest them. Let democracy use its antibodies, and immediately. Forget about phone calls to the rector.
This appears in part to be a dig at Universities Minister Anna Maria Bernini, who did call the institution’s rector following the attack and said: “What happened is intolerable for a society that recognises the values of democracy.”
Casella has filed an official complaint with the Pisa police headquarters.
Michael Curzon is a news writer for europeanconservative.com based in England’s Midlands. He is also Editor of Bournbrook Magazine, which he founded in 2019, and previously wrote for London’s Express Online. His Twitter handle is @MichaelCurzon_.
