27.08.25
Editorial Note
Palestinians and pro-Palestinians have doubled their efforts to isolate Israel in the academic sphere. IAM has been tracking this global effort in several countries. Here is a report on Italy.
Earlier this August, over 230 professors, researchers, and others at the Federico II University of Naples signed an appeal urging the world’s oldest public university “to cease all collaborative relationships with Israeli universities in response to the ongoing massacre in Gaza.”
In July, five departments of the University of Florence decided to suspend or terminate existing agreements with several Israeli universities, as a sign of dissent over the current events in the Palestinian territories. A public appeal was signed by over 500 faculty, researchers, and others. The Department of Mathematics and Computer Science has announced its withdrawal from the agreement with Ben-Gurion University. The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Department of Agricultural, Food, Environmental, and Forestry Sciences and Technologies have also suspended their participation in the agreement. The Department of Architecture has terminated its collaboration with Ariel University, and the Department of Political and Social Sciences has blocked the cooperation protocol with the Blavatnik Center for Cybersecurity at Tel Aviv University.
The Italian Jewish academic community responded to these events.
Bet Magazine Mosaico, the Mosaic Jewish Information and Culture, an official website of the Jewish Community of Milan, recently published two opinion pieces expressing concerns. The first, “Academic Boycotts and Israeli Universities: Between Civic Conscience and the Logic of Collective Guilt,” published on July 30, 2025, by Dr. Anna Balestrieri, Post-Doctoral Researcher in the Russian and Slavic Studies Department at the Hebrew University, and a regular contributor to Bet Magazine Mosaico, wrote, “Italian universities are currently embroiled in a heated debate over the legitimacy—and limits—of civic engagement within the academic world.”
She argued that the debate has been fueled by the recent petition signed by over 200 professors at the University of Messina, addressed to Rector Giovanna Spatari, calling for the immediate termination of the cooperation agreement with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The petitioners accused the Israeli university of “collaborating with the extermination in Gaza,” spoke of a “final solution organized by the State of Israel,” and called the agreement between the two universities, signed in 2021, a “black stain” on the conscience of the University of the Strait of Messina.” The petitioners urged, “No bridges to be built.” The petitioning professors demand severing ties with all Israeli academic institutions that are “on the front lines of developing the genocidal economy.” For the petitioners, the Hebrew University is “explicitly accused of providing training, technology, know-how, and ideological legitimacy to the Netanyahu government’s colonial policies.”
Balestrieri argued that the petitioners cite the recent decision by the University of Pisa to suspend collaborations with the Hebrew University and Reichman University, and the growing commitment of numerous Italian faculties to reconsider scientific collaborations potentially implicated in military applications. The University of Urbino’s pro-Palestinian alignment is also very recent, she stated.
According to Balestrieri, the universities of Florence, Padua, Milan, Venice, and Turin are all involved, to various degrees, in the debate over the appropriateness of maintaining ties with Israeli institutions. But “while some organizations—such as the Academic Senate of the Scuola Normale Superiore—opt for a ‘careful evaluation’ of existing agreements with entities potentially implicated in warfare, others have moved toward unilaterally breaking off agreements.”
She ended by stating, “The university is a public and constitutional institution, called to operate within a framework of shared democratic responsibility.” The cases of the Universities across the country demonstrate that “the academic world is not—and perhaps can no longer be—neutral. But precisely for this reason, it is called upon today to face a difficult challenge: to reconcile justice and rigor, ethics and method, compassion and institutional responsibility. Neither boycott nor mutual excommunication will stop the horror of war. Only open, profound dialogue, free from the temptation of collective guilt, will be able to stop it.”
The second opinion piece was titled “Open Letter to the Rector, the Academic Senate, and the Board of Directors of the University of Pisa,” by Alessandra Veronese, Professor of Medieval History and Jewish History at the University of Pisa. “I am shocked by the motion approved by the Academic Senate on Friday, July 11th. The call for peace would be absolutely commendable: it’s a shame, however, that it only addresses Israel and the agreements with two Israeli universities.” Veronese argued that “concepts like ‘ethnic cleansing’ are accepted and embraced uncritically. It seems irrelevant to my distinguished colleagues that much of the ‘news’—repeatedly broadcast by the media via Al Jazeera, a certainly not neutral channel—comes from a self-styled ‘Ministry of Health’ of Hamas.”
Veronesi called the double standards intolerable: “Scientific collaboration with Israeli universities (existing and future) is immediately called into question, but there is no sense in the same being done with countries that are currently blatantly violating human rights and/or international law,” such as the Russian Federation, China, Iran, and Turkey. Such double standards “contradict the founding values of the Western world by implementing criminal and discriminatory policies. The motion, on the other hand, clearly shows that the values of peace, justice, and responsibility only applied to Israel.”
Veronessi concluded that while it took Italian rectors 80 years to apologize for the racial laws that expelled Jewish professors and students, it took far less time to vilify Israel—fueling the worst wave of anti-Semitism since World War II, despite the university’s own adoption of the IHRA definition. The rector promises protection for all students, including Israelis, yet those very students recently admitted they live in fear, face verbal attacks, and often hide their identities.
The respected non-Jewish journalist Giulio Meotti, who writes for il Foglio, decried the egregious double standards of the case. “Florence’s agreements with Iranian universities remain intact. The Department of Neuroscience in Florence has an agreement with Iran’s Shahid Behesti University until 2028. The Department of Chemistry in Florence has an agreement with the University of Isfahan, signed in 2020, until 2027. Also through 2027, the Department of Architecture in Florence has an agreement with the University of Art in Iran. The agreement between the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, which boycotts Israel, and Iran’s Amirkabir University expires in August 2026.”
Meotti cited Emmanuel Razavi, a prominent Franco-Iranian reporter who said, “Iran is using politicized left-wing groups within universities to destabilize European democracies.” Meotti added that Taliban-controlled Afghanistan also has two agreements with the University of Florence, the Department of Agricultural Sciences has two agreements until 2027 with the universities of Herat and Nangarhar.
As is well known, the Iranian regime has sought to extend its ideological reach into Western universities through cultural institutes, exchange programs, and the sponsorship of student associations. These initiatives often serve not only as instruments of soft power but also as platforms for mobilizing opposition to Israel, framing academic discourse in ways that align with Tehran’s geopolitical agenda. The result has been the diffusion of narratives that contribute to heightened polarization on campus and, in some cases, to an atmosphere of hostility toward Jewish and Israeli students.
Universities must uphold consistency, fairness, and the pursuit of knowledge above any political agendas. When double standards prevail, they not only compromise academic integrity but also endanger students, isolate researchers, and undermine the very mission of higher education: to build bridges, foster dialogue, and cultivate understanding across differences. By applying double standards, universities sacrifice their credibility, turning what should be spaces of rigorous inquiry and open dialogue into arenas of selective judgment and political bias.
It is not surprising that both Iran and the BDS movement boasted about the University of Florence and others severing ties with Israeli universities.
REFERENCES:
Google Translate
Federico II University of Naples: 230 professors appeal to end collaborations with Israel.
by Fabrizio Geremicca
August 10, 2025 (edited August 10, 2025 | 7:46 AM)
Document to the Rector and the Academic Senate also signed by assistants and administrators
Over 230 professors, researchers, temporary staff, and administrative and technical staff at the Federico II University of Naples have signed an appeal to Rector Matteo Lorito , the Board of Directors, and the Academic Senate urging the world’s oldest public university to cease all collaborative relationships with Israeli universities in response to the ongoing massacre in Gaza. The document follows similar initiatives adopted in recent months at other universities. It is signed by, among others, Stefano Consiglio , President of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences; Michelangelo Russo, former Director of the Department of Architecture for six years; Mario Rusciano , Professor Emeritus of Labor Law; Vincenzo Maiello , Professor of Criminal Law; and constitutional scholar Massimo Villone , also Professor Emeritus.
Also signing—to give a brief list—are Andrea Mazzucchi , director of the Department of Humanities; Alberto Lucarelli , professor of Constitutional Law, who was the first to sign, followed by Rosario Patalano (Law) and Paolo Donadio (Humanities); Bruno De Maria , lawyer and professor of Institutions of Public Law; Vittorio Amato , former director of the Department of Political Science; and Marcello D’Aponte , who teaches Political Science and was a councilor for the City of Naples. Also signing are professors of Engineering, Earth Sciences, Medicine, Agriculture, Pharmacy, Biology, Physics, and Economics. In short, the University is represented across its many disciplines.
“We call on the Board of Directors and the Academic Senate,” a passage reads, “to immediately suspend all scientific and educational collaboration , both nationally and within the European Union, with the universities of the State of Israel until military action against the Palestinian civilian population ceases and the Israeli government returns to the civil rules of the international community.” To avoid any misunderstandings that some might misuse, the document, in addition to condemning the massacre perpetrated by the Israeli government against a defenseless civilian population, condemns “the holding of innocent hostages by Hamas and any other violent action conducted by Palestinian terrorist organizations against the Israeli people.” It also urges the Italian government “to immediately recognize the Palestinian State and to take all necessary and legitimate action to counter the illegal actions committed by the Israeli government in Gaza and the West Bank.”
This is not the first time that Federico II University has urged Rector Matteo Lorito and the academic bodies to suspend all collaboration with Israeli universities. In the spring of 2024, students from university collectives pressed the rector on this issue. Demonstrations ensued, and the Rector’s Office was occupied. In mid-April, Lorito participated in a heated assembly in the Conforti Hall on Via Porta di Massa. The students asked the rector to bring a request to the Academic Senate to suspend all collaboration with Israeli universities. “I am a referee,” he replied, “I put the ball in the courtroom, but then the Academic Senate decides.” He reported that at the time, the University had a student and professor mobility agreement with the University of Haifa, and there were three departmental agreements with Israeli universities involving Law, Veterinary Medicine, and Biology. The students then asked the rector to resign from the MedOr Foundation, which is linked to the Leonardo war industry and headed by former Minister Minniti. Lorito responded that he had no problem considering his resignation. On the Foundation’s website, his name is still listed on the Scientific Committee, which includes, among others, Roberto Tottoli , rector of the Orientale University.
========================================================
Florence: Five University departments suspend agreements with Israeli universities.
“We urgently need to take a stand against war crimes in the Palestinian territories.” Over 500 professors, researchers, students, and graduate students have signed the appeal.
Florence, July 16, 2025 – Five departments of the University of Florence have decided to suspend or terminate existing agreements with several Israeli universities, as a sign of dissent over the current events in the Palestinian territories. This clear stance, born within the academic community, was accompanied by a
public appeal signed by over 500 faculty, researchers, technicians, librarians, students, and doctoral students.
At the center of the debate is the war that has been raging for over twenty months in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, compounded by the serious human rights violations denounced internationally. The academic boycott, which is certainly not new in similar contexts, has so far been carried out by five Florentine universities. The Department of Mathematics and Computer Science has announced its withdrawal from the agreement with Ben-Gurion University. The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Department of Agricultural, Food, Environmental, and Forestry Sciences and Technologies have also suspended their participation in the agreement. The Department of Architecture has terminated its collaboration with Ariel University, while the Department of Political and Social Sciences has blocked the cooperation protocol with the Blavatnik Center for Cybersecurity at Tel Aviv University.The
appeal released recently—titled “For a position by UNIFI Departments on war crimes in the Palestinian Territories”—calls the entire university community to assume
collective responsibility . “We denounce in particular the ongoing scholasticicide,” the text reads. ”
Access to education for the Palestinian population is increasingly compromised . Schools and universities are being attacked, living conditions are made unbearable, and the right to education is systematically denied.”
Hence the call to action: each department is called upon to discuss internally whether or not to maintain institutional relationships with Israeli universities, evaluating the ethical consistency of ongoing collaborations. The goal, the promoters explain, is not to isolate research or censor science, but to reject silence regarding war crimes and violations of international law.Among the signatories and representatives of the appeal are Professor Leonardo Bargigli (DISEI Department), researcher Giulio Castelli (DAGRI), Professor Daniela Poli (DIDA), and Professor Daniele Angella (DIMAI), who have provided their contact information for anyone wishing to learn more or contribute to the initiative. “We cannot remain indifferent,” they state. “Universities are spaces of freedom and knowledge, but also of responsibility. And today,
moral responsibility dictates that we not turn a blind eye.”
============================================================
Google Translate
News
July 15, 2025
Last updated: 10:22 PM on July 15
Five Florentine universities have terminated their collaborations with Israeli universities: “We are against scholasticism in Gaza.”
by FQA move, they explain, “to actively support dissent against the war crimes committed by Israeli political and military authorities against the Palestinian civilian population of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.”
The isolation of Israeli universities by Italian and international universities continues. This time , five faculties at the University of Florence have decided to suspend collaborations due to the ongoing conflict in Gaza . This is a way, according to a statement released by the universities, “to actively support dissent against the war crimes committed by Israeli political and military authorities against the Palestinian civilian population of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank over the past 20 months.”
The statement explains which collaborations have been temporarily suspended: “The Department of Mathematics and Computer Science has withdrawn from the current agreement with Ben-Gurion University ,” it reads. “The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering , and the Department of Agricultural, Food, Environmental, and Forestry Sciences and Technologies have suspended their participation in the same agreement with Ben-Gurion University. The Department of Architecture has suspended its participation in the agreement with Ariel University , and the Department of Political and Social Sciences has suspended its cooperation protocol with the Blavatnik Center for Cybersecurity at Tel Aviv University.”
In total, over 500 faculty, researchers, administrative and librarian staff, language assistants and experts, doctoral students, and students, deeming a similar discussion by other departments urgent and unpostponable, have issued an appeal for a position from Unifi departments on war crimes in the Palestinian territories. We specifically denounce the ‘ scholacide ‘ being perpetrated against the Palestinian population, dramatically limiting access to education in a situation that has already been compromised for years.
======================================================
the boycottAcademic morality. The University of Florence cancels agreements with Israel.
Giulio Meotti July 19, 2025
Five university departments boycotted the Jewish state in protest. Agreements with Iranian and Afghan universities, however, remain in place despite the crackdown.
Five departments of the University of Florence have severed ties with Israeli universities . The academic boycott is being carried out by five Florentine academic institutions. The Department of Mathematics and Computer Science has severed ties with Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, whose board of directors includes Nobel Prize winner Dan Shechtman. The Department of Engineering and the Department of Agricultural Sciences and Technologies have also suspended their participation in the same agreement. The Department of Architecture has terminated its collaboration with Ariel University, while the Department of Political and Social Sciences has halted cooperation with the Blavatnik Center for Cybersecurity at Tel Aviv University.
Florence’s agreements with Iranian universities, however, remain intact . The Department of Neuroscience in Florence has an agreement with Iran’s Shahid Behesti University until 2028. The Department of Chemistry in Florence has an agreement with the University of Isfahan, signed in 2020, until 2027. Also through 2027, the Department of Architecture in Florence has an agreement with the University of Art in Iran, which in 2023 barred forty female students from attending classes for their “failure to observe” the Islamic dress code, the state chador. The students were protesting after the killing of Mahsa Amini, which occurred while the Iranian woman was in the custody of the “morality police” for violating her veil. The agreement between the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, which boycotts Israel, and Iran’s Amirkabir University expires in August 2026.
“Iran is using politicized left-wing groups within universities to destabilize European democracies,” writes Emmanuel Razavi, a prominent Franco-Iranian reporter and author of the book “The Cached Face of the Mollahs,” published by Éditions du Cerf. A “Houellebecquian scenario” is evoked by former French Prime Minister Manuel Valls when discussing boycotts and anti-Israeli mobilizations in our universities.
Taliban-controlled Afghanistan also boasts two agreements with the University of Florence , which is concerned about the “scholastic murder in Gaza”: the Department of Agricultural Sciences has two until 2027 with the universities of Herat and Nangarhar. Last fall, the Taliban also imposed beard length restrictions on Herat professors. It goes without saying that women are banned. There are no similar statements from Florence regarding the Taliban and Iranian femicide: “As long as Afghanistan doesn’t allow women to study and Iran forces them to wear the veil, Italian universities will refuse to collaborate with them.” But perhaps that would be asking too much of our barons.
Giulio Meotti
Giulio Meotti has been a journalist for Il Foglio since 2003. He is the author of numerous books, including We Will Not Stop Dancing. The Untold Stories of Israel’s Martyrs (Capalbio Prize); They Killed Charlie Hebdo; The End of Europe (Capri Prize); Israel. The Last European State; The Suicide of Western Culture; The Tomb of God; Notre Dame Burns; The Last Pope of the West? and Europe Without Jews.
====================================================
- Id : 156190
- 20 July 2025 – 10:56
- 0 comments
Italy’s Florence University terminates ties with Israeli scientific institutions
.
Italy’s Florence University terminates ties with Israeli scientific institutions
The University of Florence in Italy announced the severing of ties with some scientific institutes of the Israeli regime in response to the regime’s war on Gaza
TEHRAN (Iran News) The University of Florence, in Italy, has decided to end cooperation with some scientific institutions of the Israeli regime, following demands from more than 500 academics, staff members, researchers, and students.
In a statement, carried by La Nazione newspaper, the university declared that five departments have cut ties with the Israeli regime’s academic institutes as part of an “academic boycott.”
The Department of Mathematics and Computer Science terminated its partnership with Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. Similarly, the Departments of Engineering, as well as Agricultural Sciences and Technology also suspended their collaborations.
Members of the university have urged the entire academic community in Italy to fulfill their responsibility in response to the Israeli atrocities against the residents of Gaza. They specifically condemned the ongoing attacks on schools in Gaza, saying that they are denying Palestinian children access to education.
Earlier, the management council of Trinity College Dublin agreed to sever relationships with Israeli universities and companies to protest the ongoing violations of international and humanitarian laws in Gaza.
The Health Ministry in Gaza announced on Saturday that at least 58,765 Palestinians have been killed in the regime’s war on the Strip since early October 2023.
The Department of Mathematics and Computer Science terminated its partnership with Ben-Gurion University of the Negev. Similarly, the Departments of Engineering, as well as Agricultural Sciences and Technology also suspended their collaborations.
Members of the university have urged the entire academic community in Italy to fulfill their responsibility in response to the Israeli atrocities against the residents of Gaza. They specifically condemned the ongoing attacks on schools in Gaza, saying that they are denying Palestinian children access to education.
Earlier, the management council of Trinity College Dublin agreed to sever relationships with Israeli universities and companies to protest the ongoing violations of international and humanitarian laws in Gaza.
- source : irna
=========================================================
Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Movement
22 July at 18:18
5 departments at the University of Florence have cut ties with complicit Israeli universities.
The Department of Mathematics and Computer Science withdrew from an agreement with Ben-Gurion University.
The Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and the Department of Agricultural, Food, Environmental and Forestry Science and Technology also suspended an agreement with Ben-Gurion University.
The Department of Architecture suspended an agreement with illegal Israeli settlement-based Ariel University.
The Department of Political and Social Sciences suspended a cooperation agreement with Tel Aviv University’s Blavatnik Center for Cybersecurity.
500 University of Florence faculty members, researchers, administrative, library and technical staff, collaborators, and PhD and undergrad students support the Palestinian call for urgent steps by *all departments* to end ties with complicit Israeli universities.
=================================================
(Google Translate)
Academic Boycotts and Israeli Universities: Between Civic Conscience and the Logic of Collective Guilt
July 30, 2025
Italy
by Anna Balestrieri
Italian universities are currently embroiled in a heated debate over the legitimacy—and limits—of civic engagement within the academic world. The debate has been fueled by the recent appeal signed by over 200 professors at the University of Messina, addressed to Rector Giovanna Spatari, calling for the immediate termination of the cooperation agreement with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The signatories accuse the Israeli university of “collaborating with the extermination in Gaza,” speak of a “final solution organized by the State of Israel,” and call the agreement signed in 2021 a “black stain” on the conscience of the University of the Strait of Messina.
A strong demand: “No bridges to be built”
The appeal letter reads: “The population is literally dying of hunger; dozens of children are dying every day, cruelly malnourished, due to a specific political and military decision by the Netanyahu government.” The professors don’t limit themselves to denunciation: they demand a formal and public break with all Israeli academic institutions, considered “on the front lines of developing the genocidal economy.” The Hebrew University is explicitly accused of providing training, technology, know-how, and ideological legitimacy to the Netanyahu government’s colonial policies. This accusation is even more painful for the university, a leading institution in the country, which, perhaps more than any other Israeli academic institution, promotes a shared society between Arabs and Jews.
In support of these arguments, the signatories cite the recent decision by the University of Pisa to suspend collaborations with the Hebrew University and Reichman University, and cite the growing commitment of numerous Italian faculties to reconsider scientific collaborations potentially implicated in military applications. The University of Urbino’s pro-PAL alignment is also very recent.
Reactions: Accusations of Antisemitism and Defense of Academic Freedom
The counter-reaction was swift from Italian Jewish associations and numerous academics, who see the academic boycott as a dangerous anti-Semitic trend incompatible with the university’s vocation. The Union of Young Italian Jews (UGEI) has launched an appeal in defense of scientific cooperation with Israel: “When you reach the point of boycotting a university because it belongs to a particular state, then you enter into the dangerous logic of collective guilt,” writes Luca Spizzichino. “Dissent is a sacrosanct right, but there is a fine line between legitimate criticism and discrimination.”
UGEI strongly emphasizes the principle of academic freedom as the very foundation of democracy: “Dialogue is not built by silencing others, but by listening. Education is not selective militancy, but openness to discussion.”
Another group of Italian academics and researchers, including David Meghnagi, Raffaella Rumiati, and Lucia Corso, also signed a counter-appeal denouncing the boycott initiatives as “actions of hatred and hostility,” incompatible with the university’s identity as a space open to dialogue and critical debate. “Academic boycotts violate freedom of research, teaching, and expression, hinder dialogue between cultures, and fuel polarization,” the appeal states, highlighting the risk that such initiatives legitimize “forms of latent anti-Semitism.”
Between civil conscience and democratic responsibility
The universities of Florence, Padua, Milan, Venice, and Turin are all currently involved, in varying degrees, in the debate over the appropriateness of maintaining ties with Israeli institutions. But while some organizations—such as the Academic Senate of the Scuola Normale Superiore—opt for a “careful evaluation” of existing agreements with entities potentially implicated in warfare, others have moved toward unilaterally breaking off agreements.
The issue, however, cannot be reduced to a simple binary opposition between “complicity” and “silence,” or between “militancy” and “neutrality.” The university is a public and constitutional institution, called to operate within a framework of shared democratic responsibility, not in conflict with other branches of the state, as the appeal of academics opposing the boycott emphasized.
Peace is not built through censorship.
In the face of the humanitarian tragedy in Gaza and the growing polarization in the academic world, two irreconcilable visions emerge: one that sees a complete break with Israeli institutions as a form of ethical testimony, and another that defends dialogue as the only legitimate instrument of university coexistence.
But if “the disappearance of Gaza leaves one breathless”, as the signatories of Messina write, it is equally true that the peace is not being built by denying the other the right to speak. As the UGEI stated: “Academic freedom is not a privilege, but an inalienable principle that must be vigorously defended.” And as the academics in Tiribocchi’s appeal remind us: “Peace is built by rejecting the logic of demonizing others.”
The case of the University of Messina, and others like it proliferating across the country, demonstrate that the academic world is not—and perhaps can no longer be—neutral. But precisely for this reason, it is called upon today to face a difficult challenge: to reconcile justice and rigor, ethics and method, compassion and institutional responsibility. Neither boycott nor mutual excommunication will stop the horror of war. Only open, profound dialogue, free from the temptation of collective guilt, will be able to stop it.
Open Letter to the Rector, the Academic Senate, and the Board of Directors of the University of Pisa
by Alessandra Veronese
Professor of Medieval History and Jewish History
University of Pisa
Rector, Senators, Board Members
As a professor at the University of Pisa, I am shocked by the motion approved by the Academic Senate on Friday, July 11th. The call for peace would be absolutely commendable: it’s a shame, however, that it only addresses Israel and the agreements in place with two Israeli universities.
Not surprisingly, concepts like “ethnic cleansing” are accepted and embraced uncritically. It seems irrelevant to my distinguished colleagues that much of the “news”—repeatedly broadcast by the media via Al Jazeera, a certainly not neutral channel—comes from a self-styled “Ministry of Health” of Hamas. The casualty count never distinguishes between civilian deaths and those of Hamas militants, who according to the Israeli army are at least 28,000 to date. On the misuse of the number of victims, see https://geodi.unint.eu/?p=3977. Even an organization like the UN—certainly not pro-Israel—had to revise its civilian casualty count downwards a few months ago, precisely due to a lack of reliable data.
The use of the term “children” instead of “minors” is also problematic; many minors are recruited into the ranks of Hamas, which excludes them from the civilian casualty count. Talking about ethnic cleansing is therefore completely inappropriate, as is calling what is happening in Gaza a genocide. This does not change our sadness for the deaths and suffering of the civilian population not linked to Hamas, whom the terrorist government in the Strip has been using as human shields for months, publicly declaring that “the more dead, the better” in order to gain sympathy in the Western world (see https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/gaza-chiefs-brutal-calculation-civilian-bloodshed-will-help-hamas-626720e7).
What is intolerable, however, is the moral premise of the decision, which follows what I have no hesitation in calling a double standard. Scientific collaboration with Israeli universities (existing and future) is immediately called into question, but there is no sense in the same being done with countries that are currently blatantly violating human rights and/or international law. Does the motion address the framework agreements with the Russian Federation (which attacked Ukraine)? No. With China (which has occupied Tibet for fifty years and is carrying out a cultural genocide against a million Uyghurs)? No. With Iran, which for decades has conducted nuclear research, especially in universities and clearly for non-peaceful purposes, and which imprisons, tortures, and/or kills regime opponents, women, and homosexuals? No. Is there any mention of Turkey, which persecutes the Kurds and still denies the Armenian genocide? No. In recent days, the Syrian Druze have been subjected to horrific violence: nearly a thousand deaths in a week, with the usual corollary of rapes and kidnappings; first it was the Alawites. Have you taken action? No.
One can also decide to terminate agreements with universities in other countries, but then one must do so with all those who—in one way or another—contradict the founding values of the Western world by implementing criminal and discriminatory policies. The motion, on the other hand, clearly shows that the values of peace, justice, and responsibility only apply when applied to Israel.
Do any of the Senators remember that the war wasn’t wanted by Israel? That Israel waited three weeks before entering Gaza, first demanding the release of the hostages? Has anyone seen the horror-film scenes filmed by Hamas militants themselves (and also by a number of “brave” Gazan civilians)? I don’t think so, but perhaps the Rector will be brave and fair-minded enough to organize a screening of the videos in question. Or will he pretend that the rapes never happened and that the kidnapped civilians went on vacation to the Strip? Perhaps, to show a modicum of solidarity with the victims, he could even invite a few women to Pisa.
Of the women raped and held hostage for months: perhaps hearing their voices will awaken the consciences of those who now see—among all the horrors in the world—only and exclusively Gaza.
They are demanding recognition of the Palestinian state, forgetting that it doesn’t exist today. And it doesn’t exist, after Oslo, because four offers have been rejected, including Olmert’s, which—among other things—assigned East Jerusalem to the Palestinians. Does anyone really believe that Israel is solely responsible? Above all: does anyone believe that these positions are truly helping the Palestinian cause? Wouldn’t the latter be better served by a strong demand for the release of the last hostages (living and dead) and for the surrender of Hamas? Do we really want to believe that a terrorist group could play a role in the future of the Strip? Hamas was voted in by the Gazans, but eighteen years have now passed: because, as I imagine everyone knows, there have been no others since that vote. The fact that the motion expresses solidarity with Israeli colleagues opposing the Netanyahu government and solidarity with all those affected by Hamas violence does not alter the fact that severing relations with the Hebrew University and Reichmann University is a serious breach in what should be the primary mission of any university: building bridges and fostering dialogue. This way, walls are erected and the cause of peace is in no way served.
The Senate recommends that the Board of Directors terminate the existing agreements with the Hebrew University and Reichmann University: on what basis? None of the collaborations have anything to do with weapons. I myself had an agreement (now expired) with Bar-Ilan University, whose topic (truly dangerous for world peace) concerned “Jewish Cultural Heritage.” And back to the previous discussion: why not ask the Board of Directors to treat collaborations with universities in countries that certainly do not stand out for their aspirations for peace and respect for human rights? And unfortunately, the Board of Directors (with a somewhat more lenient motion) followed the Academic Senate’s “recommendations.”
Finally, not content with having reduced Israel (and only Israel! Speaking of double standards) to a “rogue state,” the Senate even declared solidarity with a figure like Francesca Albanese, whose positions appear to reflect anti-Semitic themes, disguised as anti-Zionism. Appointed as Special Rapporteur in May 2022, Albanese has often used anti-Semitic stereotypes, legitimizing support for terrorism in her criticism of Israel. She is the first Special Rapporteur to be condemned by seven countries (including Germany, France, and the United States) for anti-Semitism. See, in this regard, the interventions of the Special Envoy against Antisemitism Deborah Lipstadt, Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield, and Ambassador to the UN Human Rights Council Michèle Taylor. Albanese also omitted some important information from her CV (for example, her husband’s relationship with the Palestinian National Authority: he served as economic advisor to the Ministry of Finance and National Economy of the so-called State of Palestine in Ramallah, thus acting on behalf of the Palestinian government).
I conclude with a bitter observation: it took Italian rectors 80 years to apologize for the racial laws and the resulting expulsion of Jewish professors and students from universities. They took much less time to criminalize and “monstrify” Israel, which—in case anyone missed it—has given legitimacy to the worst wave of anti-Semitism since the end of World War II, despite our university’s adoption of the IHRA definition of anti-Semitism. The rector declares his desire to protect all students at the university, including (thank goodness!) Israeli ones. He’s evidently already forgotten what he was told a few months ago by these very same people, in my presence: that they are afraid, subjected to verbal attacks, and are often forced to hide their identities.
Personally, I can only dissociate myself from a motion characterized by an unacceptable double standard and which also puts my research at risk, given that it will be increasingly difficult to collaborate with Israeli colleagues and universities.
Alessandra Veronese
Professor of Medieval History and Jewish History
University of Pisa
(Published in Il Foglio on July 31, 2025 – courtesy of the author)
Boicottaggi accademici e università israeliane: tra coscienza civile e logica della colpa collettiva
30 Luglio 2025
di Anna Balestrieri
L’università italiana è oggi attraversata da un acceso dibattito sulla legittimità — e sui limiti — dell’impegno civile all’interno del mondo accademico. A infiammare la discussione è il recente appello firmato da oltre200 docenti dell’Università di Messina, rivolto alla rettrice Giovanna Spatari, per chiedere l’interruzione immediata dell’accordo di cooperazione con la Hebrew University di Gerusalemme. I firmatari accusano l’ateneo israeliano di “collaborare con lo sterminio a Gaza”, parlano di “soluzione finale organizzata dallo Stato di Israele” e definiscono l’intesa stipulata nel 2021 una “macchia nerissima” sulla coscienza dell’Università dello Stretto.
Una richiesta forte: “Nessun ponte da costruire”
Nella lettera-appello si legge: “La popolazione muore letteralmente di fame; a decine, ogni giorno, si spengono, crudelmente denutriti, bambini per una precisa decisione politica e militare del governo Netanyahu”. I docenti non si limitano alla denuncia: reclamano una rottura formale e pubblica con tutte le istituzioni accademiche israeliane, considerate “in prima linea nello sviluppo dell’economia del genocidio”. La Hebrew University viene esplicitamente accusata di fornire addestramento, tecnologie, know-how e legittimazione ideologica alle politiche coloniali del governo Netanyahu.Accusa ancor più dolorosa per l’ateneo, eccellenza del paese, che, forse più di tutte le istituzioni dell’accademia israeliana, si fapromotore di una società condivisa tra arabi ed ebrei.
A supporto di queste tesi, i firmatari richiamano il recente provvedimento dell’Università di Pisa che hasospeso le collaborazioni con la Hebrew University e la Reichman University, e citano l’impegno crescente di numerose facoltà italiane nel riconsiderare le collaborazioni scientifiche potenzialmente implicate in applicazioni militari.Recentissimo purel’allineamento pro-pal dell’università di Urbino.
Le reazioni: accuse di antisemitismo e difesa della libertà accademica
Non si è fatta attendere la reazione contraria da parte diassociazioni ebraiche italiane e numerosi accademici, che vedono nel boicottaggio accademico unaderiva antisemitapericolosa e incompatibile con la vocazione universitaria. L’Unione Giovani Ebrei d’Italia (UGEI)ha lanciato un appello in difesa della cooperazione scientifica con Israele: “Quando si arriva aboicottare un’università per la sua appartenenza a un determinato Stato, allora si entra nella pericolosa logica della colpa collettiva”, scrive Luca Spizzichino. “Il dissenso è un diritto sacrosanto, ma esiste una linea sottile tra critica legittima e discriminazione”.
UGEI richiama con forza il principio dilibertà accademicacome fondamento stesso della democrazia: “Il dialogo non si costruisce mettendo a tacere l’altro, ma ascoltando.L’educazione non è militanza selettiva, ma apertura al confronto”.
Anche un altro gruppo diaccademici e ricercatori italiani, tra cui David Meghnagi, Raffaella Rumiati e Lucia Corso, ha firmato un contro-appello per denunciare le iniziative di boicottaggio come“azioni di odio e ostilità”, incompatibili con l’identità dell’università comespazio aperto al dialogo e al confronto critico. “I boicottaggi accademici violano la libertà di ricerca, insegnamento e parola, ostacolano il dialogo tra culture e alimentano la polarizzazione”, si legge nell’appello, che evidenzia il rischio che simili iniziative legittimino “forme di antisemitismo latente”.
Tra coscienza civile e responsabilità democratica
Le università di Firenze, Padova, Milano, Venezia e Torino sono oggi tutte coinvolte, in forme diverse, nel dibattito sull’opportunità di mantenere legami con istituzioni israeliane. Ma mentre alcune realtà — come il Senato accademico della Scuola Normale Superiore — optano per una“valutazione attenta”degli accordi in essere con enti potenzialmente implicati in applicazioni belliche, altre si sono spinte verso decisioniunilateralmente di rottura.
La questione, tuttavia, non può essere ridotta a una semplice opposizione binaria tra “complicità” e “silenzio”, oppure tra “militanza” e “neutralità”. L’università èistituzione pubblica e costituzionale, chiamata a muoversi all’interno di una cornice diresponsabilità democratica condivisa, non in conflitto con altri rami dello Stato, come ha ricordato l’appello degli accademici contrari al boicottaggio.
La pace non si costruisce con la censura
A fronte della tragedia umanitaria a Gaza e della crescente polarizzazione nel mondo accademico, emergono due visioni inconciliabili: una che vede nella rottura totale con le istituzioni israeliane una forma di testimonianza etica, e un’altra che difende il confronto come unico strumento legittimo della convivenza universitaria.
Ma se “la sparizione di Gaza lascia senza fiato”, come scrivono i firmatari di Messina, è altrettanto vero chenon si costruisce la pace negando la parola all’altro. Come ha affermato l’UGEI: “La libertà accademica non è un privilegio, ma un principio irrinunciabile che va difeso con forza”. E come ricordano gli accademici dell’appello di Tiribocchi:“La pace si costruisce rifiutando la logica della demonizzazione dell’altro”.
Il caso dell’Università di Messina, e gli altri simili che si moltiplicano nel Paese, dimostrano che il mondo accademico non è — e forse non può più essere — neutrale. Ma proprio per questo è chiamato oggi a una sfida difficile: tenere insieme giustizia e rigore, etica e metodo, compassione e responsabilità istituzionale. Non sarà il boicottaggio, né la scomunica reciproca, a fermare l’orrore della guerra. Ma soloun confronto aperto, profondo, e libero dalla tentazione della colpa collettiva.
Lettera aperta al Rettore, al Senato Accademico e al CdA dell’Università di Pisa
di Alessandra Veronese
Professore di storia medievale e storia ebraica
Università di Pisa
Magnifico Rettore, Senatori, membri del CdA
Come docente dell’ateneo pisano sono sconcertata dalla mozione approvata dal Senato Accademico venerdì 11 luglio. Il richiamo alla pace sarebbe assolutamente condivisibile: peccato però che si parli solo di Israele e degli accordi in essere con due università israeliane.
Non sorprendentemente, si accettano e si fanno propri in modo acritico concetti come “pulizia etnica”. Sembra irrilevante, per gli illustri colleghi, che gran parte delle “notizie” – rilanciate in modo martellante dai media tramite Al Jazeera, un canale certamente non neutrale – provengano da un sedicente “Ministero della Salute” di Hamas. Nel conteggio delle vittime non si distingue mai tra morti civili e miliziani di Hamas, che secondo l’esercito israeliano sarebbero – ad oggi – almeno 28000. Sull’uso distorto del numero delle vittime, si veda https://geodi.unint.eu/?p=3977. Persino un organismo come l’ONU – certo non filo-israeliano – ha dovuto rivedere al ribasso, qualche mese fa, il computo delle vittime civili, proprio per mancanza di dati certi.
Problematico anche l’uso del termine “bambini” invece di quello di “minori”; non pochi minori sono arruolati nelle file di Hamas, il che li esclude dal computo delle vittime civili. Parlare di pulizia etnica è pertanto del tutto improprio, così come definire ciò che sta accadendo a Gaza un genocidio. Ciò non toglie che si sia addolorati per la morte e le sofferenze della popolazione civile non legata ad Hamas, che il governo terrorista della Striscia usa da mesi come scudi umani, dichiarando pubblicamente che “più sono i morti, meglio è”, al fine di ottenere la simpatia nel mondo occidentale (si veda https://www.wsj.com/world/middle-east/gaza-chiefs-brutal-calculation-civilian-bloodshed-will-help-hamas-626720e7).
Ciò che risulta intollerabile, tuttavia, è la premessa morale della decisione, che segue quello che non esito a definire un doppio standard. Si mettono subito in discussione i rapporti di collaborazione scientifica con le università israeliane (in essere e futuri), ma non si ritiene di dover fare lo stesso con Paesi che al momento stanno palesemente violando i diritti umani e/o il diritto internazionale. Nella mozione si parla degli accordi-quadro con la Federazione Russa (che ha aggredito l’Ucraina)? No. Con la Cina (che occupa il Tibet da cinquant’anni e sta attuando un genocidio culturale a danno di un milione di Uiguri)? No. Con l’Iran, che da decenni fa ricerca nucleare soprattutto negli Atenei e chiaramente con fini non pacifici, e che imprigiona, tortura e/o uccide oppositori del regime, donne e omosessuali? No. Si menziona la Turchia, che perseguita i curdi e ancora oggi nega il genocidio degli Armeni? No. Negli ultimi giorni i Drusi siriani sono stati oggetto di terribili violenze: quasi mille morti in una settimana, con il solito corollario di stupri e rapimenti; prima è stata la volta degli Alawiti. Vi siete mobilitati? No.
Si può anche decidere di rescindere gli accordi con gli atenei di altri paesi, ma allora si deve farlo con tutti quei soggetti che – in un modo o nell’altro – contraddicono ai valori fondanti del mondo occidentale, attuando politiche criminali e discriminatorie. Dalla mozione, viceversa, emerge che i valori di pace, giustizia e responsabilità valgono solo se riferiti a Israele.
Qualcuno dei Senatori si ricorda che la guerra non è stata voluta da Israele? Che Israele ha atteso tre settimane prima di entrare a Gaza, chiedendo prima il rilascio degli ostaggi? Qualcuno ha visto le scene da film dell’orrore girate dagli stessi miliziani di Hamas (e anche da un certo numero di “prodi” civili gazawi)? Non credo, ma forse il Magnifico Rettore vorrà essere abbastanza coraggioso ed equanime da organizzare una proiezione dei video in questione. Oppure farà finta che gli stupri non siano mai avvenuti e che i civili rapiti siano andati in vacanza nella Striscia? Magari, per dimostrare un minimo di solidarietà alle vittime, potrebbe persino invitare a Pisa alcune delle donne stuprate e tenute in ostaggio per mesi: chissà che sentire anche la loro voce non risvegli le coscienze di coloro che ormai vedono – tra tutti gli orrori del mondo – solo e unicamente Gaza.
Si chiede di riconoscere lo Stato palestinese, dimenticando che ad oggi non esiste. E non esiste, dopo Oslo, perché ben quattro offerte sono state rispedite al mittente, compresa quella di Olmert, che – tra l’altro – attribuiva ai palestinesi Gerusalemme est. Qualcuno crede veramente che la responsabilità sia solo di Israele? Soprattutto: qualcuno crede che con queste prese di posizione si aiuti veramente la causa palestinese? Non sarebbe, quest’ultima, meglio servita da una forte richiesta per il rilascio degli ultimi ostaggi (vivi e morti) e per la resa di Hamas? Veramente vogliamo credere che un gruppo terrorista possa giocare un ruolo nel futuro della Striscia? Hamas è stato votato dai Gazawi, ma sono ormai passati diciotto anni: perché, come immagino tutti sappiano, dopo quel voto non ce ne sono stati altri.
Il fatto che nella mozione si esprima solidarietà ai colleghi israeliani che si oppongono al governo di Netanyahu e vicinanza a tutti coloro che sono stati colpiti dalle violenze di Hamas non toglie che l’interruzione dei rapporti con la Hebrew University e la Reichmann siano un grave vulnus in quella che dovrebbe essere la missione primaria di qualunque ateneo: costruire ponti, favorire il dialogo. Così si alzano muri e non si serve in alcun modo la causa della pace.
Il Senato raccomanda al CdA di interrompere gli accordi in essere con la Hebrew University e la Reichman: su che base? Nessuna delle collaborazioni ha nulla a che vedere con le armi. Io stessa ho avuto un accordo (ora scaduto) con la Bar-Ilan University, il cui tema (veramente pericoloso per la pace nel mondo) era relativo alla “Jewish Cultural Heritage”. E torniamo al discorso di prima: perché non chiedere al CdA lo stesso trattamento in relazione a collaborazioni con atenei di Paesi che certo non si segnalano per l’aspirazione alla pace e il rispetto dei diritti umani? E purtroppo il CdA (con una mozione se non altro più morbida) ha dato seguito alle “raccomandazioni” del Senato Accademico.
Da ultimo, non paghi di avere ridotto Israele (e solo Israele! A proposito di doppio standard) a “stato canaglia”, il Senato dichiara persino solidarietà ad un personaggio come Francesca Albanese, le cui posizioni paiono ricalcare tematiche antisemite, mascherate da antisionismo. Nominata nel maggio 2022 come relatrice speciale, Albanese ha spesso usato stereotipi antisemiti, legittimando il sostegno al terrorismo nelle sue critiche a Israele. È la prima relatrice speciale a essere condannata da ben sette paesi (tra i quali vi sono la Germania, la Francia, gli Stati Uniti) per antisemitismo. Si vedano, a tal proposito, gli interventi dell’inviato speciale contro l’antisemitismo Deborah Lipstadt, dell’ambasciatore alle Nazioni Unite Linda Thomas-Greenfield e dell’ambasciatore presso il Consiglio dei diritti umani delle Nazioni Unite, Michèle Taylor. Albanese ha inoltre omesso alcuni elementi importanti nel suo CV (ad esempio il rapporto del marito con l’ANP: questi ha infatti ricoperto l’incarico di consigliere economico del Ministero delle Finanze e dell’Economia nazionale del cosiddetto Stato di Palestina a Ramallah, quindi per conto proprio del governo palestinese).
Concludo con un’amara osservazione: i Rettori italiani hanno impiegato 80 anni a chiedere scusa per le leggi razziali e per la conseguente espulsione di professori e studenti ebrei dalle università. Ci hanno impiegato molto meno a criminalizzare e “mostrificare” Israele, ciò che – caso mai a qualcuno fosse sfuggito – ha sdoganato la peggiore ondata di antisemitismo dalla fine della II Guerra Mondiale, con buona pace dell’adozione della definizione IHRA di antisemitismo da parte della nostra Università. Il Rettore dichiara di voler proteggere tutti gli studenti dell’ateneo, compresi (bontà sua!) quelli israeliani. Evidentemente ha già scordato ciò che gli è stato riferito qualche mese fa proprio da questi ultimi, me presente: che hanno paura, sono oggetto di attacchi verbali e sono spesso costretti a nascondere la propria identità.
Personalmente, non posso che dissociarmi da una mozione caratterizzata da un inaccettabile doppio standard e che mette a rischio anche la mia ricerca, visto che sarà sempre più difficile collaborare con colleghi e atenei israeliani.
Alessandra Veronese
Professore di storia medievale e storia ebraica
Università di Pisa
(pubblicata sul Foglio del 31 luglio 2025 – per gentile concessione dell’autrice)
israel-academia-monitor.com 