An Italian professor who opposes cutting ties with Israeli schools was beaten in his classroom by pro-Palestinian protesters who interrupted the lesson he was giving at the University of Pisa.
In a second incident the same day, protesters interrupted a lecture from a guest Israeli speaker at a Turin polytechnic, with the school later severing ties with him as he had defended the Israel Defense Forces during dialogue with the activists.
Both incidents were caught on video and posted to social media.
Anti-Israel activity on campuses around the world has surged during the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip that was triggered by the October 7, 2023, massacre in southern Israel, led by the Palestinian terror group Hamas.
Dozens of anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian activists burst into a class at the University of Pisa given by Prof. Rino Casella, who is not Jewish.
Protesters waved Palestinian flags and hurled abuse at Casella, apparently over his objection to the university’s recent announcement that it would cut ties with two Israeli universities.
Casella said that one of the students in the class tried to intervene, but he was beaten, and that when Casella tried to shield the student, he too was attacked.
Casella went to the hospital for treatment of injuries to his head and arms.
Casella told the Courier Dellasera daily he was in “emotional shock.”
“I can’t accept the interruption of a university class, which is a sacred place, a place of dialogue — not a place of violence,” he said.
Casella described how “fascists” had burst into the class and demanded he stop the lesson.
When one student tried to take a flag from a protester, he was kicked and punched. The professor tried to shield the student, but was himself punched in the face.
Casella explained that a leaflet against him has been circulated a few days earlier after he spoke out against the university suspending collaboration with two Israeli universities.
“They called me a Zionist, I don’t consider it an insult. That said, I’m not Jewish, I’m an atheist. If they call me complicit in a genocide, well, I’m not, especially since I don’t believe a genocide is underway [in the Gaza Strip]. But that’s not the point,” he said.
“I represent the institutions, and the attack against me is an attack on the university,” Casella said, and warned that if such violence continues in universities, “someone could die.”
He vowed not to be deterred and said he would go back to teaching after taking a hospital-recommended rest of seven days.
