The University of Palermo interrupts collaborative relationships with Israeli universities. The student protest achieves its first victory For over 26 days they have been living camped in a small tent city in the Viale delle Scienze park. The dialogue with the rector and the academic senate was intense from the first moment, with a total openness on the part of the university which ultimately decided to dedicate an entire meeting of the academic senate, yesterday’s, to listen to the students’ requests. Requests accepted only in part, but at least in a substantial part, that which concerns the agreements with Israel, with which the university had an Erasmus project involving two Israeli universities.
A decision that, specifically, arises due to the «failure of essential safety guarantees to which any parties involved would be exposed in this particular and delicate moment of international crisis”, reads a note from the University. The demands of the student movement still stand interruption of relations between the university and Leonardo Spaa company also based in Palermo, which designs targeting systems for missiles and other technological systems used in war.
The reaction of the Minister of Education was negative Anna Maria Bernini, who spoke of a “wrong choice”. At the moment, the only universities to have taken a position against the calls for collaboration with Israel are the University of Turin and the Normale of Pisa. Meanwhile, the student intifada continues to incite boycotts in the main Italian cities: from Florence to Rome, from Bari to Naples.
