Students for Palestine, demonstration under the rectorate in Pavia

PAVIA. About eighty students gathered under the windows of the rectorate of the University of Pavia where the Academic Senate is underway, starting at 2.30 pm. In the courtyard a Palestinian flag and white bags representing the corpses of Gaza, where Israel’s armed response in response to the Hamas attacks on 7 October which led to the death of 1200 Israelis and the kidnapping of 253 hostages, has already caused almost 38 thousand dead, 80 thousand injured and 1.9 million displaced.

Around 5pm, after two and a half hours of waiting, the Senate decided to send up a student spokesperson to listen to the requests of the students who, since May 17th, have been peacefully occupying the Volta courtyard of the University of Pavia without preventing lessons , to keep attention on the massacre taking place in the Gaza Strip, already condemned by the International Court of Justice.

The Rector Francesco Svelto had already judged the students’ requests to suspend relations with Israel to be inadmissible and in a letter published today Monday 17 June in the Province of Pavia, he reiterated the position taken starting from the meeting of the Academic Senate on 20 May 2024, i.e. a « convinced adherence to the words of the President of the Republic, pronounced on 7 May at the United Nations General Assembly, according to which “we are immediately asked to respond to the moral imperative of providing assistance to alleviate the immense suffering of the civilian population of Gaza” ».

He also recalled how the university has «therefore condemned the escalation of violence: from the terrorist attacks by Hamas to the indiscriminate reaction (by Israel, ed.) against civilians and infrastructures, calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza to allow access to humanitarian aid. It was then hoped that both parties would engage in a constructive relationship to reach a peaceful solution that respects human rights, because only through dialogue and cooperation can we hope to put an end to this humanitarian tragedy. Our deep belief is that every life matters and that peace is the only path to a better future for the region, thus paving the way for a two-state solution. Coming to what the University of Pavia can do directly, it was agreed that it must be able to accept requests for support and collaboration from Palestinian and Israeli scholars at risk of physical safety or whose academic freedom is compromised. For example, through the creation of a University fund dedicated to this.” He also hoped for “the restoration of a regime of ordinary use, in the availability of all students” of the spaces currently occupied by the protest, albeit peaceful.