Politics
Of Editorial board – May 17, 2024
The President of the Republic Sergio Mattarella responded to the students of La Sapienza University who had urged him to take a position on the conflict in Gaza.
“I reiterated the request for an immediate ceasefire,” addressing the audience gathered for Graduates’ Day in the Rectorate’s Great Hall. An intervention not included in the program saw the President of the Republic respond to students who had been agitating for weeks regarding the conflict in the Middle East.
“A letter invited me not to lock myself in the ‘ivory tower of the Rectorate’,” explained the President. “On the way here, I saw a sign asking me what I thought about Gaza. I can’t ignore it.” He recalled his repeated interventions “on significant occasions”, from the speech to the United Nations General Assembly to the letter sent to the President of the Israeli Republic, reiterating his position: “For our Republic, all violations of human rights must be opposed, always and everywhere.”
However, his intervention failed to calm the students’ anger. The collectives, gathered outside the Rectorate, openly contested the head of state, expressing their dissent with banners that read: “Italy and Sapienza complicit in the genocide.”
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