Anti-Semitism and anti-Israel violence spread as Italy lacks adequate response

Italy has become a hotspot for campus anti-Israel extremism, with two shocking incidents Tuesday September 16, making national headlines. At the University of Pisa, a mob of pro-Palestinian activists stormed Prof. Rino Casella’s class, accused him of being a “Zionist,” and beat him in front of his students. A student who tried to defend him was also assaulted. Prof. Casella, who was hospitalized with head injuries, explained that he was targeted simply for refusing to denounce Israel and embrace the pro-Palestinian cause.

At the Polytechnic University of Turin, Israeli Prof. Pini Zorea faced hecklers accusing him of “apartheid.” When he defended the IDF and demanded a Palestine “free of Hamas,” protesters erupted, and the university dean suspended him.

The University of Turin/Campus Einaudi is a known hotbed for far-left and pro-Palestinian activists who have often turned violent. On May 15th, 2025, a conference on anti-Semitism that was supposed to take place there was violently hampered by hundreds of pro-Palestinian and Hamas supporters, many of whom linked to the social center Askatasuna, which had already been investigated multiple times by the Italian authorities. (Read here the full story).

On November 25th, 2024, a Turin-based student collective “Progetto Palestina” (Palestine Project) held a conference at the Einaudi Campus of the University of Turin, entitled “Forgotten Feminism”, and with the online participation of an exceptional guest, Miriam Abu Daqqa, a well-known member of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP). In November 2023, Abu Daqqa was expelled from France and she is now banned from entering the Schengen area. (Read here the full story).

The incidents reflect a growing climate of anti-Israel hostility on Italian campuses, from Florence delaying its academic year in “solidarity with Palestinians,” to University professor Luca Nivarra, from the Law faculty in Palermo, who urged people to“Unfriend all Jews, even the good ones.”

Moroever, the wave of anti-Semitism has reached beyond universities. On the evening of September 16, during the mainstream TV show E’ Sempre Cartabianca, broadcasted by Rete4 channel, the President of the Friends of Israel Federation, Eyal Mizrahi, was insulted by former TV conductor, Enzo Iacchetti.

The latter, who appeared to be very agitated, accused Israel of slaughtering the Palestinians and he even claimed: “There must be no contradiction. No one must contradict the truth we’ve been seeing for months…”

As Mizrahi highlighted the fascist nature of Iacchetti’s statement (no different opinion allowed), the latter insulted him in front of the cameras and threatened him with physical attack (“What did you say, asshole, I’m coming down and punching you.”)

Researcher and anti-Semitism expert Stefano Gatti, from the Italian Osservatorio Antisemitismo-CDEC, explained to the Times of Israel that, while reported incidents of anti-Semitism prior to October 7, 2023, were around thirty per month, there has since been a dramatic increase with a current average of around one hundred per month.

Anti-Semitism, often disguised as “anti-Zionism,” has become mainstream in Italy, both politically and in the media. Verbal and physical violence against not only Jews and Israelis, but also anyone who refuses to embrace the causes of the pro-Palestinian left has become almost the norm.

On Saturday, September 21, a large demonstration in Turin, led by Mohammad Hannoun, an individual sanctioned twice in 2024 and 2025 by the US Department of Treasury on charges of being a Hamas money collector in Italy, marched through the city center chanting “from the river to the sea.”

On September 16, in Milan, a far-left and pro-Palestinian protest turned into an unauthorized march, causing traffic disruption in a large area of ​​the city center. Protesters attacked the police blockade, who, in turn, gave in and escorted the march through the streets. Meanwhile, in Rome, the city hall displayed the Palestinian flag, in defiance of the Israeli hostages and the massacre of October 7.

It remains to be seen why the Italian government, theoretically among the closest to Israel in Europe along with Germany, has not yet implemented effective and rapid measures to stem anti-Semitism and the subversive activity of the far left.