PFLP’s Mariam Abu Daqqa invited to speak at the University of Turin

On Monday November 25^th, the 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 participation of an exceptional guest, Miriam Abu Daqqa, a well-known member of the Popular front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), who spoke via web connection.

The PFLP is classified as a terrorist organization by the United States, Great Britain, and the European Union. In November 2023, Abu Daqqa was expelled from France and put on a flight to Egypt after taking part in two conferences not authorized by French authorities. She is now banned from entering the Schengen area.

“Progetto Palestina”, a far-left collective formed in 2015 with the objective of bringing the “Palestinian cause” into the university, is not new to such initiatives and seems to be fascinated by the PFLP. In November 2023 they had in fact invited another historic face of the terrorist organization, namely Leila Khaled, who took part in two plane hijackings in 1969 and 1970, respectively on a TWA aircraft and an EL AL aircraft. In 2017, Khaled had been denied entry to Italy because she did not have a valid Schengen visa. In last year’s manifesto, Khaled was defined as a “historical militant of the Palestinian resistance”. The speech did not take place in person and the leader of the PFLP spoke via remote connection.

On its Instagram profile, “Progetto Palestina” shows a series of images, showing Israeli flags recently set on fire during a demonstration in Turin’s center that also led to clashes with the police.

The Rector’s office had been informed in advance of the event, and a classroom for the event had been granted. However, after being informed about the virtual presence of Abu Daqqa, the office revoked the authorization. Nevertheless, Progetto Palestina publicly announced on its Instagram account that the event would take place and after the conference, they would march to the central Piazza Castello.

Room 1 of the “Einaudi” building quickly filled up with approximately 200 people and the event went far beyond the feminist topic and turned into PFLP propaganda, with Abu Daqqa, among other things, attacking the French government for having expelled her, Israel (accusing its soldiers of rape and genocide, comparing Israeli PM Netanyahu to Hitler) and the United States (accused by Abu Daqqa of “wanting to occupy Syria”).

Emanuel Segre Amar, a representative of the Jewish Community of Turin, explained that following numerous exchanges of emails and phone calls with the rector’s secretary, the office initially claimed that it was not aware of the event (not even those responsible for the Einaudi Campus) and this despite the fact that the campus was plastered with posters advertising the event.

Subsequently, Segre Amar was told that the collective had requested permission for an event and it had been granted. However, the rector’s office was not aware of who would speak and only found out thanks to Segre Amar’s report; at that point the permission was revoked.

This is one interesting element. Why would a university directive allow an event organized by a collective already known for certain ideological positions and for inviting “problematic guests” without first ensuring its feasibility?

Segre Amar then asked if it was possible for the student collective to still hold the event despite the authorization denial, and the rector’s office replied that “the University did not authorize the organization of the event” and that, however, “the directive did not have the means to prevent it either”.

The rector of the University of Turin, Prof. Stefano Geuna, explained to us that no classroom was granted to “Progetto Palestina”, but the students still used it:

“The initiative was not authorized by the University, therefore the classroom was not granted for the event under consideration. The meeting, therefore, took place despite the lack of authorization and by unilateral decision of the Student Association. The contents of the meeting were publicly released by Progetto Palestina, therefore they are available to the competent Authorities in terms of Public Safety for the appropriate assessments of merit“.

This statement highlights a problem that needs to be addressed. What is the purpose of requesting authorization to hold a conference inside a university campus, if the event can take place despite the denial?

Is it acceptable for a member of an organization that is classified as “terrorist” to give speeches on a university campus? Even via the web? Yet there are very clear guidelines within the EU regarding extremist narratives and propaganda. Why haven’t they been applied? Where were the authorities?

Now, what remains to be seen is whether the Italian authorities will intervene to ensure that similar cases won’t happen again in the future.