Pisa's Normale asks for Israel-Italy call to be suspended

(ANSA) - ROME, MAR 29 - The Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa is asking for the call for applications issued by the foreign ministry for scientific cooperation with Israel in 2024 to be reconsidered, local newspapers reported on Friday.
    The academic senate at the prestigious university reportedly approved the motion on the request of students on Tuesday amid mounting protests in italian universities over the impact on the civilian population of Gaza of Israel's war against Hamas sparked by the terrorist attacks of October 7.
    The academic senate is calling on the ministry "to reconsider the '2024 Scientific Call' issued on November 21, 2023 in implementation of the Italy-Israel industrial, scientific and technological cooperation agreement".
    In the motion the university also renews calls, "also in the light of the UN resolution of March 25, 2024, for the release of the hostages and an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip in order to prevent the further deterioration of a now desperate humanitarian situation that is increasingly taking the form of an unacceptable form of collective punishment of the Palestinian population".
    Last week Turin university's academic senate announced the decision not to take part in the 2024 Scientific Call after pro-Palestinian left-wing collectives occupied the premises.
    However, university dean Stefano Geuna said it "was an action on a very specific call" and that "all the agreements currently in force with Israeli universities, and there are many, remain valid".
    Following the decision and the de-platforming of La Repubblica editor Maurizio Molinari at a Naples university a few days earlier, Noemi Di Segni, the president of the Union of Italian Jewish Communities, said "Every red line has now been crossed and concern about the university situation is overflowing".
    (ANSA).