An event advocating for a two-state solution at the prestigious Ca’ Foscari University in Venice was shut down yesterday by pro-Palestinian activists, who physically prevented former Jewish Member of Parliament Emanuele Fiano from speaking.
The incident, which saw activists interrupt the debate with anti-Israel chants and banners, drew immediate condemnation from across the Italian political spectrum and spotlighted the growing suppression of discourse on university campuses.
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Emanuele Fiano, 62, currently serving as the secretary of the political group Left for Israel, was scheduled to discuss “perspectives for peace in the Middle East.” However, his attempt to engage was quickly blocked.
Videos shared by Left for Israel on social media platform X showed activists holding a banner that read: “Zionists out of the university.”
Fiano, the son of an Auschwitz survivor, expressed profound shock over the incident, drawing a powerful historical parallel.
“I tried everything I could to continue, but they kept on talking and telling lies about me,” Fiano told the Italian daily La Repubblica. “I’m shocked by what happened. The last time they expelled a Fiano from a place of study was my father in 1938.”
Fiano’s father, Nedo, was expelled from his public school in Florence at age 13 following Italy’s 1938 anti-Jewish laws, and later survived the Auschwitz concentration camp.
The former MP stressed the group's intention was purely diplomatic:
"We were there to discuss peace between two peoples, injustice, pain, violence and peace. Anyone who doesn’t want to hear about these things doesn’t want peace.”
