Students at prominent Italian university begin encampment for Palestine

ROME

Students at a top university in Italy joined a global mobilization for Palestine on Wednesday.

Pro-Palestinian students at the University of Sapienza in Rome erected 30 tents in an area around the rector's office and carried Palestinian flags as well as banners saying "Stop genocide in Palestine."

Speaking to Anadolu, one of the students, Elettra, noted they have repeatedly called on the university's administration to stop cooperation with Israel.

"We will continue this action to stand for Palestine," she said.

"We stress that this is an anti-fascist, anti-Zionist and pro-Palestinian zone," she added.

Also speaking to Anadolu, law student Federico underlined that their actions aim to press the university to stop cooperation with Israel and the government to halt arms exports to the country.

Ludovica, another student, called on Sapienza rector Antonella Polimeni to end the university’s cooperation with Israel and condemned the vandalization by a pro-Israeli demonstrator of a memorial dedicated to Palestinian physician Sufyan Tayeh, who was killed in an Israeli strike in Gaza.

Demonstrations in solidarity with Palestinians under Israeli siege in Gaza have spread across university campuses in the US and Europe in recent weeks.

More than 2,000 people have been arrested at US campuses since April 18 amid heavily polarized debates over the right to protest, the limits of free speech and accusations of antisemitism.

But while clashes and standoffs with police at New York’s Columbia University, Portland State University and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) have captured global attention, demonstrations and sit-ins are also being held on campuses in parts of Europe, including France, Britain and Switzerland.

Although protesters' demands vary by university, most demonstrations have called for colleges to divest from companies that support Israel and the Gaza war.