Pro-Palestine mob storms lecture at University of Pisa; professor and student beaten

A pro-Palestine group stormed a lecture at the University of Pisa on Tuesday, attacking a political science lecturer and a student who tried to defend him after the lecturer criticised the university's decision to sever academic ties with two Israeli institutions.

Rino Casella, a political science lecturer, was kicked and punched while delivering a law class and was treated at a hospital for injuries to his head and arms, university officials said. Dozens of demonstrators carrying Palestinian flags and using megaphones burst into the classroom, shouting and climbing on desks to confront him, witnesses and Casella told La Repubblica.

Casella said he had been circulating in the campus for weeks after leaflets opposed to his stance were distributed and that he was one of two academics who publicly opposed the institution's vote to cut ties with the Israeli universities. "I tried to keep them out, but they forced their way in with Palestinian flags and megaphones," he said. He described the intruders as "fascists" and said he stepped in to shield a student who had tried to grab a flag from a protester and was beaten. "They hit me too — either with a punch or an elbow," Casella said. He warned that "in this climate, someone could die."

Medical staff advised Casella to rest for a week, though he told reporters he intended to return to teaching immediately. The student who intervened was also beaten but details of his injuries were not disclosed.

The incident drew swift condemnation from Italian officials. University Minister Anna Maria Bernini called Casella and said the ministry is considering filing a civil suit if similar disruptions recur, saying universities "are not free zones where it is allowed to interrupt lectures or assault professors." Bernini added that what occurred was "intolerable for a society that recognises itself in the values of democracy."

Noemi Di Segni, president of the Union of Italian Jewish Communities, described the attack as "precisely the escalation that we have long feared, a drift of violence that has already been tolerated for so long." She said the episode reflected a worrying normalisation of rhetoric that, in her view, legitimises terrorism.

The assault at Pisa took place the same day another Italian university reported a classroom disruption by pro-Palestine protesters. At the Polytechnic University of Turin, a visiting Israeli lecturer, Pini Zorea, had his talk interrupted by demonstrators protesting Israel's reported use of facial recognition technologies in the occupied Palestinian territories, university sources said.

The clashes come amid growing tensions on Italian campuses over motions passed by some universities to review or sever academic relationships with Israeli institutions. Milan's Statale University approved a motion preventing new agreements with institutions it said were involved in violations in Gaza, and the University of Florence passed a motion to evaluate existing agreements and maintain only those that do not contribute to the maintenance of the occupation, university statements show.

University officials in Pisa characterised the attack as an assault on the institution itself. "I represent the institutions, and the attack against me is an attack on the university," Casella said. He also said he was in "emotional shock" after the assault.

Police were called to the scene, and an investigation into the classroom break-in and ensuing assaults was reported to be under way. University leaders and national officials urged calm and called for protection of academic freedom and safety on campus, while noting an ongoing debate in Italy over the scope of academic ties with Israeli universities.

No arrests were reported immediately after the incident. Authorities and university administrators said they would review security measures for lectures and campus events as they assess how to prevent similar episodes in the future.