By including an explicit reference to peace as a fundamental value in its new Statute, the University of Pisa has made a statement at a time in history when wars are proliferating across the world and having a heavy impact on civilian populations. When human life is disregarded, the principles on which university communities are founded are negated. Instead of having faith in reason, science and culture, darkness sets in — a darkness that marks the dissolution of everything that defines our humanity.
Peace cannot be built through violence. Recognising the value of peace compels us to take concrete steps to oppose the arms industry and commit not to engage in any activity aimed at developing or improving weapons of war. The current emphasis on rearmament risks channelling investment into tools that will inevitably be used to destroy lives at some point in the future — a particularly short-sighted approach in a country that devotes a share of GDP to education and research well below the European average.
The principles enshrined in the Statute provide the foundation for a broader review of all regulatory sources within the university. From this point forward, academic and scientific collaborations — in both teaching and research — with governments, universities and public or private entities must adhere to these principles. There is now well-documented evidence of serious violations of international law and systematic violence carried out by the Israeli government against the civilian population of Gaza. This includes the use of hunger and critical health insecurity as instruments of war, which objectively amounts to a form of ethnic cleansing. For this reason, all existing and future agreements with the Israeli government or Israeli public or private entities must be scrutinised in light of the Statute’s core values of peace, justice, and ethical responsibility.
At the same time, the Senate expresses its support for Israeli colleagues who courageously and determinedly oppose the war and the policies of the current Government of Israel, and extends its solidarity to all those affected by Hamas’s terrorist attacks.
The Senate also calls on the Italian government to recognise the State of Palestine and revoke the Memorandum of Understanding between the Government of the Italian Republic and the Government of the State of Israel on military and defence cooperation.
The Board of Governors is recommended to confirm and expand funding aimed at opening humanitarian corridors for Palestinian scholars and students, as well as supporting other initiatives designed to safeguard the culture of a people facing annihilation, which is unworthy of any civilised society.
Furthermore, the Senate recommends that the Board of Governors suspend the framework agreements with Reichman University and the Hebrew University, based on the documentation submitted for the extraordinary meeting of the Academic Senate held on 14 March 2024. The Senate reserves the right to reassess other ongoing collaborative projects in the future.
The Senate expresses solidarity with Francesca Albanese, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967 and a graduate of this university, who was recently subjected to personal sanctions by the US government for her investigative work on human rights violations in Palestine.
In response to reports from Cambiare Rotta (a youth organisation) regarding possible infiltration, the Senate reaffirms that the University of Pisa is a place where freedom of thought and opinion is protected — a place that respects democratic institutions, yet does not submit to power. The exchange of divergent views is considered a sign of cultural and spiritual richness, and safeguarding dissent is of the utmost importance. Any debate conducted in accordance with the rule of law and in a spirit of non-violence, both physical and verbal, will always be protected and defended from all forms of external interference.
