From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, October 28, 2025
Italian anti-Israel activists prevent Jewish ex-MP, son of Holocaust survivor, from speaking at Venice university
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleRossella Tercatin is The Times of Israel's archaeology and religions reporter.
Pro-Palestinian activists have prevented a former Jewish member of the Italian Parliament, who is the son of an Auschwitz survivor, from speaking at an event at the Ca’ Foscari University in Venice, Italian media reports.
A member of the center-left Italian Democratic Party, Emanuele Fiano, 62, currently serves as the secretary of the group Left for Israel.
Yesterday, he was set to speak at an event about the perspectives for peace in the Middle East and specifically advocating for the two-state solution, which Fiano and his group support.
According to the Italian daily Corriere della Sera, a group of pro-Palestinian activists interrupted the debate with anti-Israel chants and did not allow for the discussion to continue.
Doveva essere un dialogo per la pace a sostegno di un percorso tra i due popoli, tra Antonio Calò e @emanuelefiano e invece gruppi della sedicente sinistra giovanile hanno impedito a #Fiano di parlare, al grido incessante: "fuori i sionisti dall'università". pic.twitter.com/O25SjlmR8k
— Sinistra per Israele 2 popoli 2 Stati (@SinistraXIsrael) October 27, 2025
Videos shared by Left for Israel on Twitter also show the activists holding a banner reading: “Zionists out of the university.”
“I tried everything I could to continue, but they kept on talking and telling lies about me,” Fiano tells the daily La Repubblica.
“I’m shocked by what happened,” he adds. “The last time they expelled a Fiano from a place of study was my father in 1938. 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.”
Fiano’s father, Nedo, was expelled from his public school in Florence when he was 13 after Italy passed its anti-Jewish laws in 1938. He was sent to Auschwitz in 1944 and lost both of his parents there. He passed away in 2020.
The Venice episode has been condemned by politicians across the political spectrum.
Last month, Ca’ Foscari approved a resolution to suspend all collaborations with Israeli universities in light of the war in Gaza.
The Times of Israel Community.