The University of Pavia refuses a lecture hall for a public event on Palestine

A public event entitled "Palestine: History of a People and its Resistance", scheduled for Thursday 16 May 2024 at the University of Pavia, was refused a venue after the university declined to let the organisers use its Aula del '400 lecture hall. The room had been requested in April by the Coordination for the Right to Education (UdU), the university's largest elected student organisation, together with the Anti-Fascist Network and Arci. The main speaker was to be Khader Tamimi, president of the Palestinian Community of Lombardy. The event was part of a series of initiatives on Palestine held in Pavia for over a month, including the presentation of a book of Palestinian recipes and a film screening in the presence of its director.

According to Silvia Garzena, a lawyer with the Anti-Fascist Network, the university first delayed its answer, then asked for clarifications, which were provided, before refusing permission on 7 May, just days before the event. It gave two reasons: a lack of pluralism and the speakers' lack of scientific expertise. The university also pointed to its regulations, under which its spaces cannot be used for religious events or for events organised by political parties and movements.

The organisers rejected both grounds as censorious and unlawful. They argued that pluralism was guaranteed by the audience's freedom to take part in the discussion, and that scientific credentials were irrelevant since student initiatives are not part of the university's teaching. They added that lecture halls belong to the whole academic community, including students, and that the regulations bar demonstrations, not conferences, which are occasions for debate and analysis. In their view, first-hand testimony from people who have lived under an occupation condemned many times by the UN is of the highest value.

The refusal prompted an "Appeal for freedom of criticism of Israel at the University of Pavia", which voiced concern at the repression of criticism of the Israeli government's policies and military operations in many Western countries, often led by university authorities, and asked whether Pavia wished to join that trend. Referring to the wave of student protests that began on US campuses in April 2024, the appeal rejected equating student mobilisation with support for terrorism or antisemitism, and urged the university to respond to any similar movement in Pavia with attention and respect. The debate was moved outdoors and held on the evening of 16 May in Piazza Da Vinci.