Last May, the United Nations General Assembly voted on a motion for the recognition of Palestine, with 143 votes in favor, 25 abstentions (including Italy), and 9 against (including the United States). While the vote did not have tangible effects, it was significant in highlighting the international isolation of Western countries and stirring consciousness. Academic communities in Western countries have shown sensitivity to the issue, partly due to student pressures, with students being the first to show solidarity for the ongoing monstrous massacre. However, little institutional progress has been made. In Italy, the Academic Senate of the University for Foreigners in Siena unanimously approved a document on the events in Gaza, condemning “the excessive retaliation carried out by the State of Israel in Gaza in response to the heinous and unjustifiable massacre committed by Hamas on October 7, 2023.” More recently, the Academic Senate of the University of Siena, with a unanimously approved motion, addressed the Parliament and government to have “Italy join the many countries worldwide that officially recognize the State of Palestine.” Given the importance of the document, the website Roars.it, dedicated to university and research politics and run by a team of university professors of which I am a part, published and shared the document on Facebook, which, however, refused its publication. This situation calls for a reflection on freedom of expression, which, from a constitutional right, transforms into arbitrary concessions by platform owners. This is not an isolated case but a systematic policy of suppressing any critical voices toward Israel.
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