Clashes between students and police this morning in the center of Pisa. The officers had lined up to protect one of the accesses to Piazza dei Cavalieri, while some of the demonstrators - engaged in a pro-Palestine march - attempted to cross the barrier.
The policemen charged with batons. Some students were stopped and then released.
The barrier, explained the police headquarters, was to avoid "demonstrative actions in conjunction with sensitive objectives such as the synagogue, the Jewish cemetery or the Leaning Tower".
«We started from Piazza Dante where we had gathered to take a walk around the city but after a few tens of meters we found the police barrage which then charged an absolutely peaceful demonstration, but determined to move forward to bring solidarity to the people Palestinian,” said a student. «All complicity of our Government and educational institutions with the genocide taking place in Palestine must cease - he added. The University of Pisa must block any agreement with Israel and with the Israeli companies that produce the weapons used in Palestine."
Numerous reactions from institutional representatives. On Facebook the mayor of the city, Michele Conti (leading a centre-right majority), wrote: «What happened has deeply saddened me, even before as mayor, as a citizen and parent. I phoned the commissioner and prefect this morning to ask for an account of what happened. I reiterated to both of them that anyone must be free to express their thoughts freely, always. And that Pisa has always been a place of meeting and discussion."
«I also want to remind everyone - added Conti - that peaceful coexistence is ensured first and foremost by respecting the rules and those who do not respect them must be sanctioned. As I hope will happen for those who were responsible for the raid on our Tower a few weeks ago. But never in any way can violence be used to repress a demonstration of high school boys and girls. Just as you cannot use violence to impose your own idea. I want to talk to these kids, listen to their reasons and their stories. The Municipality of Pisa is a public space where it is possible to express every thought freely and politely."
(Unioneonline/ss)
