School protests are raising tensions among students in Cagliari, particularly between Blocco Studentesco , which is affiliated with the far-right Casa Pound movement, and Atzioni Antifascista de Casteddu .
This exchange of accusations comes amid nationwide protests against the school decree (which caps the number of foreigners). It also follows recent demonstrations, in this case in the city, sparked by the presence of rats and poor school conditions, which have led to the closure of nine schools since the beginning of the school year.
It's against this backdrop that the climate has heated up. Today, Blocco Studentesco blames anti-fascist students for an attack on the association's branch on Via Cervi and the assault on a student at Foiso Fois High School.
"On Monday evening, a group of approximately thirty people attempted to reach our section to force their way in," a statement read. "At the time of the incident, two of our minors found themselves the target of violent, mafia-style intimidation . Only the arrival of other militants prevented the situation from escalating, forcing the attackers to retreat."
In the second case , according to the statement, a student "was attacked by a group of people with belts at the Foiso Fois high school." This series of incidents "testifies to the climate of intimidation and violence that has developed in the city in just two days." The anti-fascists responded quickly with an Instagram story: "Blocco de is faulancius," or "Bloc of liars."
In the Blocco studentesco statement, the two incidents are linked to a post that appeared last Tuesday on a social media page of the anti-fascist movement.
The post in question, published by Atzioni Antifascista de Casteddu, was accompanied by a photograph of the Italian flag with the words "A foras sos fascistas," meaning "fascists out." "This morning in various schools, including Cagliari, the fascists of Blocco Studentesco," the Tuesday, October 6, post reads, "posted Italian flags. The reason? A ridiculous response to the anti-racist banners against the infamous school bill, which clearly reiterated a very simple concept: no one here is a foreigner. The flags were immediately removed by the students and returned to sender ."
Reference was then made to "recent fascist attacks perpetrated outside several high schools." It's unclear in this case whether the reference is to events that occurred in the capital.
It remains unclear whether there is a connection between these tensions and those that occurred yesterday and last week during two protests : the first outside the Giua institute and the second at the Alberti high school.
Yesterday, there were moments of tension on Viale Colombo, the main headquarters of the Alberti school: a smoke bomb was lit in the Su Siccu pine forest, threatening to start a fire, and a fire extinguisher was thrown into the middle of the street. One of the school's representatives reported the presence of "infiltrating" students.
On Via Montecassino in Pirri, the headquarters of the Giua, during the protest on Friday, toilet paper rolls, eggs, and smoke bombs were thrown inside the building: one of these set fire to brushwood that was put out by other protesters.