Two disturbing anti-Israel incidents at Italian universities on Tuesday drew national attention amid an alarming rise of antisemitism across Europe, Ynet reported.

A violent incident took place at the University of Pisa, where dozens of pro-Hamas rioters holding Palestinian flags and shouting anti-Israel epithets stormed a lecture by Prof. Rino Casella, a non-Jew whom they had labeled a �Zionist.� A student who tried to push the protestors out was beaten. Casella then tried to intervene and was also beaten. He was later hospitalized with head injuries and bruises.

�They barged in�young men and women, basically fascists�and demanded I stop teaching,� Casella told Corriere della Sera. �One grabbed my microphone, and another took the book I was holding and threw it to the ground. Why? Because the book had a small American flag on it. He shouted that I was a �dirty imperialist.��

�I intervened when they hit one of my students and was punched hard in the face,� he said, noting he would need a week to recover.

Terrified students phoned the police, but Casella asked officers not to enter the classroom, fearing it would set a troubling precedent.

Casella noted that he is not Jewish but believes he was targeted for opposing the university�s recent decision to sever ties with Israel. Flyers circulated against him branded him a �Zionist.� Casella said refusing to denounce Israel was enough for activists to accuse him of �genocide.� �I don�t think Israel�s actions in Gaza amount to genocide,� he said. �And I don�t consider �Zionist� an insult.�

A second incident occurred the same day at the Polytechnic University of Turin, where Israeli Prof. Pini Zorea of Braude College of Engineering in Karmiel had been invited to teach a course. Pro-Hamas rioters disrupted his class, accusing him of enabling Israeli �apartheid� via facial-recognition technology. Zorea responded to the protesters calmly, acknowledging his past IDF service and describing the army as �the purest in the world.� The remark triggered an uproar, with students accusing him of justifying violence.

Zorea stressed that his lecture was unrelated to the war and defended the IDF as acting �professionally and with restraint.� When activists shouted �Free Palestine,� he replied, �I want Palestine free as well�free of Hamas.�

Within hours, Polytechnic Rector Stefano Cornietti suspended Zorea, declaring, �As soon as I heard these unacceptable statements, I immediately ended the cooperation with the lecturer. The Polytechnic has always condemned all violence in this war and the ongoing slaughter of civilians in Gaza.�

The incidents follow a politically tainted decision by faculty at the University of Florence to delay the start of the academic year in solidarity with Palestinians and in protest of �Israeli genocide.� Several Jewish faculty members expressed grave concerns about the move.

Weeks earlier, a professor at the University of Palermo caused a furor after urging his followers on Facebook to �unfriend all Jews you know�even the good ones, because they are the worst, collaborators.�

(YWN Israel Desk�Jerusalem)