“Support war in Gaza”, Academy of Fine Arts of Bologna in turmoil: stop collaboration with Tel Aviv University
A group of students and teachers is calling for the convening of an extraordinary academic council to discuss the suspension of the agreements with the Shenkar institute, where the uniforms of the soldiers at the front are designed. Cartoonist Gianluca Costantini: "Unacceptable"
BOLOGNA- “Shenkar has enlisted”. So it was written on October 12 on the homepage of the Shenkar Institute, “one of the leading Israeli and international academic institutions of fashion and engineering”. Then the images of the boys from the Fashion design faculty who “sew military equipment for the troops on the ground” (the New York Times also talked about it), the photo of the IDF soldier wearing the tactical vest made by Tel Aviv University, interviews with officials, the stories of the recruited students, the projects of the industrial design department for equipment that is used in the field (folding showers and toilets).
THE REQUEST: PUBLIC SESSION OF THE ACADEMIC COUNCIL
The students and many teachers of the Academy of Fine Arts of Bologna, linked to the Israeli institute by a collaboration agreement with the Fashion design department for Erasmus courses, don’t want to hear about it anymore. And today they are asking for the convening of an extraordinary public academic council in which the motion, presented several times, which provides for the suspension of relations with Shenkar, will be discussed. In recent months, the students have collected documentation on active involvement of Tel Aviv University in supporting the conflict, scanning the institution’s official websites and social profiles.
DUAL USE IN THE ISRAELI INSTITUTE
“In Shenkar everything is dual-use. But you cannot be neutral in the face of a genocide”, explains Agnese Mussari, a student who sits on the academic council. The motion has already been presented and rejected in the via delle Belle Arti body. The Academy “hides itself by saying that it also wants to give space to Palestinian universities, that it wants to remodulate the agreements with the Shenkar. But wewant to say enough , it is unacceptable that our University collaborates with the genocide of the Palestinian people“, the students say.
TEACHERS WHO SUPPORT THE STUDENTS: GIANLUCA COSTANTINI
The students, moreover, found the support of many teachers. Among these, the cartoonist Gianluca Costantini, an author known for his graphic journalism works and teacher of the comics course (he also created drawings for pro-Palestine students at Columbia University in New York). “We have been supporting this student movement for several months. This is because the Academy has had a relationship for several years with an institute in Tel Aviv that has a certain position on this war. It is an intellectual relationship, however this school in Tel Aviv leaves no room for dialogue, because it publishes an extremely belligerent position on its profiles, incites students to become soldiers, designs uniformsSince a dialogue between the teachers of these two schools is not possible, we ask that this relationship be interrupted, which is not even an economic relationship: it is an exchange project of teachers and students with the Erasmus programme, it is something that can at least be suspended”, explains Costantini.
“ACADEMIA SEMPRE PER I HUMAN RIGHTS”
Exchanges are currently underway, with three Israeli students in Bologna to study. “You cannot have relationships with an institution like this. I think like this, many teachers think like this, especially many students think like this“, assures the designer, who this morning participated in the meeting with the press organized by student movements to present their initiative. “We don’t have economic agreements with large financiers, but even in small things you have to show what your position is. And the position of the Academy of Fine Arts has always been in favor of human rights”, claims Costantini.
“A JUST CAUSE”
The one carried out by the students is “a just cause, because our University has relations with a University that supports the Israeli army which commits crimes against the Palestinian population. We are witnessing the destruction of the Universities in Palestine, a way to take away hopes from the Palestinian people.We will move forward and not stop at the first negative result, I am confident that we will arrive at a complete result“, adds Andrea Lelli, who teaches web design at the Academy . In the last academic council in which the issue was attempted to be addressed, six out of seven teachers voted to maintain the convention.
NOT JUST PALESTINE
“We want to rediscuss the motion for the academic boycott so that the Academy’s agreements with Shenkar are removed. It is the main point of a journey with the Israeli government, the war chain, rearmament. Many of us will be in Rome to demonstrate against the Italian government, which is increasingly present in university issues with a repressive crackdown against those who protest against collaboration with Israel“, clarifies another student, Myriam Calcagnile.
“ACCADEMIA BELLE ARTI SIA NON SI ACLICI”
“We didn’t have to do a mysterious investigation into Shenkar’s activities, it’s all in the light of day, published daily on their channels. The complete documentation will be presented to the Academic Council. Create uniforms and technical-military equipment is sufficient to clarify the role of the Israeli academic institutions The Academy cannot be an accomplice“, concludes another student, Alessio Carecci.