Imam in occupied Turin university, condemns Bernini and rector
Controversy in Turin over the prayers and fiery sermon delivered last Friday by the imam (head of the Islamic Community) Brahim Baya at Palazzo Nuovo, one of the university buildings occupied for about ten days as part of the ‘student intifada’. The Turin university announced in a press release that the Minister of University and Research, Anna Maria Bernini telephoned the rector, Stefano Geuna, who explained that “the incident occurred in a situation of occupation by students” and “therefore under the full responsibility of the occupants”.
“For its part”, adds the note, “the University of Turin firmly reiterates the secular character of the university institution. The rector and the minister therefore shared a feeling of full condemnation of the incident”. The imam’s prayer, documented in a video entitled ‘What Palestine teaches us’, took place in the entrance hall of the building in front of around thirty students and faithful, several of whom were of foreign origin. Several professors condemned the episode as a “hymn to Jihad”.
The imam, very active in ‘Turin for Gaza’ and responsible for the Taiba mosque in Via Chivasso, spoke in his sermon of the “new Zionists who have arrived to take” Palestine and “to settle in a more vulgar, more criminal that can exist” and applauds “Jihad in the highest sense of this term, as an effort to defend one’s rights, as an effort to defend human life, as an effort to defend true peace”.
WATCH THE IMAM’S SPEECH HERE
Islamic prayer and the imam’s sermon praising the Palestinian jihad in the headquarters of the humanities faculties of the University of Turin, during the occupation. Is everything normal? pic.twitter.com/vR7ICPosFR
— Marco Fattorini (@MarcoFattorini) May 23, 2024
THE RECTOR OF TURIN, “IMAM IN THE FACULTY? THOSE WHO OCCUPY LET THOSE WHO WANT TO COME IN AND INTERVENE”
Did you know about the religious meeting? ”Obviously not. The occupier takes control of the spaces and organizes the events. Unbeknownst to me and the rest of the staff. It works like this. This is quite a tough job.” Stefano Geuna, rector of UniTo, says this in an interview with La Stampa. ”In these moments, however, those inside the building allow whoever they want to enter and intervene. The responsibility passes to them. I don’t want to wash my hands of it. Objectively I have no control. Neither me nor the whole university machine”. Naturally ”the University of Turin firmly reiterates its secular character. The rector and the minister share a feeling of full condemnation of what happened”. Next steps to manage employment? ”We wait for them to leave. When a dialogue is established there is also waiting. On some issues we remain opposed and listening does not mean taking orders”. Starting with the ”request to block agreements with Israeli universities. That has already been rejected. And we don’t accept any blackmail”.
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