A little over a month ago, on Yom HaAtzmaut (Israeli Independence Day), I glanced at my phone on my way home. I hadn’t planned on being in Israel for Israel’s 78th birthday. I should have been back in Italy after the Passover holiday, working on my PhD, but things had taken an unexpected and disturbing turn.

A notification went off. An Italian friend had just shared the latest Instagram post from a popular student union group at my university.

I let out yet another long, nervous sigh — one of many since starting my PhD at the University of Napoli “L’Orientale” in December 2024.

The first slide of the post read in all caps: “DOTTORANDO SÌ, MA IN GENOCIDIO”. That is: “A PhD candidate, yes, but in Genocide”.

Under the headline: my full name, photo and a screenshot of the header from my Times of Israel blog, where I wrote two pieces about my personal experience and the intense anti-Israeli sentiment in Italy.

The student union group’s post (which to date is still up with a thousand likes and hundreds of shares and reposts) goes on for five slides about me “transforming my academic path into a stage for propaganda against the Palestine issue”, not meeting the academic standards and requirements of my program (which is totally and verifiably false) and for, according to them, daring to criticize our institution which is known for its “pluralism”.

My fellow students— anonymously, of course— also attack my self “victimisation” for speaking openly about anti-semitism in Italy. Finally, they wonder: “The question we ask ourselves is this: are we dealing with a researcher or a PhD in Genocide?”.

The caption on the post concludes with: “Standing with the Palestinian people, until victory!”. Which........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)