Italian Professor Sparks Outrage - Urges to “Unfriend all Jews”
Law professor Luca Nivarra of Palermo University drew condemnation after posting that Jews “lie to hide Gaza’s horrors” and should be socially isolated.
Twitter
Italy was rocked this week by a storm of condemnation after Professor Luca Nivarra, a law lecturer at Palermo University, posted a Facebook message urging followers to cut ties with Jews, “even the so-called ‘good ones.’”
In his viral post, Nivarra wrote that while he had few tools to oppose what he called a “Palestinian Shoah,” one symbolic act could be to remove Jews from social circles online. “Those ‘good Jews’ are lying,” he claimed, “and with their lies they help conceal the atrocities.”
Nivarra went further, likening Israeli society to “moral rot” and comparing the IDF to Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann.
Backlash from academia and government
The dean of Palermo University, Massimo Midiri, quickly distanced the institution from the remarks, calling them “a dangerous personal initiative” that contradicts the university’s values. He urged dialogue and critical engagement instead of “isolation or ideological censorship.”
Italy’s Minister for Universities and Research, Anna Maria Bernini, condemned the comments as “deeply offensive not only to the Jewish people but to anyone who values dignity and civic decency.”
A chilling atmosphere
Jewish communities in Italy have voiced growing concern over an escalation of hostile rhetoric, particularly since the Gaza war. From politics to culture, criticism of Israel has increasingly blurred into antisemitism.