From Gaza to Padua, the words of Rector Mapelli
04.10.2025
“We are living through days in which Italian squares, including Padua, are bearing witness to a profound and extraordinary sensitivity and mobilization regarding the genocide being perpetrated in Gaza,” said Daniela Mapelli, Rector of the University of Padua. “The University of Padua, in line with its history and its founding values of freedom and peace, has repeatedly raised its voice, in its highest and most unified democratic form, through motions approved by the Academic Senate, and is working concretely to support the people of Gaza.
Since this summer, in fact, we have been hosting two Palestinian families; on Thursday night we were able to welcome a student and a researcher arriving from Gaza; and despite the complexity of the situation, we remain hopeful that we will be able to host more students in the coming days.
I want to thank all the institutions and individuals who worked towards the opening of the humanitarian-academic corridor — CRUI, MAECI, the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and of University and Research, and in particular our Minister Anna Maria Bernini, who played a decisive role in enabling the arrival of these students. I hope that attention to what is happening in Gaza will remain strong, and that these acts of concrete solidarity and collaboration will reaffirm the University’s commitment, which goes beyond the walls of the classroom and reminds us how culture and science can serve as extraordinary drivers of human and civil growth.”
