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Fighting fascist repression: Free Askatasuna! (article published in Effimera, ITA)

On Thursday, 18th December, the police evicted and closed down one of the most important social centres in Italy: the Askatasuna, in Turin, where I live. Aska was (and still is!) an important infrastructure for the city and for many of us. I took part in public debates there, listened to concerts, did my own music, and many have used the space to think, to organise, and to provide public services to the neighbourhood of Vanchiglia and to the city.

I took part in the demonstrations that followed on the night of the eviction, as well as on Saturday, the 20th. The police attacked us with teargas and water cannons, militarising the entire city centre for two full days. We are going to continue our fight. It is not just about Aska, which has been closed following the upsurge of struggles against the military, and for Palestine, in Turin in the last two years. It is about our collective capacity to stay together, alive and in a meaningful way.

I wrote an article in the magazine Effimera discussing the events and the hate (from the right, the centre and the left) fueling the eviction of a place like Aska.

The piece can be read, in Italian, here: https://effimera.org/askatasuna-e-il-controllo-violento-della-violenza-di-michele-lancione/

On my Instagram profile, I’ve also documented the violence of the Police.

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Against the law decree equiparating any critique to Israel with anti-semitism, an appeal

In Italy, there are several bills that aim to introduce the IHRA’s operational definition of antisemitism, i.e. the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance.

Although they refer to the fight against antisemitism, these bills trivialise it and equate it with the expression of critical opinions towards the Israeli state’s occupation policies. These policies have been recognised as illegal and racially discriminatory by the Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice in July 2024, and as forms of apartheid by the most important Palestinian, Israeli and international organisations working in defence of human rights. As demonstrated by these same organisations and numerous United Nations reports, the policies implemented by the State of Israel have accelerated over the last two years and have resulted in forms of genocidal violence against the Palestinian people.

With a number of academics around the peninsula, today we have started an appeal to block these bills. They have nothing to do with anti-semitism, and they are just there to undermine our capacity to contest the genocidal project of the State of Israel in Palestine.

If you work in Italian academia – or perhaps you are visiting – consider signing our petition: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1YyUjMyjVoZc5aZ23fUyoCKVLsZswkCgrMO2F83eihV8/edit?tab=t.0

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Free Mohamed Shahin!

We, the lecturers and researchers of Italian universities, express our deep concern about the situation of Mohamed Shahin, imam of the Omar Ibn al-Khattab mosque in Turin, currently detained at the Caltanissetta Repatriation Centre following an expulsion order issued by the Ministry of the Interior.

Mohamed’s offence? Speaking for Palestine. Sign our petition: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScS7NW8AOBCa-uCPe1XnsNknvE5qa_jMuRmmonfPAVEDtkprA/viewform — which I am providing with an automated English translation below.

APPEAL BY UNIVERSITY LECTURERS AND RESEARCHERS FOR THE RELEASE OF MOHAMED SHAHIN

We, the lecturers and researchers of Italian universities, express our deep concern about the situation of Mohamed Shahin, imam of the Omar Ibn al-Khattab mosque in Turin, currently detained at the Caltanissetta Repatriation Centre following an expulsion order issued by the Ministry of the Interior.

The revocation of his long-term residence permit and the consequent risk of forced repatriation to Egypt raise serious questions about respect for fundamental human rights. It is well known that, prior to his arrival in Italy more than twenty years ago, Mr Shahin was considered a political opponent of the Egyptian regime. The prospect of his forced return to Egypt would expose him to a real risk of persecution, arbitrary detention and inhuman treatment.

The reasons behind the revocation of his permit appear to be linked to his public statements on the situation in Gaza and his critical stance on the actions of the Israeli government. If this is the case, we would be faced with an extremely worrying precedent: the use of administrative instruments to target the exercise of freedom of opinion, which is protected by Article 21 of the Constitution and by international conventions to which Italy is a party.

Similar cases in recent years confirm a trend towards sanctioning foreign citizens for their political opinions or expressions of solidarity with the Palestinian people. The use of CPRs in this context risks becoming a form of indirect repression of dissent and arbitrary limitation of democratic space.

It is important to remember that Mohamed Shahin has long been involved in interfaith dialogue and social cooperation. Numerous religious communities, civic associations and interfaith groups have publicly attested to his contribution to building peaceful relations between different components of the city of Turin, highlighting the collaborative and open nature of his work. In particular, the Turin Christian-Islamic Dialogue Network, in a statement addressed to the President of the Republic and the Minister of the Interior, highlighted Mohamed Shahin’s central role in interfaith dialogue and community life in the San Salvario neighbourhood.

In light of all this, we believe that immediate action is essential to ensure full compliance with constitutional principles, the Geneva Convention and Italy’s international obligations regarding human rights and protection against refoulement.

We therefore call for:

The immediate release of Mohamed Shahin and the suspension of the execution of the expulsion decree.

The review of the decision to revoke Mohamed Shahin’s residence permit, ensuring an impartial examination in accordance with national and international legal standards.

The protection of the right to freedom of expression in academic, cultural and religious contexts, regardless of the origin or faith of the individuals involved.

The closure of CPRs, places where human rights are violated.

As lecturers and researchers, we recognise the civic responsibility of the university to defend democratic values, promote pluralism and oppose all forms of discrimination or unlawful restriction of fundamental freedoms.

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Two anti-militarist events with students in Venice and Turin

In preparation for the national strike on the 28th of November against the militarization of Italian society and for Palestine, this week I will contribute to two student-led self-training gatherings. In both, we will discuss the involvement of our Universities in the military-industrial complex and their relations to the ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people.

Today, 26th November, at 5 p.m. I will join online the collective @liberisapericritici in Venice — with Mjriam Abu Samra. Info, here.

Tomorrow, 27th November, at 4 p.m. I will join my friends and comrades of the Collettivo Autorganizzato Universitario in Turin, for a session that will see the online participation from CAU collectives in Naples, Padova and more. Info, here.

This is all in preparation of the national strike of the 28th – info, here.

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Boycott Spotify

Goodbye, Spotify! Not only are your practices with independent artists criminal, but your CEO also has a billion-pound investment in Helsing, a German company specialising in drones and the development of artificial intelligence systems for military use. Now you’ve also posted recruitment ads for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and who knows what else. Music is art, lad, not commerce and certainly not military!

For listening, I’m going with Tidal, trying Qobuz, and continuing with SoundCloud. For the distribution of my music, including the new album coming out in December, you can find Vogue on any other platform. It’s a simple, easy gesture. Necessary.

#boycottspotify

Image take from here.

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Against the intromission of the far-right in our Universities – interview with il Manifesto

Today, the journalist Luciana Cimino wrote a piece for Il Manifesto on how the Italian government is strengthening control over universities. The problems are twofold. On the one hand, there is the proposal of inserting someone appointed by the Government into the board of directors of every Italian academic institution. On the other hand, the government will directly appoint the director of the Agency for the Evaluation of the University and Research System.

These are troubling developments, which are related to the willingness of the far-right Meloni’s government to control academic life and freedom of expression at its roots. Such a willingness takes the form both of direct intervention into the governance of the University sector, but also through the violent repression by police forces of students organising. These include, as I have indicated previously, practices of intimidation and espionage directed against student-led movements (recently, the Secretary General of the Ministry of Education has invited university rectors to keep student protests “under control”).

In my interview with Luciana, whom I thank for her investigative work, I stated:

The measures concerning ANVUR and university governance are part of a reform process that began under Berlusconi’s right-wing government, but there has been a change of pace under Meloni’s government, explained Michele Lancione, professor at the Polytechnic University of Turin, to Il Manifesto. “They are no longer content with the corporatisation of universities, but want to give research an ideological slant and a political mandate”. “There is certainly a relentless drive,” Lancione notes, “beyond the desire to put universities at the service of the country’s military-industrial complex, there is also a desire to gag them. We must mobilise with students to defend the university space as a public good.”

Il Manifesto, 17 October 2025
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Striking for Palestine.

The Unione Sindacale di Base (USB, of which I am a member) called for a general strike against the genocide of the Palestinian people at the hands of Israel, on Monday, 22nd September, all around Italy.

Hundreds of thousands of people marched in all around the countries. In Turin, where I live, we were at least 20,000 — likely more. From the morning till the evening. Under the slogan and program, blocchiamo tutto! (let’s block everything), people of all ages and social extractions marched for hours against the colonial genocidal project of Israel in Palestine. You can view images of rallies across the country on Dinamo Press, and here as well.

For many of us, who have been organising for Palestine and against the militarization of our lives for years, Monday was an important moment of confirmation and renewed expansion of our struggle. For many young people, it was their first-ever rally. It was an empowering day — one that also called for a denunciation of the Italian government’s responsibilities and its collusion with the Israeli project. Avanti!

[picture above: Turin, Wired]

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Nothing stands so the West can

We will strike; we have been striking. We will occupy; as we did before.

To boycott everything Israel is the only way forward.

But the coloniality of Western thinking and inhabiting is responsible for the genocide of the Palestinian people and Palestinian land, and history.

To fight that, we need to get closer to our own homes. Those that have not been bombarded but require the constitution and bombardment of the other to stand.

For nothing stands in Gaza anymore, so that our rotten edifices can continue to stand.

[Photo: Ebrahim Hajjaj/Reuters]

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The Politechnic of Turin votes against suspending relations with Israel – SHAME!

The Polytechnic University where I work has missed another opportunity to do the right thing.

On July 15, 2025, the Academic Senate voted by a majority against the Motion for Gaza presented by a group of senators. The Motion called for two simple actions, expressing “deep outrage and condemnation of the ongoing massacre of the civilian population in Gaza”:

  • 1. Public and duly motivated refusal to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation (MAECI) to participate in calls for collaboration between Italy and Israel;
  • 2. Public communication addressed to Israeli universities, stating our University’s intention to suspend existing international agreements and not to sign new ones.

The negative Senate’s vote on these simple points is an expression of the technocratic, corporate, and essentially patriarchal approach with which the Polytechnic University of Turin operates.

Now, some colleagues are starting to say no. A petition has been started to express our individual ‘not in my name’ stance regarding this latest decision by the academic senate.

For me, it is important to emphasize that this ‘not in my name’ cannot be limited to the latest vote by the Senate, but must be traced back to the epistemic and material structures underpinning the Polytechnic University of Turin.

In my fourth month of work at this university, in 2021, very few of us said ‘not in my name’ regarding the agreement with Frontex. An agency working with the so-called Libyan coast guard and engaged in extensive pushback, ultimately killing asylum seekers at the border. Even then, the senate gave its best, with two votes that were as problematic as the one on Gaza today (here, or even earlier, here).

In 2023, before October 7, it was—for students and for very few of us—a ‘not in my name’ in relation to the direct collaboration agreements that bind this Polytechnic to producers of weapons and death such as Leonardo.

Then came years of encampments. Of occupations. Of demonstrations, assemblies, and public debates in every media outlet, where few of us continued to say NO and propose concrete alternatives to a certain kind of service-based research.

Now, in July 2025, there are a few more of us saying NO. Really good! But at this junction, all need to remember that saying ‘not in my name’ today cannot stop at a simple nominal dissociation related to the latest nefarious vote in the Senate. For the historical, material, and political reasons that link the genocide of the Palestinian people to the death industries some of us have been fighting for years, our collective NO today must also be a NO to those industries. A NO that changes the political and economic structure of the Politecnico. Otherwise, it will be nothing more than a mid-summer fling. A momentary lifting of our eyes from the Excel spreadsheet, rather than an honest collective raising of our heads.

We need to address the political economy that structures the academic-military-industrial complex in Italy and beyond. That is a form of radical change that is not required by history or that must be done for posterity, but rather must come from a simple respect for all human life here and now.