On June 19, we protested the Fourth Conference on Cyber Warfare, the second such conference hosted by the University of Rome "La Sapienza". The conference (www.infowar.it) was organized by research centers at "La Sapienza" as well as the University of Florence, together with private partners including Vitrociset, Finmeccanica (Italy’s top arms manufacturer) and Maglan (an Israeli defense and information company, leader in the field of cyber warfare and initiator and financer of the conference).
The aims of these conferences are to strengthen cooperation between universities, government and weapons producers in order to develop the field of cyber weapons, which has become crucial in global conflicts.
From the early morning, we made ourselves heard with lively protests in front of the rector’s office, "shelling" the conference with recordings of bombings, under the watchful eyes of numerous police agents guarding and defending the building.
Throughout the day we informed students about what was happening in the university’s main hall, given that such initiatives tend to pass in silence, and contested anyone intending to spend a quiet day discussing the latest innovations in the field of cyber weapons and global conflicts.
The June 19 conference is just one of the many examples of the effects of years of university reforms, and illustrates ever more clearly the role of universities: to train technicians obedient to those who bloody their hands in the name of profit. The conference organizers are in fact protagonists in the profiling, control and elimination of the Palestinian people, who deserve our solidarity.
The consolidation of relations between Western universities and Israeli academic institutions and companies is part of an insidious strategy, one which the academic community and student population cannot ignore. We therefore believe it is essential to continue to highlight the collaboration between Italian universities, the state of Israel and warmongering companies, because from indolence people die, and those who take no position are complicit.
They come to our universities, in tatters, to talk about security: security that concerns only those who sell it, corporations, government institutions, law enforcement, and which provides control and repression for those who rebel against the state of things. We therefore also express our solidarity with the student occupied and run Ex-CUEM of the University of Milan, hit today by house arrests.
#STANDUP4EXCUEM
WAR OUT OF THE UNIVERSITY!
POLICE OUT OF THE UNIVERSITY!