The rector of Unicamp, professor Antonio José de Almeida Meirelles, condemned, this Tuesday (4), the demonstration that prevented the holding of the Israeli Universities Fair, an initiative authorized by the Executive Board of International Relations (Deri). The event would take place on the afternoon of last Monday (3), at the Comvest (Permanent Commission for Entrance Examinations) building, on the Barão Geraldo campus.
The entry of the public and the exit of the organizers were prevented by about 60 pro-Palestinian protesters, who surrounded the place for four hours. Due to the act, Deri and Comvest employees were also unable to enter, respectively, the fair and their workplace.
According to reports from members of the Campus Experience Service (SVC), three people were physically attacked during the demonstration – two SVC agents and one person from the organization of the event. The dean – who this Tuesday (4) in the morning participated in a meeting of Cepe (Chamber of Education, Research and Extension) – had personal data disclosed on social networks and even suffered veiled threats.
Meirelles said that demonstrations against democratic values at the University are unacceptable. “It is not possible for us to live with this”, said the dean at the Cepe session, which brings together members of the University Council (Consu), including pro-rectors, directors of units and professors. “Violence is not just physical; it is also a form of violence that prevents the debate of ideas. And this is an extremely negative path. If we accept this, there will be no way out for an institution like ours”, pondered the dean.
In Meirelles' opinion, the reaction to anti-democratic and violent demonstrations must be immediate, under penalty of the institution becoming hostage to this type of occurrence. “It is not possible to believe that noble ends justify procedures of this type, which prevent the free discussion of ideas”, he argued.
For the leader, people who encourage this type of behavior do not want the debate of ideas in democratic spaces. “Those who play in the shadows, in the gray zone, do not respect the rights of those who disagree. Our institutional behavior must be absolutely republican and democratic, making room for the free discussion of ideas”, he reinforced.
For the dean, it is necessary to establish a border, a limit for what is considered acceptable in protests and acts. In Meirelles' opinion, the people who participated in the violent demonstration do not want public debate. “They [demonstrators] want to act in the background, they want to act through pressure, preventing the manifestation of a different opinion. They want to take these discussions behind the scenes, as hints via social media suggest. People committed to democracy, to human rights, have only one path: to hold this type of discussion in public spaces, where ideas are debated. Doing this based on the threat is a very dangerous thing for anyone who actually defends democracy,” he warned.
“We live in a world dominated by fake news”, continued the dean. “This is the underground world, we cannot accept it. If we are, in fact, committed to democracy, it is in the public space that we have to discuss and not in a space that forbids the contradictory. If we let that happen, we have no future as an institution”, he concluded.
Unicamp's general coordinator, professor Maria Luiza Moretti, expressed concern about the University's vulnerability. “It was with immense sadness that I followed the acts of yesterday [3]. What we saw here was an aggressive, anti-democratic demonstration.”
President
The directors of teaching and research units at the University wrote an official note of repudiation of intolerance and in solidarity with the dean. In the note, the leaders recall the right to demonstrate guaranteed by the Constitution, but emphasize that the limits of fundamental rights must be obeyed, respecting people's physical and moral integrity. (Read the full below).
Professor Petrilson Alan Pinheiro da Silva, director of the Institute of Language Studies (IEL), who read the note, recalled that sociologist and professor Darci Ribeiro “said that every act of radicalism is, above all, an act of ignorance” .
Professor Flávio Aguiar, director of the Piracicaba School of Dentistry (FOP), said that the entire Unicamp was attacked. “It was an exclusively academic activity. It was an aggression not only against the dean, but against the entire University.”
pro-rectors
The Dean of Research at Unicamp, Professor João Romano, said he was “outraged” with the aggression and sympathized with the Dean. “This country and Unicamp cannot tolerate any more demonstrations of violence,” said Romano.
This is also understood by the dean of Culture and Extension, professor Fernando Coelho, “We cannot be in line with those who take the discussion in ways that are not democratic”,
The Dean of Graduate Studies, Professor Rachel Meneguello, in turn, issued a warning. “These are very difficult times for us to deal with political issues”, she noted.
“I don't know who the organizers are, or how the event took place, but that puts us in front of two scenarios. First is internal care, which has to do with our dynamics. We cannot accept that demonstrations of any nature, on any subject, be conducted in the way they occurred,” she said.
“Here is the place for dialogue, here there are instances, there is the contradictory. The space for civil disobedience exists and we need to know how to treat it properly.” The pro-rector considers the role of the Rectory in this equation. She also points out that this space must be taken with caution so as not to make the same mistakes as in recent years, which resulted in disrespect and violent demonstrations.
The second scenario, pointed out the Dean of Graduate Studies, is the fact that the organizers of the act have brought a historic geopolitical issue to Unicamp, in a way that she considered wrong. For her, this subject should be discussed at the University, but always from the point of view of knowledge.
The pro-rectors Fernando Sarti (University Development) and Ivan Toro (Graduation) also spoke out against the anti-democratic acts and are in solidarity with the dean.
Read the full note signed by the directors of Unicamp's Teaching and Research Unit
“We, directors and directors of Unicamp's Teaching and Research Units, hereby declare our repudiation and indignation in relation to the acts of violence that occurred in a demonstration on April 03, 2023, contrary to the holding of the Universities Fair Israelis at Unicamp, as well as in relation to actions of virtual intimidation to the highest authority of this University. The right to demonstrate is free and guaranteed in the Federal Constitution in its Art. 5º , however, such a right must also obey the limits of fundamental rights, respecting the physical and moral integrity of people, which are fundamental in a Democratic State of Law. In this sense, we would also like to express our solidarity with the Rectory of Unicamp, in the person of Rector Antonio José de Almeida Meirelles.
Petrilson Alan Pinheiro da Silva – Director of the Language Studies Institute
Leandro Villas – Director of the Computing Institute
Mônica Alonso Cotta – Director of the Gleb Wataghin Institute of Physics
José Alexandre Diniz – Director of the Faculty of Electrical and Computer Engineering
Flávio Henrique Baggio Aguiar – Director of the Dental School of Piracicaba
Ricardo Miranda Martins – Director of the Institute of Mathematics, Statistics and Scientific Computing
André Martins Biancarelli – Director of the Institute of Economics
Cláudio Saddy Rodrigues Coy – Director of the Faculty of Medical Sciences
Dirceu Noriler – Director of the Faculty of Chemical Engineering
Márcio Cataia – Director of the Institute of Geosciences
Cláudio Francisco Tormena – Director of the Institute of Chemistry
Rodrigo Ramos Catharino – Director of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences
Marcio Alberto Torsoni – Director of the Faculty of Applied Sciences
Paulo José Rocha de Albuquerque – Director of the Faculty of Civil Engineering, Architecture and Urbanism
Arnaldo Walter – Director of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering
Anderson S. Sant'Ana – Director of the Faculty of Food Engineering
Luiz Seabra Junior – Director of the Technical College of Campinas
Hernandes Faustino de Carvalho – Director of the Institute of Biology
Roberta Cunha Matheus Rodrigues – Director of the Faculty of Nursing
Andréia Galvão – Director of the Institute of Philosophy and Human Sciences
Renê Trentin – Director of the Faculty of Education
Paulo Ronqui – Direct from the Institute of Arts
Originally published on Unicamp website
