Reporter's Notebook: Pro-Palestinian groups attacked an Israeli architect, he chose to create more

In the Lake Como area, Yehiel Tsuberi is greeted less like a controversial architect than a familiar local figure. Residents stop him in the streets, embrace him, invite him for wine and speak with him in Italian.

That warmth contrasts with a campaign that followed him through Italy because of his Israeli and Jewish identity. What began with an article in Corriere della Sera about environmental aspects of one of his projects developed into protests, flyers, online videos and hate messages from pro-Palestinian groups.

Tsuberi knows Italy closely. He completed bachelor’s and master’s degrees in architecture at Politecnico di Milano, worked with leading firms and obtained Italian citizenship. His wife and three children were in Italy temporarily after the October 7 attack closed airspace during their return from New Zealand. Four days later, the family flew back to Israel.

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These are my friends. This is how I live, and this is how I work.

Three consecutive articles appeared in the Italian press as the campaign intensified. The local mayor and many residents publicly defended Tsuberi, expressing dismay that an individual had been targeted for boycott. Tsuberi said he would not leave or devote his energy to the hatred directed at him.

“I will not run away, and I will not waste energy on wars of hatred,” he said. His response, as presented in the piece, is to continue creating while maintaining the relationships he has built around Lake Como.

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I will not run away, and I will not waste energy on wars of hatred.