USB participates in the mobilization organized together with BDS and other organizations in solidarity with the Palestinian people to say, all together: in Sanremo 2026 we want different music!
Below is the joint statement
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The Sanremo Festival is not just a singing competition, but represents one of the most important Italian media events which, in addition to significantly influencing the national music market, also represents Italy’s competitor in the Eurovision Song Contest, an event which attracts millions of spectators every year.
The messages conveyed by these two events exert a very significant influence on public opinion, as demonstrated by last year’s edition, when the competing singer Expensive was heavily censored through a statement from the then Director General Gianpaolo Rossi read live by the presenter of Domenica In, for having expressed solidarity with the Palestinian people who were victims of an ongoing genocide.
Also this year, following Levante’s recent statement, which stated that in the event of victory at the Sanremo Festival it would not participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 as a sign of protest against the presence of Israel in the competition, Rai announced through its own press release that it wanted to start a preventive check on the availability of the competing artists, in order to obtain an overall picture of their intentions in advance. The objective, as stated by Claudio Fasulo, deputy director of Rai’s Prime Time Entertainment Directorate, is to make the decision “binding so as not to waste time”.
This censorious attitude is unacceptable. It is clear that indicating in advance one’s intention to participate or not in Eurovision, for ethical and moral reasons, can be a serious interference in the mechanisms for evaluating artists during the Festival and subjects competitors to real blackmail.
As artists, artisans and entertainment workers we demand that a climate of respect, transparency and independence be guaranteed, and that any form of undue pressure immediately cease.
We appeal to all city, social and political realities to strongly express our opposition to this RAI governance and we launch a national mobilization that will keep the spotlight on Palestine during the week of the Sanremo Festival.
We claim, as citizens, the right to free expression, also and above all in contexts of public performance, where the performative act is by its nature crossed and informed by political thought, respecting the democratic and pluralist values that Rai and the Festival itself should guarantee.
We reiterate our firm opposition to the operation art-washing by the Government of Israel through participation in the Eurovision Song Contest, and we contest the support of this move by the Government and RAI.
