Overview

• At the Cabaret Amore Mio festival in Grottammare on August 1, Marco Santin accepted the Arancia d’Oro and delivered an appeal condemning the Gaza war as a massacre.
• Santin urged donations to local associations, daily protests on social media, and pressure on governments, while criticizing Italy’s stance and implicitly referencing Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni.
• During the speech he said “the 7 October and Hamas are all cazzate” and suggested Israelis want to seize land, remarks that minimized the 2023 attacks and set off tensions in the room.
• An audience member shouted objections, prompting a heated exchange in which Santin told him to study the history of Palestinian suffering and offered to refund his ticket as the host tried to calm the scene.
• The full ceremony video was later uploaded to YouTube, prompting online controversy and public comments that included criticism from politician Luigi Marattin and support from journalist Andrea Scanzi.