MAY 1 – Hava Nagila as anti-Israel song, Italian Jewry protests

“Free Palestine”. At the May 1 concert in Rome, a large music event traditionally organized by the country’s unions, the slogan was unexpectedly sung on the notes of Hava Nagila, a popular Jewish song composed over a century ago, when the future state of Israel was still in the making. Performed by Patagarri, a Milanese jazz-pop band that participated in the X Factor in 2024, the song sparked controversy and strong condemnation from the Jewish world.

“A Jewish song that celebrates the joy of being together has been deliberately distorted to create divisions and generate antisemitic hatred, instead of committing to coexistence, as the Italian Jewish communities do on every occasion,” said the president of the Union of Italian Jewish Communities, Noemi Di Segni, expressing her dismay at the lack of supervision by RAI, the Italian public broadcaster that aired the concert. Once again, Di Segni claimed, “any reference to the reality of the Middle East context and the suffocating presence of Hamas was avoided in order to applaud the liberation of Palestine (not the Palestinians).”

The song, which the band said was meant to support “people less fortunate than us,” was also condemned by the president of Rome’s Jewish community, Victor Fadlun. “Appropriating our culture and our most dear melodies in order to call for our destruction is disgraceful,” he said. “There is something sinister and macabre about Patagarri’s performance. Our harshest haters in history have been those who have exploited our culture and mentality.” For Fadlun, “hearing one of our songs on the May Day stage, on live television, culminating in the chant ‘Free Palestine,’ the slogan used in demonstrations calling for the abolition of Israel, is an insult and unacceptable violence.”