Thousands of people demonstrated in the Swedish city of Malmö against Israel’s participation in the Eurovision song contest, with Israel’s war on Gaza casting a shadow over the final of the glitzy contest.
On Saturday, a large crowd of protesters gathered in the central square of the Swedish host city before marching towards the contest venue, waving Palestinian flags and shouting “Eurovision united by genocide” – a variation of the official slogan of the “united by music” competition.
One protester told Tel Aviv Tribune it was unfair that a country that was “committing genocide” was allowed to participate in the event, and he said demonstrators were unhappy with the confiscation of Palestinian flags and scarves by authorities.
“Here in Malmö, a lot of people come from Palestine and a lot of their families are hurt (in Gaza and Palestine) and they are just angry at the situation and at the way the Swedish government and the city have handled this situation” , did he declare.
“So there’s a lot of frustration and a lot of anger. »
Reporting from Malmö, Tel Aviv Tribune’s Paul Rhys said protests in recent days have been relatively peaceful, but as the final began several protesters were taken away by police.
“Many protesters entered here (the Malmö arena) secretly and started protesting with Palestinian flags. They were locked up by the police and taken away one by one,” he said.
Police estimated that between 6,000 and 8,000 people joined protests in Malmö on Saturday.
Meanwhile, inside the auditorium, French singer Slimane interrupted his rehearsals on Saturday to say it was a childhood dream of his to sing for peace.
“We must be united by music,” Slimane said, referring to the official Eurovision slogan.
The finale, the climax of the festival of catchy songs, garish costumes and tongue-in-cheek kitsch, begins at 7:00 p.m. GMT.
Pro-Palestinian protesters have complained of double standards as the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which organizes the competition,
has banned Russia from Eurovision in 2022 following its invasion of Ukraine.
Eurovision organizers, who have always characterized the annual event as non-political, have resisted calls to exclude Israel, and in March the EBU confirmed that Israeli candidate Eden Golan would take part.
Golan’s song is an adaptation of an earlier version called October Rain, which she changed after organizers deemed it too political due to its apparent allusions to the Hamas-led attack on October 7.
On Thursday, boos were heard from the crowd before, during and after his semifinal performance, but there was also applause and waving Israeli flags.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also wished the Golan well and said it had “already won” by enduring protests that he called “a horrible wave of anti-Semitism.”
Dutch competitor disqualified
Earlier on Saturday, the competition was also rocked by the disqualification of Dutch candidate Joost Klein.
“Swedish police have investigated a complaint made by a female member of the production team after an incident during her performance in Thursday night’s semi-final,” said the European Broadcasting Union, which oversees the event, in a press release.
“While the legal process continues, it would not be appropriate for him to continue competing.”
Dutch TV station AVROTROS said the incident involved Klein being filmed directly after leaving the stage “against clearly established agreements”.
According to an AVROTROS press release, Klein then indicated several times that he did not want to be filmed, after which he made a “threatening movement” towards the camera, but did not touch the camerawoman.
“We stand for good manners – let there be no misunderstanding about this – but in our opinion, an exclusion measure is not proportional to this incident,” AVROTROS said.
Klein had already sparked controversy during Thursday’s press conference when he repeatedly covered his face with a Dutch flag, apparently meaning he did not agree with being placed next to the Israeli competitor, Golan.
