Thousands of people protested in the Swedish city of Malmo against Israel’s participation in the Eurovision Song Contest, with Israel’s war in Gaza casting a shadow over the contest’s final.
On Saturday, a large crowd of protesters gathered in the central square of the Swedish host city before marching towards the contest site, waving Palestinian flags and shouting “Eurovision united for genocide” – a variation on the official contest slogan “united for music”.
One protester told Al Jazeera that it was unfair that a country that is “committing genocide” was allowed to participate in the event, and said that protesters were upset by authorities’ confiscation of Palestinian flags and scarves.
“Here in Malmo, many people are from Palestine and many of their families are being injured [in Gaza and Palestine] and they are simply angry with the situation and the way the Swedish government and the city have handled this situation,” he said.
“So there’s a lot of frustration and a lot of anger.”
Reporting from Malmo, Al Jazeera’s Paul Rhys said protests in recent days had been relatively peaceful, but when the final began, several protesters were taken away by police.
“Some protesters kind of came in here [the Malmo arena] in secret and began to protest with Palestinian flags. They were cornered by the police and taken away one by one,” he said.
Police estimated that between 6,000 and 8,000 people joined demonstrations in Malmo on Saturday.
Meanwhile, inside the auditorium, French singer Slimane interrupted his rehearsal on Saturday to say that it was a childhood dream of his to sing for peace.
“We need to be united by music,” said Slimane, referring to the official Eurovision slogan.
The finale, the festival’s culmination of catchy songs, flashy costumes and tongue-in-cheek kitsch, begins at 19:00 GMT.
Pro-Palestinian protesters complained of double standards, as the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which organizes the contest,
banned Russia from Eurovision in 2022 following the invasion of Ukraine.
Eurovision organizers, who have always classified the annual event as apolitical, resisted calls to exclude Israel, and in March the EBU confirmed that Israeli contestant Eden Golan would take part.
Golan’s song is an adaptation of an earlier version called October Rain, which she modified after organizers deemed it too political because of its apparent allusions to the Hamas-led attack on October 7.
On Thursday, boos were heard from the crowd before, during and after his performance in the semi-finals, but there was also applause and waving Israeli flags.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also wished the Golan good luck and said it had “already won” in enduring protests that he called a “horrible wave of anti-Semitism.”
Dutch competitor disqualified
Earlier on Saturday, the competition was also shaken by the disqualification of Dutch competitor Joost Klein.
“Swedish police investigated a complaint made by a woman from the production team following an incident following her performance in Thursday night’s semi-final,” the European Broadcasting Union, which oversees the event, said in a statement.
“While the legal process takes its course, it would not be appropriate for him to continue in the dispute.”
Dutch broadcaster AVROTROS said the incident involved Klein being filmed shortly after leaving the stage “against clearly made agreements”.
According to a statement from AVROTROS, Klein repeatedly indicated that he did not want to be filmed, after which he made a “threatening movement” toward the camera but did not touch the camerawoman.
“We advocate good manners – let there be no misunderstandings about this – but in our opinion an exclusion order is not proportionate to this incident,” AVROTROS said.
Klein had already sparked controversy at Thursday’s press conference when he repeatedly covered his face with a Dutch flag, apparently signifying that he did not agree with being placed alongside Israeli competitor Golan.
This story originally appeared on Aljazeera.com read the full story
