The slogan for 2024 is “United By Music”. Some fans of the event believe that it is hypocrisy on the part of the originators of the slogan. Israel, which has been attacking Palestinians for months, was not removed from the event. Russia was excluded from Eurovision two years ago for waging open war and murdering civilians. Before Yugoslavia broke up, it was excluded from Eurovision under UN sanctions imposed due to the wars in the Balkans. More than 35,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel’s war on Palestine began last October. Israel’s attack is in retaliation for the Hamas terrorist attack that killed 1,139 people.
Eurovision 2024. More protests against Israel’s participation in the final
Although the Eurovision organizers stressed that it was an apolitical contest and banned carrying Palestinian flags into the arena in Malmo, the discussion about the validity of Israel’s participation in the competition does not end there. On May 11, during Israel’s performance, Eden Golan’s performance was drowned out by whistles and boos. In Israel’s place, the Netherlands and Joost Klein were to perform with the song “Europapa”. Until the very finale, it was not known whether Joost would go on stage at all – on Friday evening, the EBU stated that the singer had committed verbal violence against one of the concert staff. On Saturday, he was finally disqualified from the competition, so Israel appeared on the schedule instead.
Opposition to Israel’s participation in Eurovision 2024 can also be seen on the streets of Malmo. Thousands of protesters left their homes with Palestinian flags before the second semi-final of the competition. The situation repeated itself on the day of the final. Demonstrators appeared in front of the Eden Golan hotel, which represents Israel with the song “Hurricane”.
Greta Thunberg at the protests in Malmo. She was dragged away by the Swedish police
Among them you could see 21-year-old activist Greta Thunberg. Photos from the protest show Swedish police pulling a well-known environmental activist away from the rest of the demonstrators in Malmo. Thunberg spoke about Israel at Eurovision before the second semi-finals. – Eurovision is not apolitical. If you kick out Russia for attacking Ukraine and then ban Palestinian flags [na widowni], then what is it if not politics? – said the 21-year-old.
As reported by The Sun, the Israeli security agency advised the Israeli representative to stay in the hotel. The artist was escorted to the Malmo Arena by about 100 Swedish policemen.
Source: Gazeta
Bruce is a talented author and journalist with a passion for entertainment . He currently works as a writer at the 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the industry.
