Some activists denounce “complicity in genocide”, while the government of Benjamin Netanyahu launched an offensive in the Gaza Strip to “annihilate” Hamas. The Islamist movement in power in the Palestinian enclave carried out unprecedented attacks on Israeli soil on October 7. More than 1,170 people died, mainly civilians, according to an AFP report based on official Israeli data. The Israeli army’s response has cost 34,904 lives so far, according to a Hamas count.
Malmö under siege in the face of the storm against Israel, in the middle of Eurovision
The demonstrators point out in particular that Russia was excluded from the competition in 2022 after the invasion of Ukraine. “While Israel is carrying out a genocide in Gaza, where 35,000 people have been killed, including 14,000 children, and Israeli forces are invading the city of Rafah, Israel is participating in the Eurovision song contest,” laments Florian Gillard of the Brussels BDS movement. .
According to Florian Gillard, several human rights organizations contacted VRT and RTBF to ask them to cancel the broadcast but the two channels refused. “Today we express our dissatisfaction with this decision,” he explains.
The organizations also contacted Mustii, the Belgian competition participant.
The demonstrators also point out that Russia was excluded from the competition in 2022 after the invasion of Ukraine. They denounce a difference in treatment and ask the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) to take the same decision due to the situation in the Middle East.
The EBU presents itself as a “non-political organisation” but activists say this is a lie. “For us, the EBU is absolutely a political organization,” assures Florian Gillard. “The exclusion of Russia in 2022 clearly shows the political role of the organization. Israel uses its participation in the festival to present itself as a democratic and open state.”
The broadcaster also decided to ban political messages and Palestinian flags during the Eurovision contest. “For us, this is an obvious form of censorship,” replies the member of the BDS movement. “Why is a state that has been openly violating human rights and committing genocide for months coming to sing in the Eurovision Song Contest, while artists and audiences are not allowed to show solidarity with the Palestinian people ?”
VRT unions call for ceasefire in Gaza
VRT unions briefly interrupted the broadcast of the start of the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest on Thursday for protest action. A message of support for the Palestinian people was broadcast on the air.
“This is industrial action. We condemn the violations of human rights by the State of Israel. Furthermore, the State of Israel is destroying freedom of the press. This is why we are interrupting for a moment the broadcast #CeaseFireNow #StopGenocideNow,” it read.
The ACOD-VRT union defends the action. “We have been watching events in the Middle East with horror for months. We are convinced that the State of Israel is committing genocide and it is therefore scandalous that there is an Israeli candidate in the Eurovision Song Contest of the song.”
“Doing nothing, just watching, is no longer an option,” adds the union organization. “The EBU (the European Broadcasting Union, organizer of the event, editor’s note) unfortunately made Israeli participation possible and we therefore decided to interrupt the broadcast. We hope to send a signal to the Israeli government so that “He stops the fighting and massacres, allows international observers and the press to enter (Gaza) and sits down for a negotiated solution.”
The broadcast restarted normally after the action.
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