Thousands of anti-Israel demonstrators filled the streets of a Swedish coastal city on Thursday — lighting off smoke flares and chanting “Israel is a terror state” — to protest the country’s participation in the Eurovision Song Contest.
Up to 12,000 people — including Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg — converged in Malmo’s historic Stortorget square near the city’s town hall before marching toward the Eurovision venue, where singers from more than 50 countries are battling.
The protesters waved Palestinian flags; wore keffiyeh scarves; deployed green, black and red smoke bombs to match the flag’s colors; and repeated the chant, “From river to sea, Palestine will be free” as police officers watched from rooftops, the streets and even helicopters.
Eurovision organizers rejected calls to expel Israel from the competition — arguing they try to keep the competition nonpolitical.
But critics have noted Eurovision’s rejection of Russia in the 2022 competition after it invaded Ukraine.
“I think Malmo should have kept Eurovision, but we should have told Israel either ‘Stay away,’ or maybe even say, why don’t we invite a Palestinian music group to participate? That would be fair,” Malmo resident and protester Anders Trolle-Schultz told the Associated Press.
In another effort to be nonpolitical, the organizers told Israel to alter the song it submitted as part of the competition. The song was originally titled “October Rain” in reference to Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack that killed 1,200 Israelis and promoted Israel’s attack on Gaza. The ballad is now called “Hurricane.”
Audience members were heard booing Israel’s Eden Golan’s performance of the song during a dress rehearsal on Wednesday.
But she placed in the 10 of 16 acts in Thursday’s semi-final, securing a spot in Saturday’s final competition.
Anti-Israel supporters are expected to take over the streets again during the final.
One of Thursday’s protesters, Saadallah Aoudi — who is a Swedish citizen but has a Palestinian background — said Israel should not be participating in Eurovision as it bombs the Gaza Strip.
“It’s about songs, and songs are about love. … They should be here when there is peace,” he said.
Israel’s retaliatory attack has killed nearly 35,000 Palestinians in Gaza — two-thirds of whom are innocent children and women, according to health officials in the Hamas-controlled territory.
Pro-Israel protesters held their own smaller demonstration Thursday in central Malmo as the country’s government warned its citizens that they could be targeted in the Swedish city while it hosted Eurovision.
“We’re supposed to be united by music but we’re not united, because Israel is participating,” Trolle-Schultz said.
With Post wires
