1000’s of pro-Palestinian protesters marched within the Swedish port metropolis of Malmo in opposition to Israel’s participation within the pan-continental Eurovision Music Contest.
Protesters waving Palestinian flags crammed historic Stortorget Sq. close to Malmo’s Sixteenth-century city corridor forward of a deliberate march by way of the town on Thursday for a rally in a park a number of kilometers from the Eurovision venue.
Police estimated that between 10,000 and 12,000 folks participated. Among the many crowd was Swedish local weather activist Greta Thunberg.
Shouting “from the river to the ocean, Palestine might be free” and “Israel is a terrorist state,” protesters set off flares within the colours of the Palestinian flag throughout a loud however peaceable demonstration to criticize Israel and name for a ceasefire in Gaza. . There was a big police presence, with a helicopter hovering overhead and officers on rooftops with binoculars.
A smaller pro-Israel protest was additionally held Thursday in a central sq. in Malmo.
The competition’s organizers, who’re attempting to maintain Eurovision a non-political occasion, have rejected calls to exclude Israel over the warfare in Gaza.
However they advised Israel to vary the lyrics of its entry, initially titled October Rain in an obvious reference to the October 7 assault led by the Palestinian group Hamas. The music was renamed Hurricane and Israeli singer Eden Golan was allowed to stay within the contest.
Some viewers members attending a costume rehearsal Wednesday might be heard booing throughout Golan’s efficiency. However on Thursday he gained sufficient votes from viewers to put within the high 10 of 16 acts competing in a semifinal and safe a spot in Saturday’s title race.
Critics of the choice to let Israel compete level out that Russia was expelled from Eurovision in 2022 after its invasion of Ukraine, and Belarus was expelled a yr earlier for its authorities’s crackdown on dissent.
