Israel’s performance in the second Eurovision semi-final is expected to draw attention due to large pro-Palestinian protests in the Swedish city of Malmö.
Around 100,000 people gathered to attend the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest, which takes place on May 9 in the south of Sweden. The annual festival is watched by around 200 million people around the world.
Thursday’s semi-final will feature two favourites to win: Switzerland’s Nemo with the song “The Code” and Joost Klein of the Netherlands with the song “Europapa.” Eden Golan of Israel with her song “Hurricane” will also take part in the competition.
This year’s competition comes amid protests and boycotts over Israel’s military campaign in Gaza, sparked by the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel.
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the Eurovision organiser, refused to exclude Israel but asked the country to change the lyrics of the original song “October Rain”, which apparently referred to the Hamas attack.
Tens of thousands of people are expected to take part in a pro-Palestinian demonstration in central Malmö at 13:00 GMT on Thursday. A small pro-Israel demonstration is scheduled for 16:00 GMT nearby.
Swedish Gaza student Bachar Garar, 23, protested against what he called double standards, pointing to the EBU’s decision to keep Russia out of the competition over the war in Ukraine that started in 2022.
After everything that happened, how they’ve treated Russia after what happened in Ukraine, they just choose to turn a blind eye to what’s happening in Gaza. So that’s hypocrisy for us and we’re trying to put an end to it.
In the first semi-final on Tuesday, thousands of fans witnessed 10 performers, including favourites Croatia and Ukraine, qualifying for Saturday’s final.
Swedish authorities stepped up security measures and prepared for possible riots during Eurovision week. Thursday’s semi-final starts at 19:00 GMT. It will also feature representatives from Malta, Albania, Greece, the Czech Republic, Austria, Denmark, Armenia, Latvia, San Marino, Georgia, Belgium, Estonia, and Norway.
