The controversy over Israel’s participation in Eurovision hit Belgian screens on Thursday night. Before the performances of the candidates and the start of the semi-final of the competition, a few lines of text were displayed on the VRT antenna. It was a message initiated by the Dutch-language channel’s unions calling for a ceasefire in Gaza and “condemning human rights violations by the State of Israel.”
“In addition, the State of Israel is destroying freedom of the press. That is why we interrupted the transmission for a moment. #CeaseFireNow #StopGenocideNow,” the screen also read.
“It is scandalous that there is an Israeli candidate in the competition”
“We have been watching the events in the Middle East with horror for months,” the ACOD-VRT union explained on its Facebook account to justify its action. “We are convinced that the State of Israel is committing genocide and, therefore, it is scandalous that there is an Israeli candidate in the Eurovision Song Contest.”
“Simply looking is no longer an option”
“Doing nothing, just watching, is no longer an option,” adds the union organization, regretting that the EBU (European Broadcasting Union, organizer of the event) “unfortunately has made Israeli participation possible.
“We hope to send a signal to the Israeli government to stop the fighting and massacres, allow international observers and the press to enter (Gaza) and sit down to negotiate a solution,” VRT further explained.
Hours earlier, a demonstration against Israel’s participation in Eurovision brought together nearly 12,000 people in Malmö, the city where the competition takes place, and a new demonstration is planned for Saturday.
The young Eden Golan, however, will take the stage tonight to defend the colors of the Hebrew State. He managed to qualify for Thursday’s final thanks to his song titled “Hurricane”, a title whose original version had to be modified because it alluded to the Hamas attack that bloodied Israel on October 7.
Before the semi-final, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared that Eden Golan “had already won.” “Not only are you proudly and admirably participating in Eurovision, but you are also successfully confronting a horrible wave of anti-Semitism,” he said in a video message to the singer.
Source: BFM TV
