Organizers of the Eurovision Song Contest say they reserve the right to remove any Palestinian flags and pro-Palestinian symbols at the show next week in Sweden.

Organizers of the Eurovision Song Contest said Thursday they reserve the right to remove any Palestinian flags and pro-Palestinian symbols at the show next week in Sweden.

The announcement came amid heightened tensions surrounding Israel’s participation in the annual music competition over its military campaign against Hamas in Gaza, now in its seventh month. Pro-Palestinian groups are expected to stage large protests in Malmo to raise awareness of their cause.

Michelle Roverelli, the head of communications for the European Broadcasting Union that runs the show each year, said ticket holders are only allowed to bring and display flags representing countries that take part in the event, as well as the rainbow-colored flag.

  • InformalTrifle@lemmy.worldEnglish
    6·
    7 months ago

    Why would they be?

    Ukraine was attacked by Russia which started a war. Israel was attacked by Palestine which started a war. You should be asking if Russian flags and symbols will also be banned if you want to find an equivalence.

    • QuantumSpecter@lemmy.worldEnglish
      5·
      7 months ago

      Official figures from Israel’s internal security agency registered a 15% increase in individual Palestinian attacks on civilians and soldiers across Israel and the Occupied Territories in the first seven months of the year compared to the same period last year. In 2022, the agency counted 1,317 uses of fire or pipe bombs, shootings, arson, and stabbings compared to 1,522 in 2023.

      Palestinian fears grow amid rising Israeli settler attacks

      • MyEdgyAlt@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        2·
        7 months ago

        How did you choose that excerpt? The headline and most of the contents are about Israeli violence. The preceding sentence immediately before your excerpt is this:

        The head of the Israeli Shin Bet domestic security service was recently quoted as warning that the spike in settler attacks was in turn driving Palestinians to attack Israelis saying: “Jewish terror incites Palestinian terror.”

        And the rest of that paragraph is about various revenge attacks.