Organizers of Eurovision Song Contest ready to remove Palestinian flags or symbols ( apnews.com )

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.

cupcakezealot ,
@cupcakezealot@lemmy.blahaj.zone avatar

good it's a song contest it's not the place for politics

Linkerbaan ,
@Linkerbaan@lemmy.world avatar

Good thing they banned Russia though. Totally doesn't make them look like massive hypocrites.

wurzelgummidge ,

The Eurovision Song Contest is an incredibly easy thing to boycott

T00l_shed ,

It's funny, I always have boycotted it, but now I will do so out of principle instead of indifference.

The_Cunt_of_Monte_Cristo ,
@The_Cunt_of_Monte_Cristo@lemmy.world avatar

They should've banned israel.

AllNewTypeFace ,
@AllNewTypeFace@leminal.space avatar

Given the amount of protest and potential terrorism the event is likely to attract, the security services will have to impose a ring of steel on Malmö and surrounding areas. Chances are that Israeli military contractors will be involved, installing surveillance technology tested on Palestinians and integrating it into CCTV camera networks, MAC address sniffers, real-time transport databases and feeds from intelligence services. As a bonus, if Sweden quietly keeps the system after Eurovision is over, it may prove useful in cracking down on the violent gang wars taking place there.

AWittyUsername ,

Yet people will still watch this shit

corsicanguppy ,

Bread and circus.

JochCool ,
@JochCool@kbin.social avatar

This is not news. It was the same last year.

arymandias , (edited )

What a hill to die on. They banned Russia; it would have been such an easy and consistent decision to ban Israel too, especially when they started deliberately starving Palestinian civilians. Can’t wait for the PR response the moment this Genocide becomes officially recognized, “wir haben es nicht gewusst“ 2.0

TheUncannyObserver ,

Well duh, it’s antisemitism to criticize Israel, didn’t you know that?

QuantumSpecter ,

Will flags and symbols from Ukraine also be banned?

FlyingSquid Mod ,
@FlyingSquid@lemmy.world avatar

Ukraine is a participant in Eurovision 2024, so no.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukraine_in_the_Eurovision_Song_Contest_2024

Come on, people. I'm an American, I don't even like Eurovision, and I still know this stuff.

AlligatorBlizzard ,

The Ukrainian entry in 2021 was probably my favorite Eurovision song ever, check out the version they did for the contest. Shum by Go_A.

FlyingSquid Mod ,
@FlyingSquid@lemmy.world avatar

The only Eurovision song in relatively recent memory I enjoyed was this one, because it made me laugh. The rest? Meh. I used to watch it just to see the spectacle, but I haven't bothered at all in a while. Actually, that was the last year I watched it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBAdOlQPbwg

(They did not win.)

PipedLinkBot Bot ,
@PipedLinkBot@feddit.rocks avatar

Here is an alternative Piped link(s):

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AlligatorBlizzard ,

That's hilarious. I love the goofy Eurovision acts.

barsoap ,

I used to watch it just to see the spectacle

Heck one can watch just for the smoothness of organisation. Half a gazillion acts, one after the other with stage decoration changes, sometimes quite drastically, live, but it looks like a ultra-tight cut prerecording.

FlyingSquid Mod ,
@FlyingSquid@lemmy.world avatar

They definitely do a very good job, I just got to the point that I couldn't take the music.

barsoap ,

That's why you combine it with a drinking game. Also the really bad acts are from countries who want to make sure they're not going to win and have to spend money on hosting the next contest, that is, you can appreciate them for the creative ways in which they are deliberately bad.

boredtortoise ,

I thought it was a rhetorical question

njm1314 ,

Very clearly was I agree.

Jews4Palestine ,

Come on, people. That was clearly rhetorical, and I still recognized this stuff.

InformalTrifle ,

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.

glimse ,

Good job demonstrating that you only started paying attention to the Israel/Palestine conflict last year lol

InformalTrifle ,

No, I was anti-jihadist prior to October. You?

glimse ,

I've been anti-jihadist since 2001 and anti-Hamas since I learned about them a few years ago so we have something in common.

However I've also been anti-Israeli government since I learned of their persistent oppression of the Palestinian people around the same time.

Please don't conflate my opposition of one government with the support of another. And don't confuse my hatred of a country's government with a hatred of its citizens - I am not anti-Israeli.

QuantumSpecter ,

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 ,

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.

corsicanguppy ,

Israel was attacked by

... guerillas from ...

Palestine which

... gave Israel the pretext it'd hoped for after decades of subjugation, of land theft, and victimization, so Irael followed their plan and ...

started a war

There. Fixed that for ya.

InformalTrifle ,

Guerillas/government. Potato/potato

Linkerbaan ,
@Linkerbaan@lemmy.world avatar

Palestine was attacked by

… guerillas from …

Europe which

created decades of subjugation, of land theft, and victimization, so Irael followed their plan and…

started their Holocaust

cosmicrookie ,
@cosmicrookie@lemmy.world avatar

You picked the wrong side of history my dude

InformalTrifle ,

No, I’m quite happy to not support jihadist terrorist organisations like Hamas, ISIS, Hezbollah, the Taliban, etc. But you do you if you think that’s the moral high ground

floofloof ,

I assume they're allowing the Israeli flag?

FlyingSquid Mod ,
@FlyingSquid@lemmy.world avatar

Israel is a competitor, so there's no question the Israeli flag will be shown at least as a logo on television.

LordOfLocksley ,

Shame they won't be making it to the final though

FlyingSquid Mod ,
@FlyingSquid@lemmy.world avatar

I'd sure as hell be surprised if they did. They'd have to be on the Abba level.

lud ,

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.

Yes of course.

taanegl ,

The gay can stay, but Palestine go away.

I think it's perfectly fitting that Palestine's flag be on display, taking into consideration all the meddling and financial support going on, which begs the question: what other flags would need to be on display? Afghani? Iraqi?

If we're going to have representation, let us have representation.

lud ,

I think it's perfectly fitting that Palestine's flag be on display, taking into consideration all the meddling and financial support going on,

Can you please clarify what you mean by meddling and financial support.

Jews4Palestine ,

Western countries are financing Israel and supporting them via laws and actions such as this?

yeather ,

Quick correction: Afghan flag is the proper terminology, Afghan people, Afghan rugs, etc. The Afghan Afghani is the currency only.

TexasDrunk ,

Can we call a knit throw an Afghan Afghan?

barsoap ,

The actual question is: Which participant flags or combinations of those can be folded into a Palestinian flag?

Hungary and Italy have white and green adjacent that's a good start, add Germany resp. Belgium for black, red for the triangle is quite abundant take your pick.

What are they going to do, kick people out during the livestream?

AmosBurton ,

Just print "Islam" on a flag and wave that.
It should cover your whole list.

taanegl ,

Ah yes, and then paint all the northern Europeans flags in crosses?

it's just a little bit of history repeating~

But yeah, bomb a country back to the stone age, and you can expect a bit of barbarism. Knowing that could always happen to us is the act of being smart.

Thinking that religion alone (i.e without the nationalism, without the power struggles, without oligarchies wanting their cut) is kind of stupid.

cupcakezealot ,
@cupcakezealot@lemmy.blahaj.zone avatar

palestine isn't a member of the european broadcast union nor is it involved in eurovision why is it fitting that it would be on display?

taanegl ,

Bro, why is Israel even in there? "They are in the broadcast union" is not the gotcha you think it is. Isreal neighbours are Egypt, Yemen, Iran and so forth.

The fact that you don't see that European intervention and colonization in the middle east merits representation in European media shows a disconnect that can only be described as pure unadulterated repression. If you then also try to say "music" or "the arts" shouldn't be political", I can only assume you actually like to listen to the music that comes from EuroVision.

If you want to continue with the financing of geo-political fuckery under the guise of "liberalism", you've got to face it as well. You shouldn't get to bury your head in the sand.

That being said, Palestine flags should be prominently features in the Isreali part of the crowd, since Isreal occupies their land.

It's only fair to have proper representation.

cupcakezealot ,
@cupcakezealot@lemmy.blahaj.zone avatar

Bro, why is Israel even in there?

because they're a member of the broadcast union (and have been for 60 years) and that's what eurovision is for? it wasn't supposed to be a gotcha, i was just stating a fact.

That being said, Palestine flags should be prominently features in the Isreali part of the crowd, since Isreal occupies their land.

It’s only fair to have proper representation.

it's literally a song competition... not a debate

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