Thousands of people have protested in the Swedish city of Malmo against Israel's participation in the Eurovision Song Contest, and Israel's war on Gaza casts a shadow over the final of the glitzy contest.
On Saturday, a large crowd of protesters gathered in the central square of the Swedish host city before marching towards the contest site, waving Palestinian flags and chanting “Eurovision united by genocide”, a variation on the contest's official slogan “united for the music”.
One protester told Al Jazeera it was unfair that a country that is “committing genocide” was allowed to take part in the event, and said protesters were upset by the authorities' confiscation of Palestinian flags and scarves.
“Here in Malmo many people are from Palestine and many of their families are being hurt. [in Gaza and Palestine] and they just feel angry about the situation and how the Swedish government and the city have handled this situation,” he said.
“So there's a lot of frustration and a lot of anger.”
Al Jazeera's Paul Rhys reported from Malmo that protests in recent days have been relatively peaceful, but as the final began, several protesters were taken away by police.
“Many protesters entered here [the Malmo arena] secretly and began to protest with Palestinian flags. The police cornered them and took them away one by one,” he said.
Police estimated that between 6,000 and 8,000 people joined the demonstrations in Malmo on Saturday.
Meanwhile, inside the auditorium, French singer Slimane stopped his rehearsal early Saturday to say that it had been a childhood dream of his to sing for peace.
“We need to be united by music,” Slimane said, referring to the official Eurovision slogan.
The finale, the festival's culmination of catchy songs, flashy costumes and tongue-in-cheek kitsch, begins at 19:00 GMT.
Pro-Palestinian protesters have complained of double standards, as the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which organizes the contest,
banned Russia from participating in Eurovision in 2022 after its invasion of Ukraine.
Eurovision organizers, who have always regarded the annual event as apolitical, resisted calls to exclude Israel and in March, the EBU confirmed that Israeli contestant Eden Golan would take part.
Golan's song is an adaptation of an earlier version called October Rain, which he modified after organizers deemed it too political due to its apparent allusions to the Hamas-led attack on October 7.
On Thursday, some booing was heard from the crowd before, during and after his performance in the semifinals, but there was also applause and waving of Israeli flags.
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also wished Golan good luck and said she had “already won” by enduring protests that he called a “horrible wave of anti-Semitism.”
Dutch contestant disqualified
Earlier on Saturday, the contest was also rocked by the disqualification of Dutch contestant Joost Klein.
“Swedish police have investigated a complaint made by a member of the production team following an incident following her performance at Thursday night's semi-final,” the European Broadcasting Union, which oversees the event, said in a statement.
“While the legal process continues, it would not be appropriate for it to continue in the contest.”
Dutch broadcaster AVROTROS said the incident involved Klein being filmed directly after leaving the stage “against clearly made agreements.”
According to a statement from AVROTROS, Klein repeatedly indicated that he did not want to be filmed, after which he made a “threatening movement” toward the camera, but did not touch the camerawoman.
“We defend good manners, that there be no misunderstanding in this regard, but in our opinion, an exclusion order is not proportional to this incident,” AVROTROS said.
Klein had already sparked controversy at Thursday's press conference when he repeatedly covered his face with a Dutch flag, apparently signifying that he did not agree to being placed next to Israel's contender Golan.
