The European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which is mainly responsible for Eurovision, may have banned Palestinian flags and pro-Palestinian symbols from the show, but there were not a few artists who, in their own indirect or direct way, expressed their support for the people of Palestine.
All this, while thousands of citizens flooded the streets of Malmö during the 2nd Semi-Final, demonstrating against Israel’s participation and conveying a resounding message to “end the genocide”.
But let’s look at the cases where the artists conveyed – mainly in an indirect way – their own message of support.
Eric Saade’s scarf
Characteristically, during the First Semi-Final of the 68th Eurovision Contest, the Swedish-Palestinian artist Eric Saade appeared with a Palestinian headscarf tied to his hand. Eric Saade had supported the expulsion of Israel from the contest to occupy Palestine and the attack on Gaza.
The organizer Authority of Eurovision 2024, “punished” Eric Saade as, “did not respect the non-political nature of the contest”, and cut the singer’s quote from social networks.
Eric Saade – Popular #Eurovison pic.twitter.com/PvWYTchyVj
— Gabriel 🇦🇹 (@vodimtenigranku) May 7, 2024
Marina Satti’s yawns
The reactions of Marina Satti, who yawned when the Israeli singer made statements at Eurovision, are making the internet rounds.
Shortly after the presentation of all the entries, the representatives of the countries that managed to qualify, did some to the journalists. When it was the turn of Eden Golan, who represented Israel with the song “Hurricane” and the reporter asked her the first questions, the camera showed Marina Satti.
As seen in the video, he yawns ostentatiously, and pretends to be asleep in front of hundreds of journalists from around the world.
Marina’s expressions while they were interviewing Ed*n. Marina Satti you will ALWAYS be famous
pic.twitter.com/nUQwA1kJdR— george 🎲 | 🇳🇴🇱🇹🇮🇪 (@escldr) May 9, 2024
For its part, ERT tried to… smooth over Marina Satti’s protest by saying that she did not intend to insult the Israeli mission, but instead the yawning was simply a result of her intense fatigue.
Satti’s ‘world peace’
Marina Satti, for the second time at the press conference, attracted attention as when asked about the relevance of tourism in the video clip of her song, she jokingly answered “world peace”. To continue by saying: “Just kidding. No, it’s just because, questions like that [συνήθως] in beauty pageants, the answer is usually world peace. Sorry. Sorry, sorry, sorry” he said looking at the moderator of the press conference.
See also: Eurovision 2024 – ERT sources on Satti’s… yawning: “She was tired, she didn’t want to offend the Israelis”
He covered himself with his country’s flag
Marina Satti was not the only one who… protested while speaking at the Eurovision 2024 press conference, the representative of Israel.
Joost Klein, Holland’s representative who has gone viral with Europapa covered himself in his country’s flag while sitting right next to Eden Golan.
The singer Joost Klein is being investigated by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) with the relevant announcement stating that “the reason for the absence is being examined” and that “he will not rehearse until further notice”. “We are investigating an incident reported to us involving the Dutch artist. He will not rehearse until further notice. We have no further comment at the moment and we will update in the next few hours” states the EBU specifically, without anyone knowing what exactly has happened and whether this incident is connected to the singer’s reaction to the press conference.
See also: Eurovision 2024: Thriller with the participation of the Netherlands, at risk of disqualification – What happened
And the… soon
During the press conference, Dutchman Joost Klein was asked: “Do you think your song can unite us all through music?” with the 26-year-old replying without a second thought: “That’s a good question for the EBU.”
That’s what you get when you questioning the EBU, Joost Klein. 🤣 #Eurovision #Eurovision2024 pic.twitter.com/8XLar5RXlP
— spooniesmatter 🇮🇱🇺🇦/🇳🇱🇦🇹 (@spooniesmatter) May 10, 2024
The message of Belgian television and “peace” in the hand of the singer
Belgian public television interrupted its live broadcast of the second semi-final of Eurovision 2024 to broadcast an anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian message.
Specifically, the following message was shown on a black background: “This is a trade union action. We condemn the human rights violations by the State of Israel. In addition, the state of Israel is destroying the freedom of the press. That’s why we’re pausing the live stream for a while. Cease fire now. Stop the genocide.”
At the same time, Belgium’s representative, Mustii, appeared on stage with the word “Peace” written on his arm. It is noted that Belgium did not make it to Saturday’s final.
I Iove you mustii pic.twitter.com/TeeHW2fslm
— spoods⁉️ (@siltas_vasaras) May 9, 2024
See also: Eurovision 2024: Belgium’s VRT interrupts broadcast with anti-Israel message – ‘Stop the genocide’ (Photos)
The… butterflies of the Latvian Dons
Latvian singer Dons, during the press conference after the selection of the finalists, answering the question “What was your message tonight?” he said among other things: “Latvia is the only country in the world that has the shape of a butterfly. Butterflies symbolize hope and freedom because to be a butterfly you have to fly and be free. Every country in the world deserves to be free.”
“Every country in the world deserves to be free”
Well said #Latvia 🇱🇻🤝🕊️#Eurovision #EurovisionGR #EurovisionCY pic.twitter.com/bSEsilwNey
— Faidon 𝕏 (@faidonsol) May 10, 2024
However, it is worth noting that the EBU, which this year bans pro-Palestinian symbols and constantly emphasizes – for its part – that this is a musical event with a clear “non-political character”, welcomes Israel despite the merciless pounding of Gaza, while it is the same organization that ostracized Russia when the invasion of Ukraine began and filled the stadiums with Ukrainian flags.
It is recalled that in the same year the winning country of the competition was Ukraine, with thousands of citizens around the world commenting that it won, not so much on meritocracy, but as a sign of solidarity due to war.
Read also:
Eurovision 2024: The hypocrisy of the flag and the EBU that reminds… Velopoulos
Eurovision 2024: Marina Satti’s first statements after qualifying – “I had no control, nor did I know how I sang” (Video)
Eurovision 2024: Belgium’s VRT interrupts broadcast with anti-Israel message – ‘Stop the genocide’ (Photos)
Eurovision 2024: Everything that happened in the semi-finals – Satti’s “roll”, the “3 queens”, Israel and the protests (Photos – Video)
Eurovision 2024: EBU effectively covered boos in Israel – Did it again in 2015 with Russia (Video)
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