Norwegian politician during the Eurovision ceremony: Boycott Israel art

The audience of the Eurovision Song Contest, held in the Norwegian capital Oslo, was surprised by the entry of a woman carrying a flag. Palestine She wears a T-shirt reading “Boycott Israel” to the stage, in protest against the war Genocide launched by Israel Gaza strip More than 3 months ago.

A video clip published by the “Eurovision Insider” page on the “X” platform – formerly Twitter – yesterday, Saturday, showed Oslo City Council member Joron Folkvoord ascending on stage near the end of the first semi-final of the “Eurovision” preliminary round in the studios of the Norwegian Public Broadcasting Corporation. In Oslo.

🇳🇴 The Palestinian protestant walked in green room during the MGP 2024 host break#Eurovision #Norway pic.twitter.com/FBmZG0sp1E

— Eurovision Insider (@escinsiders) January 13, 2024

The Hebrew newspaper “Maariv” said that “Joron Folkvoord, a member of the Oslo City Council, organized a protest against Israel on behalf of the Red Communist Party.”

After the protest, Folkvoord said, “I feel good. It was a team effort and I was given the task of being the one to do it. We wanted to get an important message across to many people – boycott Israel in relation to the Eurovision final, but Norway also needs to stop this war.” cruel,” according to the newspaper.

Activists from the “Action for Palestine” organization also organized a demonstration outside the hall to demand that Israel be banned from participating in the Eurovision Song Contest, the finals of which will be held in Sweden next May.

On December 26, Israeli singer Shaul Greenglik was killed in the Gaza Strip battles, a few days after he participated in the “Rising Star” talent show, the winner of which represents the State of Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest.

Saul Greenglik was among the contestants participating in the audition stage of the talent show “Rising Star,” and he appeared on the program wearing an occupation army uniform, while he was on leave from his mobilization in the war on the Gaza Strip.

Shaul passed the test, but chose not to complete the remaining stages of the competition and return to reserve service.

Last December, the Icelandic Society of Composers and Songwriters asked its members not to participate in the European competition unless Israel was banned.

At the time, the European Broadcasting Union issued a statement saying, “The Eurovision Song Contest is a competition for public service broadcasters from all over Europe and the Middle East. It is a competition for broadcasters – not governments – and the Israel Public Broadcasting Corporation has been participating in the competition for 50 years,” the newspaper reported. British Guardian.

“The Israeli public broadcaster (Kan) fulfills all competition rules and will be able to participate in Malmö. The Eurovision Song Contest remains a non-political event that unites audiences around the world through music,” the statement said.

More than 1,400 Finnish artists joined Icelandic musicians in demanding that Israel be banned from participating in this year’s Eurovision competition due to the war on Gaza.

The artists said that if Israel is not excluded from the competition, which will be held in the Swedish city of Malmo in May, the Finnish broadcasting company should boycott the competition and refuse to send a Finnish entry.

“Giving a country that commits war crimes and continues its military occupation a public platform to polish its image in the name of music is not consistent with our values. At the same time, other participating countries end up offering their support to Israel’s policies,” said the petition, signed by Finland-based artists.

Among the artists who signed the petition are Finnish artists Olavi Usivirta, Palivas and Axel Ehnström, who represented Finland at the 2011 edition of Eurovision.

Lukas Korpilainen, one of the authors of the petition, told the Swedish newspaper Hofodstadsbaldt, the most widely circulated in Finland, that it is unacceptable for Israel to participate in the Eurovision contest to “polish its image.”

It is noteworthy that representatives of Iceland raised the Palestinian flag during the final of the “Eurovision” competition, which was held in Tel Aviv in 2019, where members of the Icelandic singing group “Hatari” carried scarves bearing the Palestinian flag.

American singer Madonna also sparked angry reactions from the Israelis, while performing as a guest of honor on the closing night, where a member of her band appeared with the Palestinian flag on her back, and another member placed the Israeli flag on his back.

At the time, the concert organizers said that what Madonna did was without their knowledge, and did not appear during the previous rehearsals, and they added that this represented “a political message in a non-political competition.”

In May 2016, the competition banned the raising of the flags of Palestine, Kosovo, the Basque Country, the Nagorno-Karabakh region, Donetsk, the Transnistrian region of Moldova, the Crimean Peninsula, and Northern Cyprus.

Eurovision is a singing competition organized by the European Broadcasting Union since 1956, and is the largest non-sporting event in terms of the number of viewers, estimated at between 100 and 600 million people around the world in recent years.