The Dutch city of Rotterdam has decided that if the city ends up hosting the 2020 Eurovision Song Contest, Madonna will be permitted to perform, JTA reported Tuesday.
The Rotterdam city council voted down a motion to ban the pop star from the contest over her use of a Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) flag while performing on stage in Israel at the competition in May.
The motion was proposed by a member of the staunchly pro-Israel and anti-Muslim Party for Freedom, according to JTA.
The draft motion submitted last week described the PLO flag as “a symbol for the rejection of Israel” and cited growing anti-Semitism in Rotterdam. It did not mention the fact that the singer’s performance in Tel Aviv also featured an Israeli flag.
Hidde van Koningsveld, the head of the pro-Israel CiJo group, noted the omission on Twitter and called the draft motion “nonsensical.”
Of the City Council’s 45 members, 37 voted against the proposal by Maurice Meeuwissen, chairman of the Party for Freedom, according to JTA.
The dancers who accompanied Madonna as she sang on stage during the Eurovision in Israel wore shirts with Israeli flags printed on their backs. One of the dancers stirred up a firestorm with a PLO flag on the back of his shirt.
The European Broadcasting Union responded to the Madonna incident and said, “This part of the performance were not part of the rehearsals which had been approved by the EBU and the host broadcaster, Kan. The Eurovision Song Contest is a non-political event and Madonna has been made aware of it.”
The Netherlands won the 2019 contest and thus will host the 2020 edition, though organizers have not yet determined in which municipality.