Dozens of demonstrators assembled outside the headquarters of Serbia’s public broadcaster RTS on Tuesday to pressure the Balkan nation into pulling out of the Eurovision Song Contest due to Israel’s continued participation, reported The Associated Press.
This year’s competition, featuring 35 participating countries, is set to take place from May 12 to 16 in Vienna. Serbia plans to be represented by Lavina, a six-member progressive metal band.
The crowd in central Belgrade displayed Palestine Liberation Organizaton (PLO) flags and held signs accusing Israel of committing atrocities in the Gaza war. They demanded that RTS refrain from airing the contest and urged Serbian viewers to boycott the broadcast.
“A Eurovision without Israel would mean defending the ideals that this event proclaims," a statement by the protest organizers said.
RTS has not issued an immediate response to the demonstration.
Israel’s participation in this year’s contest was in question but was made possible after the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) cleared it to compete.
This resulted in announcements by Ireland, Spain, Slovenia, the Netherlands and Iceland that they will not participate in the contest due to Israel’s continued inclusion in the lineup following the war in Gaza.
Last week, national broadcasters in Ireland, Spain and Slovenia announced they will not air this year’s Eurovision Song Contest at all after those countries withdrew from the contest. While the Netherlands and Iceland also withdrew participation, they will still air the contest on their national channels.
Israel will be represented at the competition by Noam Bettan, 28, who will perform the song “Michelle" in French, Hebrew and English in the annual contest’s first semifinal in Vienna on May 12.
Over the last two years, Israeli performers have been heckled and booed at the event, even as last year’s representative, Yuval Raphael, won the televote by members of the public and finished in second place overall after she came in 14th place in the jury vote.