(14 May 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Basel, Switzerland – 14 May 2025
1. Various of pro-Palestinian protesters marching with flags and banners
2. Mid of banner reading (English): "Basel – Unite for Palestine"
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Tove Bjoernsen, protester:
"We also have the Eurovision Song Contest in Basel, which is an amazing contest. I always loved it. But at the same time it is really sad having this huge power of Israel competing. And, you know, like, Russia wasn’t allowed to compete for example, because of the war crimes they committed and at the same time with Israel, with Moroccan oil being like a main sponsor. So it’s not really, like, we’re not wondering that they’re not letting them go."
4. Protesters marching holding signs
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Lea Kobler, protester:
"It should be a happy occasion that Eurovision is finally in Switzerland, but it’s not, it’s not. How can we rightfully exclude Russia, but we’re still welcoming Israel, who is doing horrendous things to so many people, and we just welcome them here and parade them and say ‘oh hello’, and they’re committing a genocide and war crimes and nobody’s doing anything."
6. Protesters marching
7. Palestinian flag and Eurovision banner
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Andreas Cremer, protester:
"It is about Israel taking part and it is about generally the hypocrisy most of all because this is astonishing. I mean, I’m sure everyone feels it, you feel it, everyone can see the utter disregard for anything that resembles international law, the Genocide Convention, the Geneva Conventions."
9. Various of protesters
STORYLINE:
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators on Wednesday rallied in the Swiss city of Basel where the Eurovision Song Contest is being held this week.
Protesters with Palestinian flags and banners took part in a "silent" march along one of the city’s main streets to demonstrate against Israel’s participation in the pan-continental pop competition.
The Israeli Eurovision entry this year is singer Yuval Raphael, who will perform in the second semifinal Thursday.
Raphael is a survivor of Hamas militants’ October 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel that killed 1,200 people and triggered the war in Gaza.
More than 52,800 people in Gaza have been killed in Israel’s retaliatory offensive, according to the territory’s health ministry.
Tove Bjoernsen, a local protester and Eurovision fan, said it was "really sad" that Israel was allowed to participate in the contest amid the ongoing war.
Lea Kobler, another protester, echoed this sentiment.
"How can we rightfully exclude Russia, but we’re still welcoming Israel, who is doing horrendous things to so many people?," Kobler said.
Israel has competed in Eurovision for more than 50 years, and won four times.
But last year’s event in the Swedish city of Malmo drew large demonstrations calling for Israel to be kicked out of the contest over its conduct of its war against Hamas in Gaza.
More than 70 former participants, including 2017 winner Salvador Sobral from Portugal, 2023 U.K. entry Mae Muller and La Zarra, who competed for France in 2023, signed a letter calling for Israel to be excluded. They noted that Russia has been banned since its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
The European Broadcasting Union, which runs Eurovision, pointed out that Israel is represented by its public broadcaster, KAN, not the government.
AP video shot by Kwiyeon Ha, Hilary Fox
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