Eurovision 2024 hit by protests over Israel taking part amid Gaza war
CBSN
Malmo, Sweden — Not everyone was welcoming the Eurovision Song Contest to the Swedish city of Malmo. Thousands of pro-Palestinian demonstrators protested in the Swedish port city Thursday against Israel's participation in the pan-continental pop competition. Protesters waving green, white and red Palestinian flags packed the historic Stortorget square near Malmo's 16th-century town hall before a planned march through the city for a rally in a park several miles from the Eurovision venue.
Chanting chanting and yelling slogans such as "Israel is a terror state," the demonstrators set off smoke flares in the Palestinian colors during a noisy but peaceful rally to criticize Israel and call for a cease-fire in its war with Hamas.
The first of those slogans chanted by the protesters is a highly controversial reference to the creation of a Palestinian state, defined by the Anti-Defamation League as an "antisemitic slogan commonly featured in anti-Israel campaigns and chanted at demonstrations."
