“Sign NOW to expel Israel from Eurovision, don’t let it perform in Saturday’s final!” read the online petition which by Friday afternoon had garnered just 7,000 signatures.
Headed by Labour Minister Yolanda Díaz, the government’s number three, Sumar said the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) had lost “a significant part of the show’s regular audience” for letting Israel participate while “its army is exterminating the Palestinian people and razing its land.”
And it denounced the fact the EBU had rebuked Swedish singer Eric Saade, whose father is of Palestinian origin, for breaching a ban on political symbols by wearing a black-and-white keffiyeh scarf around his wrist as he sang.
The keffiyeh has widely been used as a symbol of support for the Palestinians, including at the anti-Israel protests sweeping university campuses worldwide.
“We at Sumar support the protests across Europe to end this international outrage,” it said.
The Gaza war began on October 7 when Hamas militants stormed across the border into southern Israel, resulting in the death of more than 1,170 people, mostly civilians, and kidnapping some 250 others, according to official Israeli figures.
Vowing to destroy Hamas, Israel launched a blistering retaliatory offensive that has killed around 35,000 people, mostly women and children, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.
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Israel qualified for the final late on Thursday with Eden Golan’s “Hurricane” and will join 26 nations competing in the final in Malmo, Sweden on Saturday night before a global TV audience of millions.
Spain has been one of Europe’s most critical voices about Israel’s Gaza offensive and is working to rally other European capitals behind the idea of recognising a Palestinian state.
According to the EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell, Spain, Ireland and Slovenia plan to do so simultaneously on 21 May.