BRUSSELS (AP) — In an ornate Brussels concert hall, Palestinian songwriter Bashar Murad stood before hundreds and delivered a mournful performance of Nina Simone’s “I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free” in English and Arabic. When the final notes faded, the audience erupted.
The performance Tuesday evening was part of a protest movement against this week’s Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna, with Israel’s participation sparking anger over its devastating military campaign in Gaza and elsewhere.
Five nations, including Spain and Ireland, are boycotting the kitschy extravaganza as performers from 35 countries compete in Europe’s annual pop music competition, which marks its 70th anniversary this year. Ten countries including Israel and favorite Finland won places Tuesday in Saturday’s final of the contest, whose motto is “United by Music.”
Alternative concerts are taking place across Europe this week, including the “United for Palestine” event in Brussels, where European musicians performed alongside Murad and other Palestinian artists.
“It’s always amazing to be in the same room with people who believe in the same things as you and people who believe that we can’t just let the show go on,” said Murad, who came close to being Iceland’s competitor in 2024.
Murad’s mother and father, a founding member of the influential Palestinian music group Sabreen, unsuccessfully petitioned the Geneva-based European Broadcasting Union, which runs Eurovision, to admit Palestine to the contest in 2007.
Since joining in 1973, Israel has won four times, giving the country visibility at a high-profile event that celebrates diversity. Many Israelis have said they feel they are being unfairly ostracized with the boycotts and other protests.
But Amnesty International secretary general Agnès Callamard said she believes Eurovision should throw Israel out of the competition like it did Russia in 2022 after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
“Songs and sequins must not be allowed to drown out or distract from Israel’s atrocities or Palestinian suffering,” she said
New boycotts and calls for reform
Israel’s place in the contest has become contentious as outrage has grown over the carnage in Gaza, the occupied West Bank, Lebanon and Iran, with massive popular protests and European Union politicians mulling new sanctions.
“We have to create an alternative because the participation of Israel is problematic,” said Katrien De Ruysscher, founder of the activist group SOS Gaza, which organized the Brussels event along with rights group 11.11.11.
The 2024 Eurovision contest in Malmo, Sweden, and last year’s event in Basel, Switzerland, saw pro-Palestinian protests that called for Israel to be expelled and allegations that Israel’s government broke the contest’s rules to support its contestant.