Protest in Malmo ahead of Eurovision Song Contest final plagued by tensions over Israel's involvemen

(11 May 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Malmo, Sweden - 11 May 2024
1. Wide of protest, some protesters waving pro-Palestinian flags
2. Pan of protesters, flags
3. Protesters holding banners reading (Swedish) "No to genocide" and (English) "Welcome to genocide song contest"
4. Protester holding sign reading (English) “Boycott Eurovision, artwashing genocide"
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Sahab Saheb, psychotherapist and protester:
“It's important to reclaim my humanity. And for all of us who are being here to say no for (to) slaughtering human beings as easy as (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu is doing it.”
6. Protesters, flags
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Sahab Saheb, psychotherapist and protester:
“It's mostly the hypocrisy of the Swedish government because once (upon) a time we refused to have Russia (in Eurovision) because it had a war against Ukraine, and today we have Israel, so the hypocrisy is painful."
8. Protester with sign reading (Swedish) "Students hate genocide"
9. Protesters holding signs
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Pia Jacobsen, Stop Israel protest organisers spokesperson:
“It is important to demonstrate because Israel shouldn't be allowed to compete in Eurovision. I mean, we stand here in solidarity with the Palestinian people, we haven't forgotten them, and we want to show the world that we are against Israel's competing. You can't throw bombs with one hand and glitter with another hand.”
11. Protesters chanting
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Pia Jacobsen, Stop Israel protest organisers spokesperson:
“Well, I'm not worried at all about the safety in the demonstration, actually. We have a large number of demonstration guards and they are very, very good at their job. And we also have had this great demonstration Thursday, where nothing happened, everything was peaceful and it turned out great.”
13. Protesters chanting
14. Man with effigy above head with writing (English) "Eurovision is celebrating genocide"
15. Protesters marching
16. Protesters marching and chanting with banners reading (Swedish) "No to genocide" and (English) "Welcome to genocide song contest"
17. Various of protesters marching
STORYLINE:
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators marched through the streets of Malmo on Saturday as the Swedish city prepared to host a Eurovision Song Contest final mired in tensions over Israel's participation.
The protesters in Sweden’s third-largest city, which has a large Muslim population, were demanding a boycott of Israel and a cease-fire in the seven-month war in Gaza.
Though Eurovision's motto is “united by music,” this year’s event has proven exceptionally divisive.
Pia Jacobsen, a spokesperson for the Stop Israel group which organised the rally, said Israel should not be allowed to compete in Eurovision.
"You can't throw bombs with one hand and glitter with another hand," she said.
Eurovision organizers told Israel to change the original title of its song, “October Rain” - an apparent reference to the Oct. 7 Hamas attack that killed about 1,200 people in Israel and triggered the war in Gaza.
Israeli singer Eden Golan has shot up the odds since performing the power ballad, now titled “Hurricane,” in Thursday’s semifinal.
Golan faced some booing at dress rehearsals, but was voted into the final by viewers around the world.
That final was set to take place later on Saturday.
AP video shot by Chrisoffer Askman and Anders Garde Kongshaug
===========================================================
Find out more about AP Archive: www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter: / ap_archive
Facebook: / aparchives ​​
Instagram: / apnews
You can license this story through AP Archive: www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...

[@user-ok8ze6ki1b]

I am your sister from Yemen, and by Allah I only spoke out of hunger and distress. My mother, my brothers, and I lessons and tears. We are in a situation that only God knows about. God is sufficient for us, and He is the best disposer of affairs for those who brought us to this situation. By Allah Almighty, I did not write this appeal out of distress and distress. Poverty, O world, they have felt it So, I hope for you. By Allah Almighty, Lord of the Great Throne, he ate what I had in the house. By Allah, my brothers, he is my brothers by sitting in the house. Who has no food? By God, we are in a very difficult situation. We have 4 people entering the house, and my father has died, and there is no one who can depend on us and who lives in it.We live in a rented house because we cannot pay the rent we owe. '''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' ''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' ''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' ''''''''''''' My brother, my first words are: I swear to God that I will not lie to you or deceive you. I am a Yemeni girl displaced from the war. My family and I live in a rented house in Al-Shahrab 20,000 Yemenis among us, and now we owe 60,000 for 3 months. The owner of the house is one of the people who does not have mercy, by God, my brother. He comes every day, insulting us, talking about us, and moving from the house to the street because we were unable to pay him the rent. The neighbors saw us crying and came back.They came back to talk to the neighbors and we were given the weekend. So we made him swear by God. He will take us out into the street. Have mercy on him and us. Our country is due to this war and we do not find food for our day, and my brothers and I live in a difficult life. Our father died, may God have mercy on him, and we have no one in this world who was with us in these harsh circumstances. My younger brothers went out into the street and saw...The neighbors eat and stand at their door in order to give them bread even if they break it. By God, to whom belongs the dominion of the heavens and the earth, they closed the door and expelled them and came back crying. They are dying of hunger. No one has mercy on them and a holiday is returned. I have made a living, and now if one of us helps us with a kilo of flour, I swear to God, I am dying of hunger. My brother, I am an alien to God. Then, I ask you to help me for the sake of God. I ask you, by God, to love goodness and to help me, even if you can, by messaging me on WhatsApp.On this number 00967717354582 and ask for the name of my card and send it and do not be late and may God reward you with all the best, my brothers Sagar, see how they are and help us and save us before they throw us out in the street, you will be lost or we will die of hunger. My family and I ask you, by God, if you are able to help us, do not be late and may God reward you well..`/--~«««~~♡~♡~♡~~•~•~♡~♡~♡~♡~♡~♡♡♡~~~~: ~:~¡~¡~¡~;I.i.i.i.i.i. i.I.|-◖--''