A Palestinian flag was displayed during the performance by the Israeli singer at Eurovision.(Photo: video grab)

By Palestine Chronicle Staff  

RTVE has requested a debate over Israel’s participation in the Eurovision contest.

Spanish broadcaster RTVE criticized Israel’s attacks on Gaza during a broadcast of the Eurovision contest on Thursday evening.

As the Israeli candidate, Yuval Raphael, was introduced before her performance, RTVE included captions questioning Israel’s participation in the song competition, according to the Anadolu news agency.

“RTVE has requested a debate over its participation,” said one caption. “The victims of the Israeli attacks exceed 50,000, including more than 15,000 children.”

The Spanish broadcaster then called for “justice and respect for human rights” in the competition, adding “This festival is peaceful,” the report said.

Before diverging from the script, the captions noted that Raphael had survived the October 7, 2023, resistance operation led by Hamas.

KAN Files Complaint

In response, the Israeli broadcaster KAN filed a complaint with the European Broadcasting Union against RTVE following the broadcast, “during which commentators discussed Gaza during Yuval Dayan’s clip presentation,  the Israeli Ynet News reported.

Last month, RTVE called for a review of Israel’s participation in the event, citing public concern over Israel’s ongoing military assault on Gaza.

Last year, Spanish Culture Minister Ernest Urtasun spoke out against Israel’s participation, saying millions “felt ashamed” that Eurovision was being used to “whitewash a genocide,” Anadolu reported.

Protest Outside Contest Venue

In St. Jakobshalle, Basel in Switzerland, where the Grand Final of the Eurovision Song Contest 2025 will be taking place, activists carrying Palestinian flags were forced to leave the area by police officers.

One of the activists carrying a Palestinian flag told Anadolu that she does not support a decision to allow a “genocidal state” to attend the contest.

“We are hosting (Eurovision), but I will not tolerate this. I do not want Israel participating in the Eurovision Song Contest while they are massacring Palestinians,” Marta said.

The activist said police officers informed her that if she did not leave immediately or remove the flag, they would prevent her from entering the area for five days.

She added that the officer also said that no Palestinian flags would be allowed in front of or around the stadium.

‘Terrible Crime’

Otto was another activist who had to leave the area because he was carrying a Palestinian flag.

He told Anadolu that it is a “terrible crime” to allow the propaganda of a country “actively committing genocide, killing more than 50,000 people and injuring more than 100,000 people.”

Since March 2, Israel has kept Gaza crossings closed to food, medical and humanitarian aid, deepening an already severe humanitarian crisis in the enclave, according to government, human rights and international reports.

On Thursday, the Spanish ambassador to Israel was summoned after Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez referred to Israel as a “genocidal state.”

Rising Death Toll

Since Israel’s reneging on the ceasefire on March 18, it has killed and wounded thousands of Palestinians throughout the Gaza Strip through a bloody and ongoing aerial bombardment.

On October 7, 2023, following a Palestinian Resistance operation in southern Israel, the Israeli military launched a genocidal war against the Palestinians, killing over 52,000, wounding more than 118,000, with over 14,000 still missing.

Despite habitual condemnation by many countries around the world of the Israeli genocide, little has been done to hold Israel accountable.

Israel is currently under investigation for the crime of genocide by the International Court of Justice, while accused war criminals — including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — are now officially wanted by the International Criminal Court.

The Israeli genocide has been largely defended, supported, and financed by Washington and a few other Western powers.

(Anadolu, PC)