“Palestinian civil society overwhelmingly rejects fig-leaf gestures of solidarity from international artists crossing our peaceful picket line.”
Madonna and Icelandic act Hatari have sparked controversy at this year’s Eurovisioncompetition after displaying Palestinian flags during their appearances at the Israel-hosted event.
Hatari – who placed 10th in the competition – used their points announcement segment to hold up the flags, which could see them disqualified from the competition for disregarding the rules of the Eurovision broadcast being a “non-political event”.
According to ABC, chief executive of the European Broadcasting Union’s Israeli counterpart Kan Eldad Koblenz has said that “the Icelanders will apparently be punished by the European Broadcasting Union, which is really not tolerant of those who violate its rules”.
Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel has condemned the action saying “Palestinian civil society overwhelmingly rejects fig-leaf gestures of solidarity from international artists crossing our peaceful picket line #Hatari” in a post to Twitter.
Madonna’s performance of new track Future, which she sang alongside Migos’ Quavo, was wrapped up with two dancers walking arm in arm up a flight of stairs on-stage, one with the Palestinian flag and the other with the Israeli flag on their backs.
Read the article by Jessica Dale on The Music.