According to the ten-year regulation, only the flags of the competing countries will be allowed inside the arena where the competition will take place. For this reason, Israel’s song is allowed, but in recent months it has had to change the lyrics of its song
Palestinian flags will not be allowed to be displayed at Eurovision. This was reported by the Swedish newspaper Goteborgs Posten, which quotes a statement from the competition’s organizing body, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU): any object “that could disturb the success of the event will be banned inside the Malmo Arena”, the stadium where the competition will take place in less than a week. Among the objects referred to by the EBU there is also the flag of Palestine. The decision taken by the organizers, however, does not seem to be linked to this year’s edition and the consequences of the conflict in the Middle East, but rather is part of the ten-year contest regulation: Palestine is not one of the 37 countries competing, so its flag is not allowed inside the arena.
This afternoon, the deputy director of Rai’s Prime Time Entertainment also intervened to explain what happened, Claudio Fasulo: “We are moving in a delicate and special context. The values of the Eurovision Song Contest are put to the test by the international context. We should pay great attention, but the question of flags is a question of regulation, a regulation that has existed for ten years The flags that can be displayed must be exclusively those of the competing nations. It is part of what is planned and there are no exceptions.” By virtue of this regulation, it will obviously be permitted to enter the arena with the Israeli flag.
However, the presence of the Jewish state within the competition, after 7 October, has become a coincidence. In recent months, some associations and groups of protesters, as well as some European artists, have organized petitions to have Israel excluded from the competition in reference to what is happening in Gaza. The exclusion never took place, but Tel Aviv had to change the song that its artist, Eden Golanwill sing in the Malmo Arena.
The one that the Israeli radio and television station Kan had presented to the organizers of the event was entitled “October Rain” and – starting from the title – contained some references to the victims of the Hamas attack last autumn against the kibbutzim located near the Strip of Gaza. The text was considered by Ebu itself to be too political, therefore in violation of the regulation linked to the neutrality of the event. In the end, Kan presented another song, “Hurricane”, which keeps the same melody as the previous one, but with different words that tell the story of a woman and her “rebirth” after a personal crisis.
The 68th edition of Eurovision will be from 7 to 11 May 2024, in the Swedish city of Malmo. Local authorities expect that demonstrations and protests against the war in the Gaza Strip will take place in the city during the days of the contest. Representing Italy there will be Angelina Mango with “La Noia”, the song that won the last Sanremo Festival.
