Pro-Palestine demonstrators march on Eurovision: Protestors with  ‘blood’ smeared on their faces rally in Basel amid anger over Israel qualifying for song contest’s grand final

By SHANNON MCGUIGAN

Published: 19:11 BST, 17 May 2025 | Updated: 19:32 BST, 17 May 2025

Pro-Palestine demonstrators have marched on Eurovision with faux blood smeared on their faces in Basel amid fury over Israel’s entry in the grand final of the contest.

Droves of protesters flocked to Barfüsserplatz in the heart of the Swiss city, which is hosting this year’s Eurovision contest.

Ahead of tonight’s much anticipated grand final, crowds of Palestinian supporters held signs which read ‘boycott Israel apartheid’ and ‘no stage for genocide’.

One woman held up a prop, representing a body bag, smeared with fake blood across it and her own face.

It comes amid fury over Israel’s controversial participation in the competition as Nova Music Festival survivor, Yuval Raphael, qualified for the show’s grand final earlier this week. 

Raphael, who will perform New Day Will Rise, saw her preview show interrupted on Thursday by six pro-Palestinian demonstrators carrying flags. 

Under the arena rules, all flags are allowed but there are limits on size, and so the audience members were quickly ejected from the St Jakobshalle arena. 

Later on, footage from the TV broadcast semi-final showed the Israeli entry being booed once again by some sections of the audience.

A woman holds a prop, representing a body bag, as pro-Palestinian demonstrators attend a protest, on the day of the Grand Final of the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest in Basel

Droves of protesters flocked to Barfüsserplatz in the heart of the Swiss city, which is hosting this year’s Eurovision contest

Although the jeers were more audible on social media footage Raphael was still one of the 10 acts to succeed in the public vote and make it through to the grand final. 

Raphael’s last music event was the Nova Festival on October 7, 2023, where she hid under dead bodies for eight hours, as Hamas terrorists attacked. 

That fateful day saw the militant group kill 1,200 people, with over 250 taken hostage. It in turn sparked a huge Israeli military offensive on the Gaza strip, where tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed.   

More than 53,000 people have been killed by Israel’s bombardment of the besieged territory, with all aid blocked from entering Gaza since March.

Today in the Swiss capital, ESCALATE for Palestine, took to the streets to voice their frustration over Israel’s participation in the popular song contest.

According to RTE, the group first gathered in Barfüsserplatz, where there is an area for a public Eurovision screening set up for this evening, before marching through the city. 

A large police presence is in place at the demonstration, as chants of ‘free free Palestine’ echoed through the streets. 

This is a breaking news story. Updates to follow. 

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Pro-Palestine demonstrators march on Eurovision: Protestors with  ‘blood’ smeared on their faces rally in Basel amid anger over Israel qualifying for song contest’s grand final

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