The Prime Minister believes protests against Israel taking part in the Eurovision Song Contest are “wrong” and some of the scenes have been “outrageous”, Downing Street said.
Pro-Palestinian demonstrators gathered in Malmo, Sweden, yesterday to protest against Israel’s participation in the competition as the conflict in Gaza continues.
There have been some calls for a boycott of Eurovision in response to Israel’s entry. A spokesman for Rishi Sunak said that the Prime Minister condemned the protests and described the calls for a boycott as “unfair”.
Asked about Mr Sunak’s views on the protests, a No 10 spokesman said: “The Prime Minister thinks that these protests are wrong and some of the scenes we’ve seen have been outrageous.
“Just as we share the deep concern over the humanitarian crisis of Gaza, and we raise this regularly, when it comes to this debate around Eurovision and these protests, we are incredibly mindful of the Israelis and also Jewish people around the world who love Eurovision and their feelings seeing this in the aftermath of what was an atrocious terror attack and while hostages are still being held by Hamas, and he would urge people to consider this when repeating these unfair calls for a boycott.”
She added that while there was “always the right for peaceful protest”, “in terms of the Prime Minister’s opinion at the scenes and whether it is right to call for a boycott of their act. No, he thinks that’s wrong”.
