The Swedish artist Eric Saade (33) was among those who performed during the opening show in Eurovision’s first semi-final on Tuesday. There he entered the stage with a Palestine scarf wrapped around his hand.
Last week it became clear that the EBU (European Broadcasting Union) is banning Palestinian flags during the music festival.
In relation to Expressen, the EBU states the following:
“The Eurovision Song Contest is a live TV programme. All athletes are made aware of the rules of the competition, and we regret that Eric Saade chose to compromise the non-political nature of the event”.
Saade, for his part, does not want to apologize and reacts to the EBU’s response.
Saade grew up outside Helsingborg. His father comes from Lebanon, but has roots in Palestine. The mother is Swedish.
– I got that shawl from my father as a little boy, so that I would never forget where the family comes from. Little did I know then that it would one day be called a political symbol. It’s like calling the Dalah horse a political symbol. In my eyes, it’s just racism, says the artist to SVT.
– I just want to be inclusive and wear something that is real to me, but it seems that the EBU thinks that my ethnicity is controversial. It says nothing about me, and everything about them. I say like this year’s Eurovision slogan: United by music (united by music, editor’s note).
