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AMID CHANTS OF “free, free, Palestine”, around 200 people gathered at an event in Vienna this afternoon calling for Israel to be excluded from the Eurovision Song Contest, with organisers saying they expected more people to attend as the evening went on.
Billed as a ‘political event featuring music’, it’s being organised to coincide with Nabka Day, the anniversary of when around 760,000 Palestinians fled or were driven from their homes during the 1948 wartime creation of Israel.
The protest at the historic Maria-Theresien-Platz is happening around a kilometre from a square at Vienna’s city hall that’s been designated as the Eurovision Village – a fan space for song contest-themed concerts and screenings of the shows.
Protests aren’t allowed in the immediate area of the Eurovision arena itself, located some 3 km away in the west of the city. Around 10,000 paying fans were beginning to queue there this evening ahead of a full run-through of the Grand Final show.
Palestine Solidarity Austria, who are staging the protest, have accused Eurovision of becoming “part of a propaganda apparatus” for the Israeli government.
Contest organisers the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) have repeatedly stressed that the world’s biggest live music event is non-political – a contest between national broadcasters and not states.
Marco Wanjura, one of the organisers of the demonstration, disagrees.
“Artists who are participating in the Eurovision Song Contest, like sportsmen in the Olympic Games or football championships, are not representing themselves, they’re representing the state.”
“It’s not about the artist, it’s about their representation, what they’re standing for.”
Another protest is being planned for the city tomorrow afternoon, just hours before the 25 acts still in contention perform in the marathon finale.
Statements from the city’s police in recent weeks have stressed that Austrian law puts very few restrictions on public gatherings or protests, but that officers would be on standby to intervene if needed.
Speakers on the stage this afternoon called on their supporters not to let off any fireworks and to remain calm in the face of any provocation.
Rory Flynn, an Irishman who lives in Vienna, said that in spite of an obvious upping of security measures, there had been no trouble in the city throughout the week.
“I think there’s a good relationship between the demonstrating groups and the police – and in general, that’s just the way in Vienna. It’s a very laid-back city and there’s a philosophy of living with each other.”
Five broadcasters, including Ireland’s RTÉ, have decided to boycott the contest this year over Israel’s war on Gaza.
Whether they’ll return next year remains an open question. Fresh revelations in the New York Times about vote-getting campaigns backed by an Israeli state agency during last year’s contest have raised new concerns for the integrity of the voting system in recent days.
Back at the contest, some tension at the daily press conference as song contest boss Martin Green is asked about data from the Spanish 2025 televote contained in a New York Times article earlier this week. That's Sweden's @Aftonbladet pressing for an answer... pic.twitter.com/IcaHi4IWqV
— Daragh Brophy (@DaraghBroph) May 15, 2026
As things stand Finland are still favourites to win it, with Australia’s Delta Goodrem also in with a shout of claiming the country’s first win in the contest since it joined in 2015.
Israel’s odds have improved in the last 24 hours – up to fourth in the odds table, and Eurovision experts reckon an Israeli win or second place finish could well be on the cards.
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