VRT’s coverage of the second semi-final of Eurovision 2024 was briefly interrupted by a call for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Unions at VRT, the Dutch-language public broadcaster in Belgium, briefly interrupted the start of the live broadcast of semi-final 2 of Eurovision 2024. ACOD-VRT interrupted the broadcast with an on-screen message reading:
This is industrial action. We condemn the human rights violations by the State of Israel. Furthermore, the State of Israel is destroying freedom of the press. This is why we are interrupting the broadcast for a moment #CeaseFireNow #StopGenocideNow
There had been protests outside of both VRT and RTBF today against Belgium’s participation in the Eurovision Song Contest, at the same time that Israel is competing in the event.
Mustii, who represented Belgium this evening with “Before The Party’s Over”, called for peace as part of his performance in Malmö. The singer had the word “peace” written on his upper arm, which could be seen towards the end of his performance.
Since the war in Gaza began on October 7, Israel’s participation in Eurovision has been a controversial topic. Many artists, musicians, and fans across Europe have called for Israel to be excluded from the competition because of their involvement in military action.
Israel’s national final, HaKokhav HaBa, which is broadcast by Keshet 12 but used as a Eurovision selection in collaboration with KAN, featured judges and contestants wearing military uniform and overt promotion of the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF).
This led some Eurovision media organisations, including Eurovoix, to substantially restrict their coverage of Israel within Eurovision.
Some of this year’s Eurovision artists, including Windows95Man from Finland and Denmark’s SABA, have also said they considered whether competing in Eurovision was the right thing to do if Israel were still involved.
Image Source: Sarah Louise Bennet/EBU | Source: RTBF / VRT
Belgium was one of the original seven nations to participate in the first edition of the Eurovision Song Contest in 1956. To date, the country has won the contest only once in 1986. Sandra Kim won the contest with the song “J’aime la vie”. Her victory was not without controversy when it emerged that Sandra was just 13 years old, two years younger than the age restriction at the time. In the late 00s, Belgium struggled in the contest failing to reach the final annually from 2005 until 2010, when Tom Dice finished 6th in the final with 143 points. Belgium has finished last at the contest six times, including two sets of nul points.
