Rishi Sunak has condemned protests against Israel’s participation in the Eurovision song contest as “outrageous”.
Thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters gathered in Malmo, Sweden, on Thursday to demonstrate against Israel’s inclusion in the Eurovision Song Contest as the war in Gaza continues.
There have been calls from campaigners worldwide, including within the UK, for fans to boycott the annual competition this year, as Israeli entrant Eden Golan reaches the final.
But Rishi Sunak has condemned the protests against Israel’s participation as “wrong” and the boycott calls as “unfair”.
His spokesman said: “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 atrocious terror attack and while hostages are still being held by Hamas.
“He would urge people to consider this when repeating these unfair calls for a boycott,” she added.
The spokesman added that there was “always the right for peaceful protest” and that it was “part of democracy here and around the world”
“But 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.”