Belgium’s Dutch public broadcaster VRT briefly interrupted the broadcast while the second semi-final of the Eurovision Song Contest was on to share a message protesting Israeli attacks on Palestinians. “This is a union action. We condemn the human rights violations of the State of Israel. Israel destroys press freedom. Therefore, we are stopping the broadcast for a short time. #Immediate ceasefire #Stop the genocide,” said the message.

The ACOD-VRT workers’ union, which organized the protest, stated that it was unacceptable for an Israeli candidate to take part in the Eurovision Song Contest and that simply standing by and watching what Israel was doing was no longer an option.