A Belgian broadcaster interrupted its coverage of the Eurovision Song Contest semi-final on Thursday night to display a protest message condemning Israel’s war on Gaza. In an act organised by a trade union, the screen briefly went black ahead of the semi-final coverage on VRT, Belgium’s public-service broadcaster in Flemish.

It then aired the message: “This is a union action. We condemn the human rights violations by the state of Israel. Moreover, the state of Israel destroys press freedom. Therefore, we are interrupting the broadcast momentarily.”

The message concluded with the hashtags “CeasefireNow” and “StopGenocide”.

A spokesperson for VRT told Belgian media that the broadcaster was aware the action would take place. “We were informed that it would happen. Trade unions have the right to take action and do not need permission for it. I can only confirm that we have taken note of the action,” said spokesperson Yasmine Van der Borght.

  • @breakingcups
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    14010 days ago

    This can only happen in nations where strong unions are supported and seen as a necessity for the benefit of the people.

  • @Eatspancakes84
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    3810 days ago

    Unfortunately, Israel stands to win tomorrow because right wingers that are usually antisemites, have suddenly decided that they hate Muslims more.

    • @LinkerbaanOP
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      010 days ago

      How does voting for Eurovision work? Is it ID registered or something?

        • @LinkerbaanOP
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          710 days ago

          So you’re telling me it’s pay2win…

        • Mossy Feathers (They/Them)
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          29 days ago

          What would happen if someone were to, say, use free phone numbers from Google voice or something like that to spam thousands of votes?

          • @[email protected]
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            19 days ago

            No idea, but I’m guessing the might block payments via their number. (you have to to pay still, besides the calling fees,im pretty sure)

    • @[email protected]
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      -19 days ago

      Aren’t the winners already decided in before anyway?

      I really doubt that any winner has been chosen by real votes for years.

  • @[email protected]
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    2910 days ago

    “interrupt” is carrying more weight than what happened. They showed this message after the credits rolled.

  • Resol van Lemmy
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    69 days ago

    This might be the final edition of the contest given how insanely chaotic it is.

    Belgium didn’t qualify to the final, and rightfully so, since they don’t have to deal with any additional chaos. Also, their neighbors the Netherlands got disqualified for allegations with one of the producers.