A Eurovision song contest crew member was hit with paint after two people tried to rush on stage to disrupt Israeli singer Yuval Raphael’s performance on Saturday, organisers in Basel said.
The incident took place while Raphael, 24, was performing New Day Will Rise. No one was injured, and the man and woman involved were escorted from the venue.
A spokesperson for Swiss broadcaster SRG SSR, which is organising the contest, said: “At the end of the Israeli performance, a man and a woman tried to get over a barrier on to the stage. They were stopped. One of the two agitators threw paint and a crew member was hit.
“The crew member is fine and nobody was injured. The man and the woman were taken out of the venue and handed over to the police.”
A spokesperson for Israeli broadcaster Kan said the protesters “were blocked by security officials but Raphael was shaken and upset”.
“At the same time, a big anti-Israel protest takes place in the centre of Basel. Israeli national security council issued a warning to Israeli civilians in the city to keep a low profile,” he added.
The pro-Palestinian protesters were later released by police.
A spokesman for Basel police said: “The organiser handed the two people over to the police. The police checked the two people and then released them. It is now up to the organiser to decide whether to press charges.”
Earlier, pro-Palestinian protests took place near a free concert in the centre of Basel against Israel’s inclusion in the contest, as the country intensifies its bombardment of Gaza and enforces blockades of food and other humanitarian supplies. A small group nearby also demonstrated with Israeli flags.
Protesters clashed briefly with police in the centre of the city shortly before Raphael took to the stage at the St Jakobshalle venue.
Police used teargas and rolled in a water cannon truck to prevent demonstrators from marching through the centre of the northern Swiss city.
The confrontation began when police intervened to stop an altercation after two men rushed towards the protesters waving Israeli flags, according to Swiss news agency Keystone-ATS.
Israel’s national security council had issued a warning to Israelis in Basel about the protest, advising them to “avoid confrontations with demonstrators and to keep Israeli identifiers low-profile in public spaces”.
Hundreds of demonstrators, many wearing Palestinian keffiyeh scarves, carried signs stating: “No Music for Murder”, “Stop Genocide”, and “Singing while Gaza Burns”.
Some of the protesters burned huge Israeli and US flags while others sent red and green smoke into the air, according to the AFP news agency.
During Raphael’s dress rehearsal on Thursday, six people with whistles and Palestinian flags obstructed her act and were subsequently ejected from the venue.
Raphael survived the 7 October 2023 attack on Israel by Hamas gunmen at the Nova music festival, which killed hundreds of people.
The singer hid under a pile of dead bodies for eight hours until she was rescued.
