Protesters march across Malmo in first of two anti-Israel rallies this weekend

MALMO — Thousands gather in Malmo, Sweden, to protest Israel’s participation in the Eurovision Song Contest, hours before Eden Golan is set to appear on stage in the second semifinal tonight.

The protesters amass in a public square in the city, and begin marching toward a park about an hour away by foot. Organizers predict the march will end around 6 p.m., which is when a pro-Israel rally is set to take place in a square only blocks from the pro-Palestinian gathering.

The event marks the first of two large rallies against Israel organized by Stop Israel, a loosely built network of about 60 political groups on the far left, including the Left Party, which holds seats in the Swedish Parliament, as well as Fridays for Future, the Swedish climate movement spearheaded by activist Greta Thunberg. Both Stop Israel and Fridays for Future declined interview requests from The Times of Israel.

On its website, Stop Israel published a number of anti-Israel slogans officially allowed at today’s rally, including “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” as well as calls for revolution, intifada, and the Palestinians’ right to evict Jews from the Holy Land.

A slogan not permitted by the organizers, but heard at one segment of the march, was “Khaybar, Khaybar, ya yahud!” a saying popularized during the first intifada referencing a centuries-old Muslim conquest of a Jewish area.