Palestinian Flags Fly at Protests Worldwide. They Won't Be at Eurovision.

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The organizers of the glitzy singing contest said that attendees would be allowed to wave only the flags of participating nations — including Israel's.

A Palestinian flag backlit by the sun at a demonstration in Oakland, Calif., on Wednesday.Credit...Mike Kai Chen for The New York Times

Protesters are waving Palestinian flags on American college campuses and in cities around the world to put pressure on Israel to end the war in the Gaza Strip. But there is one place where that symbol will be absent next week: inside the Eurovision Song Contest.

Attendees at this year's event in Malmo, Sweden, which starts on Tuesday, will not be allowed to bring Palestinian flags or wave banners with slogans about the war between Israel and Hamas, a spokesperson for the European Broadcasting Union, which organizes the contest, said on Thursday.

Ticket buyers at this year's Eurovision Song Contest are allowed to bring and display only flags representing the 37 participating countries, the spokesperson said in an email. That includes Israel. The only exceptions are rainbow and pride flags representing L.G.B.T.Q. people, the spokesperson added.

Eurovision has long billed itself as an apolitical contest. The spokesperson said although the flags policy was reviewed every year, it had not changed since the last edition, held in Liverpool, England. But the rule has upset some Eurovision fans who for months have been calling for the event's organizers to ban Israel from taking part because of its military campaign in Gaza.

Inga Straumland, an Icelandic fan, called the decision to disallow Palestinian flags "appalling" and said in an interview that the move was "a strong limit on freedom of expression," especially given that the flag of Israel, a Eurovision contestant, would be present.

Although Israel is not in Europe, the country is eligible to compete because its broadcaster is a member of the European Broadcasting Union. The country has won Eurovision four times since first entering in 1973.

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