#eric saade

Eric Saade wearing a keffiyeh (Palestinian scarf) around his hand during his performance in the opening act of the first semifinal in Eurovision 2024, as a protest against EBU banning Palestinian flags

That being said, it's disgusting and appaling that SVT would ask eric saade, a half-palestinian man, to perform at eurovision, and then trash him and make official statements berating him for wearing a palestinian garment while performing, because he "made it political".

for those who don't know, he represented sweden in esc in 2011, and he's been very open about his support for palestine, as he's half palestinian himself, and his intent with taking part in this year's show was always in protest of israel

Swedish-Palestinian singer Eric Saade who placed 3rd in Eurovision 2011 was one of three opening numbers in this year’s ESC. In his performance he wore a keffiyeh on his arm and his is the only of all three performers that weren’t posted to the official ESC instagram account.

He had this to say:

During his opening performance to the first semi-final of the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest, Eric Saade (Sweden 2011) wore a keffiyeh—a traditional Palestinian article of clothing—around his wrist.

Saade was criticized for this by the EBU, who said that "[The EBU regrets] that Eric Saade chose to compromise the non-political nature of the event.”

In response, Saade expressed his disappointment at the response he received from the EBU:

“I got this [keffiyeh] from my father as a little boy, to never forget where our family is from. Back then I didn’t know that it would one day be called a ‘political symbol’. It’s like calling ‘Dalahästen’ [a traditional Swedish horse statue] a political symbol. In my eyes it’s only racism.

I just wanted to be inclusive and wear something that felt real to me – but the EBU seem to think that my ethnicity is controversial. It says nothing about me, but everything about them. I say like this year’s ESC-slogan: United by music.”

Saade, prior to the contest, also shared his disappointment with the handling of the competition, calling it "disgraceful;" adding on that the slogan, "United by Music," is "a joke."

[Sources]