A pro-Palestine demonstration in Basel on the occasion of the ESC in Switzerland 2025.Image: keystone
ESC
April 24, 2026, 1:39 p.mApril 24, 2026, 1:39 p.m
Organizers are calling for a large demonstration against Israel’s participation on the final day of the Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna on May 16th. Several thousand participants are said to have already registered, Austrian media report.
Five countries have also taken themselves out of the running: Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Spain are not taking part in the ESC because Israel is taking part. “We hope that the five broadcasters will be there again one day,” says Martin Green, director of the Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna.
In general, there have been cases in the past in which broadcasters did not take part for a year or longer. “This will just be part of a long story at some point,” said Green.
The number of anti-Semitic incidents is increasing
The Jewish community is looking forward to the Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna. The ESC is a celebration of diversity. “There is a small but loud and dangerous minority that wants to destroy this,” says Oskar Deutsch, President of the Jewish Community of Vienna.
At the same time, the number of registered anti-Semitic incidents in Austria reached a new high in 2025. In the previous year, 1,532 cases were documented by the registration office of the Jewish Community.
A police operation in Vienna.Image: keystone
Compared to 2024, the increase is less than one percent, but that is no reason to be happy, said the head of the reporting office, Johannan Edelman:
“We see here the consolidation of a state of crisis instead of a decline.”
19 physical attacks
The numbers have risen sharply since the major attack on Israel by Hamas and other groups and the subsequent Israeli military operation in the Gaza Strip. “The anti-Semitic tsunami after October 7, 2023 has turned into a sustained flood,” said Oskar Deutsch.
One cannot and should not get used to this situation, emphasized Deutsch. The Jewish community is looking forward to the Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna in May, despite the announced anti-Israel demonstrations, he said. The ESC is a celebration of diversity. “There is a small but loud and dangerous minority that wants to destroy this,” said Deutsch.
Of the 1,532 cases, 205 involved property damage, 27 were threats and 19 were physical attacks. The rest was verbal and written hostility. Not every anti-Semitic online comment was counted individually. Instead, multiple comments were bundled together on one post or article about one incident.
The reporting office assigned 28 percent of the cases to the left-wing political spectrum, almost 25 percent had a Muslim background and 20 percent were politically motivated to the right. The rest could not be clearly assigned. (leo with material from sda and dpa)