Queer activists have accused the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) of "pinkwashing" Israel ahead of the Eurovision Song Contest final on Saturday.
Thursday evening's show included a pre-recorded message about the LGBTQ community, often seen as a key audience for the event, detailing the history of the contest and its openness to the community.
However, many LGBTQ activists have been among those vocally opposing Israel's involvement and say the country and the EBU, which runs the event, are engaged in laundering Israel's reputation or "pinkwashing".
Omar Khatib, a queer Palestinian writer and organiser from Jerusalem, told Middle East Eye that people had a clear choice to make.
"Either you are against genocide and against the mass killing of Palestinians, or you are willing to normalise and coexist with it," he said.
