Eurovision drama: Icelandic presenter takes a jab at Israel

Icelandic social media was on fire on Tuesday evening after TV presenter Gísli Marteinn Baldursson criticized Israeli authorities during a live broadcast of the Eurovision song contest, mbl.is reports.

Gísli Marteinn, whose career with RÚV – the national broadcasting service – began in 1997, has been politically active alongside his TV appearances and was elected to the city council of Reykjavik in 2002 where he represented the liberal-conservative Independence Party.

When it comes to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict Icelanders seem to be divided into two camps of roughly equal size. A fairly large pro-Palestine protest took place in downtown Reykjavik on Saturday with the aim of pressuring Icelandic authorities to halt all trade with Israel as a display of solidarity with the Palestinian people.

Gísli Marteinn’s controversial comments came as the Israeli team was about to perform. “Contrary to what many would think the song Set me free is not about the Palestinian people who are kept prisoners in their own country in Israel’s settlements – but is instead a classic love song,” he said.

He later remarked about the performance: “Here we see quite a lot of flamethrowers and explosions but much less than has typically characterized Israel’s [Eurovision] performances. Perhaps they are busy directing their bombs to somewhere else these days.” ai@mbl.is