At last week’s Eurovision final in Basel, Switzerland, three Youth Demand supporters were detained after attempting to access the stage and unfurl a banner during Yuval Raphael’s performance. Watch our exclusive interview with David Currey and Leon Meaghan.
Yuval Raphael was allowed to perform Israel’s Eurovision entry “New Day Will Rise” despite international calls to boycott the country over its actions in Gaza. Before embarking on her singing career, the 24 year-old served her two year mandatory military service as a border-crossing guard stationed at security checkpoints in Jerusalem. These crossings are considered illegal under international law by a wide range of major bodies including the United Nations, and the International Court of Justice.
As part of their call for the UK government to impose a full trade embargo on Israel, the protesters from the youth-led civil resistance group Youth Demand smuggled a banner with the simple slogan “Stop Arming Israel” into the arena. Having scoped out a way on to the stage, they waited for Israel’s performance to begin, but were hampered by a large increase in security personnel just before the song’s start.
Some media reports claimed the protesters sprayed paint on audience members. These included the odious Guardian, which claimed that some crew were hit with “paint”.
David and Meaghan explained there was a third person who threw harmless party-style red cornflour in front of security guards as a diversion. When Meaghan was stopped on the stairs she tried to throw some on to the stage, and ended up covering herself. It washed off easily later.
David was forcibly pinned against the fence by several security staff, one of whom assaulted him by pulling his hair and slapping him around the head. Three activists were then marched outside and held behind a screen until armed police arrived and escorted them out.
They were detained for around two hours but eventually after details were taken, police decided it would be up to Eurovision to decide whether to press charges or not and if so, it would probably mean a small fine. Each protester was escorted away from the area and banned from returning.
Seemingly annoyed that David kept shouting ‘Free Palestine’ during his detainment, Swiss police separated him from the others and drove out of town, dumping him without a phone some 20 minutes from the nearest station.
In our interview, David talked about UK complicity, and gave the example of a weapons firm less than an hour’s drive from his home in the UK, which manufactures parts for planes that are dropping bombs on Palestinian civilians. Both he and Meaghan expressed their dissatisfaction over recent comments and shift in tone from Keir Starmer and David Lammy, saying it was “too little too late”, and was way behind the general public’s position on Israel. “We need an immediate arms ban and trade embargo”.
Youth Demand is part of Umbrella and a member of the A22 Network of civil resistance projects, and the action was supported by House Of The People, which is campaigning for a representative citizen’s assembly to replace the House of Lords.
One of the people who took part in the Eurovision Action, Lucy Porter, said:
“From people’s assemblies across the country, one thing is crystal clear – the British public does not support our taxes funding illegal wars and genocide, like what’s happening in Palestine with the full backing of our government. Eurovision is meant to be a celebration of unity and peace, but how can we stay silent while these values are trampled? We need real democracy – one where people have a say in the decisions that shape our future. That’s why I’m calling on everyone to sign up to the House of the People and be part of building a new national mandate through the People’s Charter. Share it with your friends. If they won’t listen to us in Parliament, we’ll build one of our own.”
The House of the People is planning a citizen’s assembly in July 2025. Any person in the UK is invited to sign up, with 100 participants being selected by a Democratic Lottery. They will be offered advice by experts to create five concrete proposals for the UK government, based on Assemblies across the UK.
Since December 2023, the British army has flown over 500 spy flights over Gaza, raising fears of complicity in Israeli war crimes. These continued during and after the ceasefire, despite Israel’s bombing campaign killing over 17,400 children – many more than the 6,500-strong audience in the Eurovision arena in Basel. The UK government has refused to deny Israeli F-35 fighter jets bombing Gaza from access to the Akrotiri RAF bases in Cyprus.
