Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
The Schmooze

Madonna Displays Palestinian And Israeli Flags At Eurovision, Sparking Controversy

Singer. Actress. Kabbalist. Political activist?

During her performance at the 2019 Eurovision song contest in Tel Aviv on Saturday night, Madonna made a major statement by featuring the Palestinian and Israeli flags on the backs of two of her backup dancers.

Two of Madonna's dancers perform  with Israeli and Palestinian flags on their backs during her Eurovision performance.

Two of Madonna’s dancers perform with Israeli and Palestinian flags on their backs during her Eurovision performance. Image by Getty Images

Madonna’s set, which included the 1989 mega-hit “Like A Prayer” and her new single “Future” with rapper Quavo, featured her dancers performing in front of a black screen with the words “Wake Up” displayed.

When the singer posted a clip of her performance to Instagram, she explained that she was grateful “for the opportunity to spread the message of peace and unity with the world.”

The stunt was not approved by the European Broadcasting Union, one of the co-producers of the show. In a statement to USA Today, the company said that “the Eurovision Song Contest is a non-political event and Madonna had been made aware of this.”

Before her slated performance at Eurovision, the Queen of Pop told the audience, “Let’s never underestimate the power of music to bring people together.”

Despite there being calls for her to boycott the worldwide event, Madonna refused to listen. “I’ll never stop playing music to suit someone’s political agenda,” she told Reuters last week. “Nor will I stop speaking out against violations of human rights wherever in the world they may be.”

Adrianna Chaviva Freedman is the Social Media Intern for the Forward. You can reach her at [email protected] or on Twitter @ac_freedman

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse..

Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.