Eric Saade: “I had permission from the SVT to wear the Palestinian keffiyeh”

Even though the Eurovision 2024 grand final was almost four months ago, the issues surrounding it still bother fans of the competition, demonstrating yet again that it was the most controversial edition in recent memory. In particular, Eric Saade claimed that he had informed the SVT of his plan to wear the Palestinian symbol “keffiyeh”, and that the broadcaster had given its approval.

The Swedish singer, who represented his country at Eurovision 2011 and participated in the opening act of the first semi-final of this year’s contest, stated that Ebba Adielsson, SVT‘s executive producer for the Eurovision Song Contest, gave him permission to wear the Palestinian keffiyeh, telling him that “symbols are not a problem”.

The artist went on to say that he was taken aback by the EBU’s strong response. We remind you that the EBU had denounced the singer’s behaviour as “political” and had declined to upload his appearance on social media.

Ebba Adielsson’s response

Following the aforementioned interview, the executive producer of SVT made the following clarifications:

“I think I was clear about the rules that had to be followed”.

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Source: Dagens Nyheter