Dozens of protesters gathered outside Serbia's state broadcaster RTS in Belgrade on Tuesday, demanding the nation withdraw from the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest due to Israel 's participation amid the Gaza conflict. Waving Palestinian flags and displaying banners accusing Israel of atrocities, demonstrators urged RTS not to air the contest and called for a public boycott. "A Eurovision without Israel would mean defending the ideals that this event proclaims," a statement from the protest organisers declared. The annual competition, scheduled for May 12-16 in Vienna , often struggles to separate pop music from politics. Organisers' December decision to allow Israel to compete prompted walkouts from Slovenia , Iceland , Ireland , the Netherlands , and Spain . Slovenia's public broadcaster, RTV Slovenia, will instead air a Palestinian programme. This follows Russia 's expulsion in 2022 after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine .…