BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Dozens of protesters gathered outside the Serbian state RTS broadcaster on Tuesday to demand that the Balkan country pull out of the Eurovision Song Contest because of Israel’s participation.

The year’s main competition with 35 competing countries is scheduled to be held May 12-16 in Vienna. Serbia will be represented by Lavina, a six-member metal band.

The protesters in central Belgrade waved Palestinian flags and held banners accusing Israel of atrocities during the war in Gaza. They called on RTS not to broadcast the contest and for Serbians to refrain from watching it.

“A Eurovision without Israel would mean defending the ideals that this event proclaims,” a statement by the protest organizers said.

There was no immediate reaction from RTS. Serbia has close ties with Israel.

The Eurovision Song Contest strives to put pop music before politics but has repeatedly been embroiled in world events. Russia was expelled in 2022 after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

The competition’s organizers decided in December to allow Israel to compete, which prompted the walkout of Slovenia, Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands and Spain. Slovenia’s public broadcaster RTV Slovenia has said it will air a Palestinian program at the time of the Eurovision contest.