Almost an hour later, during the announcement of the televotes from around the world, the Palestinian flag made another appearance. Eurovision co-host Erez Tal told the BDSM-supporting anti-capitalist band Hatari of Iceland that they were given 186 points from global voters. The camera cut to the green room, where the band was sitting alongside the other delegations. The band members unrolled several banners reading “Palestine” and decorated with the Palestinian flag.

Hatari has been outspoken and heavily critical of the Israeli government for months, and said they would use the scrutiny of the competition to draw attention to Palestinians. During their time in the country, they toured Hebron and, in an interview for a Eurovision blog, said the “apartheid” was clear in the city.

Shortly after the contest ended, the EBU made it clear that neither appearance of the Palestinian flag was sanctioned or pre-approved. Regarding Madonna, organizers said that: “this element of the performance was not part of the rehearsals that had been cleared with the EBU and the host broadcaster, KAN. The Eurovision Song Contest is a non-political event and Madonna had been made aware of this.”

On Instagram on Sunday afternoon, Madonna cited a representative saying that “a message of peace is not political.” And on Twitter, the singer wrote: “Madame X is a freedom fighter,” referencing the name of her upcoming album. “I am grateful. For the opportunity to spread the message of peace and unity with the world.” When it came to Iceland, however, the EBU indicated it was considering punitive action against the country.

“The Eurovision Song Contest is a non-political event and this directly contradicts the contest rules,” the EBU said early Sunday morning. “The banners were quickly removed and the consequences of this action will be discussed by the Reference Group [the contest’s executive board] after the contest.”

cnxps.cmd.push(function () { cnxps({ playerId: '36af7c51-0caf-4741-9824-2c941fc6c17b' }).render('4c4d856e0e6f4e3d808bbc1715e132f6'); });

One band member, Einar Stefannson, posted a video on Instagram shortly after the incident, showing staff members of KAN confiscating the banners from the group. Felix Bergsson, Iceland’s delegation head, told the country’s public broadcaster RUV that he didn’t know the band was planning such a demonstration, but he supported it.