Pro-Palestinian demonstrators interrupt concert by Russian-Israeli quartet in Lisbon

The incident happened during a performance by the Jerusalem Quartet at the Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation in Lisbon

The Jerusalem Quartet was performing String Quartet No. 1 by Czech composer Bedřich Smetana when a group of pro-Palestinian demonstrators stood up in the audience and interrupted the performance, according to Expresso.

Reportedly, they were calling for a boycott of the four Israeli musicians: Alexandre Pavlovsky, Sergei Bresler, Kyril Zlotiknov and Ori Kam. This is not the first time they face such protests. In the last 9 years, their performances have already been interrupted on three occasions at Gulbenkian.

In fact, authorities were already prepared for a disruption of this nature, with several police vehicles parked at the entrance even before the Jerusalem Quartet began their performance.

According to Expresso, the concert was interrupted twice. In the first moment, one young woman showed a Palestinian flag and was grabbed by one of the spectators. Meanwhile, another protester threw leaflets from the second row. The protests stopped when security guards removed three protesters.

In the second moment, demonstrators scattered throughout the room began shouting slogans such as "Free Palestine" and "genocide". The interruption led the audience to respond not only with insults and booing, but also with words of encouragement and applause for the musicians. According to Expresso, the demonstrators were escorted out of the room by police and security guards.