Over 70 former Eurovision participants have signed an open letter calling for the ban of Israel and its national broadcaster, Kan, from this year’s song contest.
The group of signatories, including British artist Mae Muller, Ireland’s 1994 Eurovision champion Charlie McGettigan, and Portuguese singer Fernando Tordo, appealed to the European Broadcasting Union to bar Israel from the contest, citing the country’s “genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza and the decades-long regime of apartheid and military occupation against the entire Palestinian people.”
The letter cites the ongoing conflict in the region, which, according to the health ministry, has resulted in the deaths of over 50,000 people in Gaza, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Tensions that had built over decades intensified on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas militants launched a deadly assault on an Israeli music festival, killing nearly 1,200 people.
Israel’s sustained airstrikes on Gaza sparked uproar during last year’s Eurovision Song Contest in Sweden, which the letter describes as “the most politicized, chaotic, and unpleasant” edition in the event’s history.
Despite controversy and backlash, including protests from delegates and viewers, Israeli contestant Eden Golan secured fifth place in the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest.
That year, more than 56,000 people signed a petition demanding Israel be banned, and similar appeals came from Iceland’s Association of Composers and Lyricists, along with over 1,400 prominent names in the music industry from across Europe, who called for organizers to suspend Golan from the event.
This year, the Eurovision final is scheduled for May 17 in Basel, Switzerland, where Israel will be represented by Yuval Raphael performing the song “New Day Will Rise.”
The letter’s signatories have accused Israel’s national broadcaster, Kan, of playing a “complicit” role in the ongoing conflict.
“The EBU has already demonstrated that it is capable of taking measures, as in 2022, when it expelled Russia from the competition. We don’t accept this double standard regarding Israel,” the letter continues.
“As singers, songwriters, musicians and others who have had the privilege of participating in Eurovision, we urge the EBU and all its member broadcasters to act now and prevent further discredit and disruption to the festival: Israel must be excluded from Eurovision,” the letter adds.
The EBU said in a statement to the Hollywood Reporter that the team “understands the concerns and deeply held views around the current conflict in the Middle East.”
“The EBU is not immune to global events but, together, with our Members, it is our role to ensure the Contest remains — at its heart — a universal event that promotes connections, diversity and inclusion through music. We all aspire to keep the Eurovision Song Contest positive and celebratory and aspire to show the world as it could be, rather than how it necessarily is,” the statement reads.
“As a reminder, the EBU is an association of public service broadcasters, not governments, who are all eligible to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest every year if they meet the requisite requirements. It is not our role to make comparisons between conflicts. As part of its mission to secure a sustainable future for public service media, the EBU is supporting Israeli Member Kan against the threat from being privatized or shut down by the Israeli government. The EBU remains aligned with other international organizations that have similarly maintained their inclusive stance towards Israeli participants in major competitions at this time.”
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