Campaign groups No Music For Genocide and the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic & Cultural Boycott of Israel are calling for a boycott of this year’s highly divisive Eurovision Song Contest.
More than 1,000 artists, including Massive Attack, Kneecap, Brian Eno, Sigur Rós, Nadine Shah, Mogwai and Hot Chip, have signed an open letter calling for a boycott of Eurovision 2026 in protest of Israel’s participation.
The letter calls upon the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) to ban KAN – the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation – from the upcoming contest.
“For the third consecutive year,” the letter states, Israel will be “celebrated onstage despite its ongoing genocide in Gaza, while Russia remains banned for its illegal invasion of Ukraine.”
“We refuse to be silent when Israel’s genocidal violence soundtracks and silences Palestinian lives,” the letter reads. “When children in Israeli prisons endure beatings for humming a tune. When all that’s left of nearly every stage, studio, bookshop and university in Gaza is piles of rubble, under which slaughtered bodies still await recovery and proper burial.”
In a statement, a spokesperson for No Music For Genocide said: “People of conscience around the globe are fighting complicity in every industry for a free Palestine and a freer world. While many of us in the industry make light of Eurovision or doubt our own power as cultural producers, genocidal Israel’s leaders speak openly about the contest’s geopolitical value.”
Organisers applauded the five countries – Spain, Ireland, Slovenia, the Netherlands and Iceland – for withdrawing from this year’s contest, as well as “the many national selection finalists committing to refuse to go to Eurovision”.
They later added: “As artists, we recognise our collective agency – and the power of refusal. We refuse to be silent. We refuse to be complicit. We call on others in our industry to join us. And we stand in solidarity with all principled efforts to end complicity in every industry."
The EBU has repeatedly defended its decision to allow Israel to take part in Eurovision, despite allegations of hypocrisy. In 2022, the organisation barred Russia from participating in Eurovision after its invasion of Ukraine, and the ban remains.
Kneecap said: “Russia was banned from Eurovision in 2022. For the third year running, [Israel is] welcomed back onto the stage. That’s not neutrality. That’s a choice.”
Israel has consistently denied that it is committing genocide in Gaza. However, in September 2025, a UN inquiry concluded that Israel is committing genocide.
Eurovision is the world’s biggest music event, attracting 166 million viewers last year. This year’s controversial 70th edition is set to take place in Vienna, Austria. The final will be on 16 May 2026.
