Israel’s presence at Eurovision was already a contentious issue last year considering the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.
Now, an open letter addressed to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) has been co-signed by 72 musicians and performers associated with the contest.
They appeal to organisers to ban Israel and its national broadcaster from the contest over the country’s “genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza and the decades-long regime of apartheid and military occupation against the entire Palestinian people.”
Among those to have signed the letter include former winners like Charlie McGettigan, Salvador Sobral and Fernando Tordo, as well as British singer Mae Muller, French singer La Zarra, former Turkish representative Hadise Açıkgöz and last year’s competitors Ásdís María and GÅTE, both of whom took part in what the letter describes as “the most politicised, chaotic and unpleasant in the competition’s history”.
Indeed, Eurovision 2024 was plagued by controversy due to Israel’s participation in the contest amid its ongoing attacks on Gaza. Some critics accused the EBU of hypocrisy for refusing to remove Israel from the competition, having previously ejected Russia in 2022 following Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
Israel was ultimately allowed to compete last year, despite threatening to withdraw after the country’s contestant was asked to amend her song 'October Rain' due to its perceived lyrical references to the 7 October attacks.
KAN also received heavy criticism last year for its delegation’s alleged treatment of contestants – specifically Irish contestant Bambie Thug, who accused the network of “inciting violence” against her.
This year’s letter reads: “[We] urge all members of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) to demand the exclusion of KAN, the Israeli public broadcaster, from the Eurovision Song Contest. KAN is complicit in Israel’s genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza and the decades-long regime of apartheid and military occupation against the entire Palestinian people.”
“By continuing to platform the representation of the Israeli state, the EBU is normalising and whitewashing its crimes,” the letter continues. “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.”
“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.”
You can read the letter in full on Artists For Palestine UK’s website here.
More than 56,000 people had signed a similar petition calling for Israel’s ban from that year, while elsewhere, Iceland’s Association of Composers and Lyricists and 1,400 industry professionals across Europe also called for Israel’s Eurovision entry to be suspended.
EBU has previously stated: “The EBU is an association of public service broadcasters who are all eligible to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest every year. We are not immune to global events but, together, it is our role to ensure the Contest remains – at its heart – a universal event that promotes connections, diversity and inclusion through music.”
The Eurovision final takes place this year in Basel, Switzerland, on 17 May. Israeli entrant Yuval Raphael is set to perform the track ‘New Day Will Rise’.
