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Over 1,400 artists are calling for Israel’s exclusion from the ESC in a petition. The reason for this is the conflict in Gaza.
“United by Music”: This is the motto of the Eurovision Song Contest, which is taking place this year in Malmö, Sweden.
However, this desired unity currently appears to be crumbling. The 37 participating countries were announced on December 5th. Now more and more voices are calling for Israel to be excluded from the competition.
Gaza war trigger
Over 1,400 Finnish artists and other people from the Finnish music industry are calling for Israel to be excluded from the ESC in a petition. The reason for this is possible war crimes committed by the country in the Gaza war. Their reasoning: Israel should not be allowed to polish its image by participating in the music competition. If Israel is not excluded, they are calling on Finnish television to boycott the ESC.
Iceland’s music scene also made similar boycott demands to Icelandic Radio in December. And in Norway, demonstrators gathered outside the headquarters of television station NRK in Oslo to demonstrate for the same appeal. According to media reports, the Norwegian broadcaster subsequently stated that such a boycott was not part of its broadcasting mandate.
No consequences so far
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which organizes the Eurovision Song Contest, has not yet followed up on the demands. She makes it known that the ESC is not a political event. In addition, Israel fulfills the Conditions for participation in the competition.
Belarus was excluded from the Eurovision Song Contest in 2021. According to the EBU, the politically unstable situation in the Eastern European country and the suppression of human rights were decisive for this decision. Since the invasion of Ukraine, Russia has also been banned from the music competition. At the beginning of June, the Slovakian broadcaster RTVS excluded participation in the ESC 2024 for financial reasons.
This year’s ESC semi-finals will take place on May 7th and 9th. The final will take place on May 11th.