More than 70 former Eurovision contestants demand Israel boycott due to Gaza War

An open letter signed by 72 former Eurovision participants calls for a boycott of Israel and demands that the Israeli broadcaster Kan News be barred from participating in the this month's Eurovision Song Contest in Switzerland. Addressed to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the letter accused KAN of being "complicit" in what it describes as Israel’s alleged "genocide," "apartheid," and "occupation."

“We, the undersigned former Eurovision participants, 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,” the letter claimed.

One of the signatories, Irish anti-Israel contestant Bambie Thug, who participated in Eurovision last year, accused Kan of “inciting violence against me, twice, three times.” Irish 1994 Eurovision winner, Charlie McGettigan, the Portuguese singer Fernando Tordo and the 2023 British singer Mae Muller also signed the letter.

“By continuing to platform the representation of the Israeli state, the EBU is normalising and whitewashing its crimes,” the signatories wrote.

The letter equated Russia’s illegal 2022 invasion of Ukraine with Israel’s exercise of its universal right to self-defense against the Iranian-backed terrorist group Hamas, which massacred 1,200 Israelis and abducted 251 people in its Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel.

“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 authors argued. “We stand in solidarity with this year’s contestants and condemn the EBU’s repeated refusal to take responsibility.”

“[It] can’t be one rule for Russia and a completely different rule for Israel. You bomb, you’re out,” argued the Maltese singer Thea Garrett, who participated in 2010 and also signed the letter.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is currently investigating the war crime charges against Israel, which was formally submitted by the South African government in early 2024. Not only Israel but also countries like the United States and Germany have strongly rejected the accusation of “genocide” in Gaza.

This marks the second consecutive year of vocal calls to exclude Israel from the prominent European song contest. Last year, Israeli singer Eden Golan received death threats amid the Hamas-initiated Gaza War. Despite the intense anti-Israel rhetoric, Golan ultimately achieved a respectable fifth-place finish in the 2024 final held in Sweden.

This year, Israel will be represented at Eurovision by Yuval Raphael, a survivor of the Nova Music Festival massacre, who will perform the song, "New Day Will Rise."

Last month, the EBU dismissed Spain's demand to debate Israel's participation in the song contest.

"We welcome the fact that the Spanish broadcasting authority confirms its commitment to the Eurovision contest and appreciate that there are deep concerns and opinions surrounding the current conflict in the Middle East. All members of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) are eligible to compete in the Eurovision Song Contest, and we are in constant contact with this year's participants, including RTVE [Spanish Broadcasting Corporation], on all aspects of the contest," the EBU said in its official statement.

Eurovision Director Martin Green OBE addressed anti-Israel activists.

“We understand the concerns and deeply held views around the current conflict in the Middle East,” Green said in an interview with The Independent.

“The EBU is an association of public service broadcasters who are all eligible to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest every year. Additionally, as part of its mission to secure a sustainable future for public service media, the EBU is supporting our Israeli Member Kan against the threat from being privatized or shut down by the Israeli government,” he continued.

A spokesman emphasized that the EBU is a non-political organization that embraces diversity and unity through music and culture.

“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.”