EBU supports Israel’s inclusion at Eurovision

The European Broadcasting Union has backed Israel appearing in this year’s Eurovision event in Malmö, Sweden.

“The Eurovision Song Contest is a non-political music event and a competition between public service broadcasters who are members of the EBU. It is not a contest between governments,” EBU director general, Noel Curran, said.

“Our governing bodies … did review the participants list for the 2024 contest and agreed that the Israeli public broadcaster Kan met all the competition rules for this year and can participate, as it has for the past 50 years.”

Finnish and Icelandic artists are among those who called for Israel to be banned over the ongoing Gaza War. By contrast, a letting supporting Israel’s participation was signed by the likes of Gene Simmons, Helen Mirren, Boy George, Emmy Rossum, Mayam Bialik, Selma Blair, Mayim Bialik, Ginnifer Goodwin, Liev Schreiber, Julianna Margulies, Scooter Braun and Debra Messing.

As the Agence France Press reports, Mr. Curran also rejects comparisons with recent bans for Russia.

“In the case of Russia, the Russian broadcasters themselves were suspended from the EBU due to their persistent breaches of membership obligations and the violation of public service values,” he said. “The relationship between Kan and the Israeli government is fundamentally different to the relationship that exists between those Russian members and the state, with the Israeli government in recent years threatening to close down the broadcaster.”

In January, more than 1,400 artists based in Finland signed a petition calling for Israel to be excluded from this year’s contest. Their petition said: “It is not in accordance with our values that a country that commits war crimes and continues a military occupation is given a public stage to polish its image in the name of music.”

“At the same time other participating countries end up giving their support to Israel’s policies.”

Eden Golan (pictured) will represent Israel at the song contest in May. Her song has yet to be announced.

Source: Guardian