Song Contest: Organizers against exclusion from Israel

“The EBU is committed to ensuring that the Eurovision Song Contest remains a non-political event that unites audiences worldwide through music,” the organizers said. “It’s a competition for broadcasters – not for governments.”

The EBU has been saying something like this for weeks. The committees checked the list of participants and confirmed that Israel met all the requirements for participation. Israel’s public broadcaster has been taking part in the competition for 50 years.

Exclusion demanded

In various countries and especially on social networks, voices have been raised calling for Israel to be excluded from this year’s ESC. This is about Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip after the terrorist attack by the Islamist Hamas. Israel is criticized primarily because of the casualties among the civilian population.

In Finland, for example, hundreds of musicians and other music industry representatives recently called on radio station Yle to put pressure on the EBU. There have also been calls in several countries to boycott the ESC if Israel is allowed to take part.

The 68th ESC is taking place in Sweden this year because singer Loreen won last year’s competition in Liverpool with the song “Tattoo” for the Scandinavian country. At the beginning of December, the EBU published a list of 37 participating broadcasters – including KAN from Israel. Austria, meanwhile, is sending singer Kaleen to Sweden. The ESC final will take place on May 11th in Malmö.

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