Over 70 Former Eurovision Participants Call for Ban on Israel and Broadcaster Kan

Basel (Quds News Network)- More than 70 former Eurovision participants have urged the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) to ban Israel and its public broadcaster, Kan, from the song contest, citing the ongoing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.

The participants, who include contestants, songwriters and lyricists, accused Israel’s Kan broadcaster of being complicit in Israeli genocide against Palestinians.

“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 participants wrote in a joint letter.

“We believe in the unifying power of music, which is why we refuse to allow music to be used as a tool to whitewash crimes against humanity.”

The signatories include two former winners of Eurovision: Portugal’s Salvador Sobral and Ireland’s Charlie McGettigan. British former contestants Mae Muller and Bianca Nicholas also signed the statement.

Recently, Three national broadcasters have also questioned the presence of Israel in the 2025 Eurovision song contest while it continues to attack and blockade the Gaza Strip.

Recently, the national broadcasters of Slovenia, Spain and Iceland have all expressed concerns to the EBU over the inclusion of Israel and its affiliates amid the ongoing assault.

Spain’s broadcaster RTVE contacted the EBU calling for a discussion among participating countries over Israeli broadcaster Kan being part of the event.

Iceland’s delegation to Eurovision also said they had informed their colleagues at the EBU of sentiments expressed by the foreign minister that it was “strange and actually unnatural” to be allowing Israel to participate.

They joined a decision by Slovenian national broadcaster RTV SLO last year that its board of directors would call on the EBU to no longer include Israel in the contest.

The song contest is set to take place this year on 17 May in Basel, Switzerland.

The participants said in the joint letter that the EBU had granted “total impunity” to Israel’s delegation last year while repressing others, “making the 2024 edition the most politicised, chaotic and unpleasant in the competition’s history”.

Many pro-Palestine activists have argued that Russia had been excluded over the war in Ukraine but that Israel had faced no similar penalty. The EBU has repeatedly stressed that Eurovision should be a non-political event and has pushed back at requests to exclude 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 former participants said in the letter. Thea Garrett, 2010 contestant for Malta, said: “[It] can’t be one rule for Russia and a completely different rule for Israel. You bomb, you’re out.”

The musicians said: “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.”

In a statement issued to HuffPost UK, the EBU said: “We understand the concerns and deeply held views around the current conflict in the Middle East.”

“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.”

“We received an application from our Israeli member Kan before the September deadline to participate in the 2025 event. The application from Kan met all the competition rules. As an independent media organisation, our decisions are based on these rules.”

The statement concluded: “We all aspire to keep the Eurovision Song Contest positive and celebratory and aspire to show the world as it could be, rather than how it necessarily is. The EBU remains aligned with other international organisations that have similarly maintained their inclusive stance towards Israeli participants in major competitions at this time.”

About two weeks ago, the director of the Slovenian broadcaster also said: “My position regarding the participants has not changed one bit since last year, and I remain firm in the appeal that I made to the European Broadcasting Union last year on behalf of Television Slovenija.”

“I called and I call again for clarification on why some are more equal than others. Of course, I am talking about the unequal treatment of Russia and Israel.

“And about the fact that member states should have the opportunity to transparently co-decide on all essential issues, including the possible exclusion of Israel.”