We need to boycott the Eurovision Song Contest. The participation of Israel makes the contest in direct conflict with its own values of unity and uplifting human rights.
The Eurovision Song Contest is one of the most ambitious and enduring statements of international unity in recent history. As the contest has grown it has morphed from its post war origins into an institution for many people, namely members of the LGBTQ+ community. It is with a heavy but clear heart that I urge anyone still intending to watch the contest this year in Austria to boycott the show. If you haven’t been following the building controversy around Eurovision, the heart of the matter lies in the continued participation of Israel.
That’s right, a contest that exists with the aim of unity and peacemaking is still allowing the genocidal apartheid state of Israel to compete, ignoring the fact that Israel is still murdering innocent people in Palestine and Lebanon. This is a genocide that has been recognised as such by several international bodies, and is probably the first in human history to be carried out so brazenly in front of the eyes of the world. It is a deeply atrocious and revolting act of evil, one that we cannot afford ever to have any complacency around.
Truthfully, I adore Eurovision. It is something that I look forward to every year and something that I share with many of the people I am closest to. Frankly, I do not want to be in the position I am in where I cannot watch the show and retain a clear conscience. For the past two years while the contest has been broadcast I have changed the channel while Israel performed, something I acknowledge was not enough of a reaction to their participation, but it feels more pertinent than ever. After the false hope of a ceasefire last year, many people have taken their eyes off the genocide in Gaza. That is what Israel and its allies like the United States wants. They want us to be confused about where things stand, distracted by the spectacle of events like Eurovision while the IDF continues to murder innocent people in Palestine and Lebanon.
Who is already boycotting Eurovision?
Five countries, Ireland, Iceland, Spain, Slovenia, and the Netherlands, have all made the decision to withdraw their participation from the contest. They have done so in recognition of the impunity with which Israel has been allowed to continue to take up space on the global stage while they daily commit egregious human rights violations. Spain in particular have made their stance on relations with Israel clear more broadly, making decisive moves to sever ties with the nation. Spain, along with Ireland and Slovenia have taken their boycott of the contest further by refusing to broadcast the show.
The Netherlands have made a similar decision, though the show will be broadcast on secondary television channels instead of the national broadcaster’s. Slovenia have made the choice to further demonstrate support for Palestinian liberation by broadcasting Voices of Palestine while the contest is shown in other countries. The five nations who have made the choice to withdraw from the contest have done so with the understanding that the institution of Eurovision is antithetical to its current state of being.
There are also many fans of Eurovision across Europe and the wider world who have already made the decision to boycott the song contest. This in spite of their own personal connection to the show or the enjoyment it brings them. For many of us, we understand that we cannot take a break from our values or our support of Palestinian liberation, not for a day, not for a night, not for a minute. The efforts to boycott Israeli goods more widely through the BDS movement have been successful, and continue to gain more and more traction. This is because, in a time of neoliberalism capitalism and the structural violence it wages, our very best tool to make our voices heard is by refusing to give businesses that fund the IDF, or Israel more widely, our hard-earned money.
Many former contestants and winners have also made clear their thoughts on Israeli participation in the contest. Nemo, who won the contest for Switzerland in 2024, made the decision to return their trophy in protest of Israeli participation. Fellow winner Salvador Sobral who won for Portugal in 2017 has been another vocal critic. Other acts such as Iceland’s Daði Freyr and Hatari have spoken out too. Hatari were actually fined for protesting during their contest in 2019. Eurovision fan favourites who have criticised Israeli participation also include Blanca Paloma, Mae Muller, and La Zarra.
Wasn’t there a discussion about this already?
Well, yes and no. Last year after a very weird Eurovision final where Israel was heavily suspected of rigging the public vote, the contest declared that there would be a vote on their participation. Scheduled for November 2025, it was quietly cancelled after the Trump-backed Ceasefire. Important to note is the ceasefire was breached very soon after being declared yet the vote was not reinstated. In response the five nations prior mentioned made the choice to boycott the competition themselves. Eurovision has made some lukewarm statements about trying to assuage fraudulent voting in the contest but this is simply not good enough.
Isn’t Eurovision apolitical?
Eurovision operates on the surface level idea that it’s apolitical. The competition rules explicitly ban competing songs from featuring political lyrics or political themes in production and stage design. But the reality is, Eurovision is actually a very political contest. Eurovision has its own political IP, one that centres on unity and inclusion. While these values may seem devoid or divorced from politics, they are actually very political ideas. It is, especially in the current climate, a very political statement to have nations that may or may not have much in common, shared values, or ideas come together and for at least one week of the year. The whole reason Eurovision was invented in the first place was to sow the seeds of unity in a post-war Europe that was incredibly divided and still reeling from the devastation that the Second World War wrought over the continent and its people. Eurovision is inherently political.
The competition has also made decisive political decisions in the past, namely the exclusion of Russia after the war with Ukraine. The invasion of Ukraine was recognised by international parties as illegal, and human rights abuses were conducted by the Russian army in the eastern regions of the country. Immediately, Eurovision made the decisive decision to remove Russia from competing. A precedent was set. If a competing nation acts in ways that are antithetical to the ethos of unity and peace that it holds dear they are rightfully removed. A major sticking point of Israel’s continued participation is the example set by the contest in regard to Russia. The difference is Israel is a Western ally while Russia is not, meaning much of Europe’s powers that be would rather practice cognitive dissonance around a genocide than decisively rally against it.
It makes the inclusion of Israel even more glaringly an issue for Eurovision as an institution. Eurovision has demonstrated in the past that it can be decisive and considerate in how to handle international issues. Israel is committing a genocide. There is no way, shape, or form that this can be denied, and therefore, it cannot be denied that Israel should not be allowed to participate in a contest that predicates itself on being an institution of togetherness and inclusion. Several nations have already understood this, and so have removed their own participation, because they recognise that it is more important to stand for the values of human rights and against the crimes against humanity that Israel is committing every single day, than it is to participate in a contest that still tries to brand itself, I would argue falsely, on the premise that it is about unity.
Why is Israel STILL allowed to compete?
Israel has been allowed to continue its participation in the Eurovision since the beginning of the Gaza genocide in 2023. This is for a few key reasons. Until last year, after the contest had concluded, there was still no true international consensus on whether what Israel was doing was or was not a genocide. Many people around the world have rightfully recognised that Israel has been an apartheid and genocidal state since its formation in 1948. But in the case of the Gaza genocide there had been some ambiguity over that course of time. This has changed now. Several international bodies have recognised that this is a genocide. It is so undeniable that the United Nations and its various bodies have recognised this, and so the question about whether or not this is a genocide is not valid anymore. There is no debate here that Eurovision can hide behind. Israel has been able to, in the past, skate by through the guise of ambiguity, but it cannot do that this year.
Another significant reason why Israel has been allowed to participate in Eurovision is that Israel is a major financial contributor to the contest. While they are not one of the big five countries that contribute the most money towards the contest, they are the home country of Eurovision’s main sponsor, Moroccan Oil. Moroccan oil, despite its name, is an Israeli company that trades on the reputation of Moroccan argan oil to sell its products. This is no surprise, Israel has a long history of trying to claim Middle Eastern practises, dishes, and cultural motifs as its own to legitimise its position in the region.
Particularly, Moroccan Oil, as the contest’s main sponsor, essentially secures Israel’s ability to participate in the contest. At the end of the day, Israeli money pays for a significant part of the contest. A true boycott of the competition needs to include calls for this sponsorship to be revoked. There are plenty of other businesses that would happily take up the mantle that Moroccan Oil currently has as a sponsor of the contest because, ultimately, Eurovision is an incredibly lucrative advertising opportunity.
What do we want from a boycott?
The ultimate aim of a boycott of Eurovision is to protect the contest and its integrity. It is also to remind the people who run it of the real reason why this contest exists in the first place. Eurovision is an institution, as I’ve said several times in this article, that is about unity. Israel is a nation that conducts itself through a lens of radical Zionism, fascism, and genocide. This is deeply, deeply antithetical to the ethos and the motivations that Eurovision was founded upon. A boycott of Eurovision must result in the removal of Israel and all Israeli sponsorships from the contest. This is in accordance with a consistent moral approach to nations that do not respect for human rights. Genocide is the most egregious and severe crime a nation can commit against humanity. That is what Israel is doing. The weight and severity of what they are continuing to do with impunity cannot and should never be diminished or underplayed.
For Eurovision to retain any credibility, it needs to finally acknowledge the sheer brazen crimes against humanity that Israel has committed. This can only be responded to with a swift and decisive removal of Israel and all Israeli sponsorships from the competition. They have proven they can do this before with the removal of Russia. We want moral consistency. Right now, we do not have that. It is deeply disturbing that while Israel continues to murder and sexually assault men, women, and children in Gaza, the West Bank, and Lebanon, they are allowed to persist in any capacity, not only in Eurovision, but anywhere on the international stage. They should be treated like the pariah state that they so clearly conduct themselves as. Additionally, the contest needs to make greater efforts to prevent further vote rigging that Israel committed in past contests. forcing their presence even further in the contest on manufacturing success in the contest, that is, frankly, ridiculous.
If you truly care about Eurovision, the way I do, then it is time to boycott if you aren’t already. The contest in its current state is an aberration of itself. When Russia invaded Ukraine, the swift action taken by the contest was admirable, and it was appropriate. It was vital to show solidarity with the people of Ukraine. I fail to see why it is any different when we are talking about the lives of Palestinians and Lebanese people. Through a boycott, with all the lost viewership and loss of funding from the abstaining participants, we send a message. We tell the organisers of Eurovision that we cannot tolerate the apathy and disregard for genocide that is currently modelled in the continued participation of Israel.
Thumbnail from Depositphotos
