Eurovision Explains Israel Entry Amid Boycott Calls

The organizers of the annual Eurovision Song Contest have come under fire as calls to ban Israel or to boycott the competition increase.

People slammed Eurovision for publishing an “Israel at Eurovision” frequently asked questions page on its website to address the controversy. Israel will be represented in this year’s competition by 20-year-old Eden Golan.

Some of the questions on the page include, “Why is Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest?” “Will there be more security than usual this year, because of the fact Israel is competing?” and “Why is Israel still a Member of the EBU (European Broadcasting Union) when Russia was suspended?”

Eurovision is run by the EBU and to participate in it a country needs to be a member of the union and have a state broadcaster, such as the BBC in the United Kingdom, to participate.

There has been a campaign to bar Israel from May’s competition over its ongoing military campaign in the Gaza Strip. More than 33,200 people have been killed by Israel in the Palestinian territory since October 7, according to the latest figures published by the Associated Press.

Israel launched its war there after the military arm of political group, Hamas, attacked southern Israel killing around 1,200 people and kidnapping more than 200. Of those taken, 36 hostages have died and around half of the original number have been returned.

The EBU doubled down on its decision to allow Israel to compete, despite weeks of negotiation over the Israeli entry’s lyrics, which were deemed “too political.”

Then it released the Israel FAQ page on its website, with many taking to social media to criticize the move.

“What even is this FAQ page???” wrote @des__cribe on X, formerly Twitter, on Tuesday. “It didn’t even answer the questions at all 😭😭 JUST SAY THAT MONEY IS THE REASON YOU CAN’T LET GO OF ISRAEL…idk how eurovision managed to create an even bigger PR disaster out of a PR campaign that was intended to defuse the situation.”

Another person, @wildnessgrows, added: “if you need a whole FAQ page about why israel is competing in eurovision then maybe israel shouldn’t be competing in eurovision 🫥”

And @davidFalexander posted: “my kink is watching the EBU’s mental gymnastics in trying to explain how Israel hasn’t brought the contest into disrepute (ban-able offence) while simultaneously publishing a list of 6 faq’s about why they are allowed to compete at #eurovision.”

Newsweek contacted the Palestine Solidarity Campaign, OEGC Israel— an Israeli Eurovision fan group, Israel’s state broadcaster KAN and Eurovision by email for comment.

Some of the questions on the FAQ addressed why Israel was still allowed to compete but Russia was not.

“As a non-political organization, the EBU’s role is to support public service broadcasters throughout Europe and the Middle East,” it wrote. “The Israel public service broadcaster has been a member of the EBU for over 60 years. The Russian public service broadcasters had their EBU membership suspended in 2022 due to consistent breaches of membership obligations and the violation of public service media values.”

Another question that caught people’s attention was the EBU’s response to calls for a boycott of Eurovision 2024.

“We understand the concerns and deeply held views around the current conflict in the Middle East but the Eurovision Song Contest’s values of universality, inclusivity and celebrating diversity through music have never been more important…We look forward to being “United By Music” again this year,” it wrote, referencing this year’s theme.

Eurovision began in 1956 and has become a global phenomenon. The 2023 contest had 162 million TV viewers in 39 markets and 75 million on YouTube alone. The 37 songs had a combined total of 808 million streams and it made $853 million (€795 million) in ad-value, according to the EBU’s audience report.

The issue of banning countries from competing has recently been a murky one with many pointing out perceived flaws in the EBU’s impartiality.

Russia was booted out in 2022 after it launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. But in 2016 when it annexed Crimea, Ukraine won the contest with the song “1944,” a very thinly veiled reference to the historical deportation of Crimean Tatars from the region, which many said violated the EBU’s “non-political” song lyrics rule.

Russia’s contestant in 2017, Yuliya Samoylova, was banned from entering host nation Ukraine because she had performed in Crimea after its annexation by Moscow. As a result, Russia demanded a Eurovision boycott.

Prior to that in 2009, Georgia was not allowed to participate because the EBU ruled its song “We Don’t Wanna Put In” was a jab at Russian President Vladimir Putin.

There are other instances of countries being allowed to compete despite being engaged in wars, such as Azerbaijan and Armenia, who have clashed over the Nagorno-Karabakh region.

Lebanon wanted to enter Eurovision in 2005 but later withdrew because it would have been forced to broadcast Israel’s entry, thereby violating the Middle Eastern country’s laws.