Requests to have Israel banned from competing in the Eurovision Song Contest are nothing new. The latest one comes from more than 70 former Eurovision participants, who wrote an open letter, posted on artistsforpalestine.org.uk on Tuesday, demanding that Kan, Israel’s government broadcaster, not be allowed to send its contestant, Yuval Raphael, to take part.
The Eurovision Song Contest was started following World War II to encourage peaceful competition and cultural exchange among nations. Israel has been competing in it since 1973 and has won four times.
This year’s competition will begin on May 13 in Basel, Switzerland. It is sponsored by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), and hundreds of millions around the world watch it live and vote on the outcome.
Among the signatories to the letter are Mae Muller of Britain, Charlie McGettigan of Ireland, and Fernando Tordo from Portugal. Over 30 of those who signed are from Iceland, while nine are Finnish, which is to be expected, since last year, an Icelandic music organization and 1400 Finnish music industry professionals called for Israel to be banned due to the ongoing war against Hamas in Gaza.
The letter posted by the former participants contends that, “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.”
It goes on to characterize last year’s Eurovision contest, in which Israel’s contestant, Eden Golan, was loudly booed during her performances and rehearsals and received so many death threats that Ronen Bar, the head of Israel’s General Security Services, had to personally supervise the security arrangements for her and the delegation, as “disastrous.”
This word does not refer to the harassment that Golan and her team endured but to the fact that “the EBU allowed Israel to participate while it continued its genocide in Gaza, broadcast live for the world to see.”
It goes on to claim that, “Rather than acknowledging the widespread criticism and reflecting on its own failures, the EBU responded by doubling down — granting total impunity to the Israeli delegation while repressing other artists and delegations, making the 2024 edition the most politicized, chaotic and unpleasant in the competition’s history.”
Noting that the EBU banned Russia following its invasion of Ukraine, the letter states, “We don’t accept this double standard regarding Israel.”
Not surprisingly, the letter does not mention Hamas’s October 7 2023 attack on Israel, in which 1200 people were killed, 364 of whom were attending a music festival, and about 250 were taken hostage, 59 of whom are still being held in Gaza. The thousands of bombings by Hamas and its allies since October 7 are also not discussed.
Martin Green, the newly appointed director of Eurovision, addressed previous calls by a Spanish broadcaster and others to ban Israel last month in an interview: “Eurovision is a competition between public broadcasters, not between nations, and it must not be used as a springboard for political sanctions. This fundamental distinction makes it easy to understand the guideline adopted by the EBU in the face of various political pressures.”
He also clarified why Russia was banned, saying, “The Russian TV channel broadcasting this competition was linked to the Russian government and did not respect the rules.”
The hate doesn't faze Yuval.
Raphael, a survivor of the Nova massacre, has said repeatedly in interviews that, having faced Hamas terrorists attacking her with rifles and grenades for hours, the prospect of being booed in Switzerland does not faze her.
On Tuesday, she had her first rehearsal for her song, “New Day Will Rise,” by Keren Peles, which is widely seen as being about overcoming the trauma of the October 7 massacre. The song is mostly in English with some lines in Hebrew and French. She arrived in Basel on Monday, after a reception with President Isaac Herzog at his residence.
The first rehearsal was closed to the media, but the website Eurovision Fun reported that she performed in front of a large, two-tier circular structure. “Picture a modern twist on a vintage birdcage or a climbable chandelier—it’s not entirely either, but that should give you an idea until you can see photos,” wrote Eurovision Fun’s Alvaro Sanabria-Rangel.
He continued, “Yuval begins her performance amid blue shadows on the frame stage, dressed in a tailored black trouser suit with square shoulders and flowing flamenco sleeves… Up close, the cage is revealed to be constructed from individual crystal strands, much like a chandelier. At one moment, she lifts her arms in a way that makes her sleeves resemble wings, reinforcing that birdcage image.”
Raphael will perform in the second semifinal on May 15. The final will be held on May 17.