Less than ten days before the Eurovision final, a petition signed by 72 former candidates for the competition of European songs and published in the columns of the Independent requests the exclusion of Israel and Israeli Kan Television of the European Radiation Union (UER), which organizes the event.
This letter signed by the Irishman Charlie McGetigan, winner of the 1994 edition, the Portuguese Fernando Bordo, winner in 1973, or the French La Zarra (2023), Jessy Matador (2010) and Marie Line (1998) require the exclusion of Israel due to their commitment in “The Genocide of Palestinians in Gaza”.
“Two pesos, two measures with Israel”
In this same text, they accuse Kan of being “accomplice” of the “apartheid regime and a military occupation in progress for several decades against the Palestinian people.” The Israeli authorities categorically refuted these accusations of “genocide”, already formulated at the end of 2024 and early by Amnesty International.
“By continuing to highlight the Israeli State, the Uue normalizes its crimes,” insists the document. “The Uuer has already shown that he could make decisions, since when he excluded Russia from the competition. We did not accept these ‘two pesos, two measures’ with Israel,” the text continues.
“Ensure the future of public service”
Emphasizing that “remaining silent was not an option”, the signatories of the letter specify that they reject that “music will be used as an instrument to exercise crimes against humanity. Last year, we were surprised that the Uuer authorizes Israel to participate (…) the result had been disastrous.”
“We understand the concerns about the conflict that is currently carried out in the Middle East,” said Independiente Martin Green, director of the Eurovision competition. “The Uuer is a public service issuer association (…) It is also our mission to ensure the future of public service.”
“The Uuer supports its Israeli member Kan who is threatened to be privatized or even closed by the Israeli government,” he continued. “We are sensitive to news, but it is also our role to ensure that competition remains universal in promoting human bond, diversity and inclusion through music.”
And to conclude: “The UUr remains aligned with the other international organizations that have currently made the decision to continue including Israeli candidates in the most important competitions.” Neither Kan nor the Uuer have still reacted to the open letter of the former candidates.
Universal Message “Hope and Solidarity”
Israel is represented this year by a survivor on October 7, Yuval Raphael, with The new day will rise (“A New Day Will Get Up”), A song in English, with French and Hebrew lyrics. She says she has found in music a means of healing and wants to bring a universal message to “hope and solidarity” competition.
Israel has participated in Eurovision since 1973 and won the competition four times, the last in 2018. In 2024, the Israeli candidate, Eden Golan, had received threats and had had high protection in Malmö (Sweden), where thousands of people had demonstrated all the competition against their presence.
Source: BFM TV
