More than 1,000 Swedish artists have called on the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) to exclude Israel from this year’s Eurovision Song Contest (ESC). The newspaper “Aftonbladet” published an open letter about this on Monday.
Musicians Robyn, Fever Ray and indie folk duo First Aid Kit, among others, signed the letter. The artists from the host country of this year’s ESC criticized the EBU’s decision to allow Israel to participate in the competition – despite the “brutal warfare in Gaza,” as the letter stated.
Signatories accuse EBU of double standards
ESC organizers had previously resisted calls for Israel’s exclusion, citing the non-political nature of the music event. The Swedish artists are now accusing the EBU of double standards.
Other countries also support exclusion from Israel
They pointed out in the letter that after the Russian attack on Ukraine in 2022, no Russian musicians were allowed to participate in the ESC and that Belarus was denied participation in 2021 due to violations of press freedom. There were also calls in other countries to exclude Israel from this year’s ESC. The country is mainly criticized because of the civilian casualties in Gaza.
The 68th ESC will take place in Sweden this year after singer Loreen won last year’s competition in Liverpool, England, with the song “Tattoo” for the Scandinavian country. At the beginning of December, the EBU published a list of 37 participating broadcasters – including the local ORF and KAN from Israel.
Source: Krone
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