The conflict between Israel and Hamas will not change anything in the Eurovision music festival despite criticism for its participation when thousands of Palestinians are murdered. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and the Swedish SVT confirmed at the end of December that there are already 37 countries that will participate in Malmö Arena, home of the European competition in 2024. Israel is included on the list despite criticism and requests to expel the country, while Spain assures that it will participate because, they argue, “no country has said that it is not going to present itself.”

There are many critical voices and some compare what happened in 2022 when, due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russia was expelled by the EBU from the festival. “As the whole world expected, Russia was expelled from the competition. Unfortunately, we are once again seeing a massacre and genocide of the Palestinians. A deliberate attempt to control the region. I know the Eurovision audience is full of love. Let’s get Israel expelled,” explained La Zarra, the French representative of Eurovision in 2023. But she is not the only one, the Association of Composers and Lyricists of Iceland has asked that Israel not participate and sent a letter demanding the withdrawal of its candidacy. The country has always shown a pro-Palestinian position, even carrying Palestinian flags.

The controversial participation of Israel, which has already killed more than 23,000 Palestinians, does not change the plans of Radiotelevisión Española (RTVE). Ana María Bordás, head of the Spanish Eurovision delegation, pointed out this Tuesday in a press conference that “it is a music festival”, therefore, ““We neither enter nor leave here, we are going to participate”. “This has been discussed in the reference group. There has not been any country that has said that it is not going to present itself due to the circumstances terrible things happening in the Middle East“Bordás explained.

Many are calling for the same forcefulness with Israel. But the EBU already made its position clear when it said a month ago that the “Eurovision Song Contest is a contest for public broadcasters from all over Europe and the Middle East.” “It’s a contest for broadcasters –not for governments- and the Israeli public broadcaster has been participating in the contest for 50 years,” they explained, claiming that it is an event apolitical. Although it is not the same bar to ask for, since Russia was expelled.

“The EBU is a member-led organization. The governing bodies of the EBU, headed by the Board of Directors, represent the members. These bodies evaluated the list of participants and decided that the Israeli public broadcaster complies with all competition rules. Along with 36 other stations, you will be able to participate in the contest next year“, he pointed out forcefully in that statement.

About this, they explain: “In 2022, after the invasion of Ukraine, the governing bodies of the EBU decided to exclude Russia from the Eurovision Song Contest, where it had to compete alongside Ukraine. As we have already said, the Eurovision Song Contest is a competition for After repeated violations of member obligations and public media values, “Russia was suspended.”