Eurovision organisers respond to calls for Israel boycott ahead of song contest final
The IndependentSign up to our free IndyArts newsletter for all the latest entertainment news and reviews Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter Sign up to our free IndyArts newsletter SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Eurovision Song Contest organisers have stood by their decision not to exclude Israel from this year’s event – rejecting calls for a boycott and insisting they are following the rules of the competition. open image in gallery Israel’s 2024 Eurovision contestant Eden Golan will sing ‘Hurricane’ “I fully agree it is a family event and the great thing about this music competition is that it’s all about values,” he said. “If you were to exclude Kan outside of these competition rules, that would have been a political decision, as such, which we cannot take.” De Tender also noted the EBU, an apolitical member organisation, is “in line” with other international federations including sports bodies who are allowing Israel to participate in events. “The Eurovision Song Contest is a music event which is organised and co-produced by 37 public broadcasters, so it’s not a competition between nations or governments.” He continued: “We do understand that there was some concern around Israel participating, but when our governing bodies, because we’re a member led organisation, reviewed the participation list of this year, they concluded that Kan, which is the Israeli public broadcaster, met all of the obligations compared to the competing rules.” open image in gallery The stage for the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest In 2022, EBU announced that Russia would no longer be participating in Eurovision following the invasion of Ukraine.
History of this topic
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