Basel – Saba:
Nearly 4,000 artists from Scandinavian countries have called for Israel's exclusion from the Eurovision Song Contest, considering its participation a "whitewash" of the genocide it is committing in the Gaza Strip.
Nearly 4,000 artists from five Scandinavian countries (Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Iceland, and Finland), including artists who have previously participated in the Eurovision contest, signed a statement condemning Israel's participation in the contest.
The statement considered Israel's participation in the contest, which concludes Saturday evening in the Swiss city of Basel, "an attempt to whitewash and divert attention from the genocide it is committing in Gaza."
The statement referred to the mass killings and starvation perpetrated by Israel against Palestinians in Gaza, as well as its 75-year-old occupation and apartheid policies in Palestine.
It added, "We strongly support that Israel should not have the opportunity to polish its public image on the Eurovision Song Contest stage and thus be used to cover up and perpetuate human rights violations."
The statement also condemned the European Broadcasting Union's decision to allow Israel to participate in the contest, describing it as "hypocritical."
It noted that the European Broadcasting Union has not yet made a decision to expel Israel from the contest, and that this contradicts the decision to expel Russia, which was taken quickly due to its war with Ukraine in 2022.
Last week, Nemo, the Swiss representative who won the Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö, Sweden, last year, said he opposes Israel's participation in the 2025 edition of the contest and supports its exclusion from the competition.
More than 70 contestants from various countries previously signed a letter to the European Broadcasting Union calling for Israel's exclusion from the contest due to the genocide in Gaza.
With American and European support, the Israeli enemy has been committing a genocide and imposing a total siege on the Gaza Strip since October 7, 2023. This has resulted in more than 173,000 Palestinian martyrs and wounded, most of them children and women, in addition to more than 14,000 missing persons.
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