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Nearly 4,000 musicians, artists, and music industry professionals from five Nordic countries have signed a statement condemning Israel's participation in the 69th Eurovision Song Contest currently underway in Basel, Switzerland.
The signatories, including several former Eurovision contestants, characterized Israel's participation as an attempt to "whitewash and divert attention" from its actions in Gaza, which they described as genocide.
"We strongly support that Israel should not have the opportunity to polish its public image on the Eurovision stage, and thus use this to cover up and continue its human rights violations," the statement read.
The document also pointed to Israel's "75 years of occupation and apartheid policies in Palestine," alongside what it termed the "mass killing and starvation" of Palestinians in Gaza.
The statement sharply criticized the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), calling its decision to allow Israel's participation "hypocritical." It highlighted the inconsistency with the EBU's swift expulsion of Russia from the competition in 2022 following its invasion of Ukraine, describing the contrast as "complete."
Nemo, Switzerland's representative who won last year's Eurovision in Malmö, Sweden, had previously expressed opposition to Israel's participation in this year's contest and supported calls for its exclusion.
More than 70 former Eurovision contestants, including Hadise Acikgoz who represented Türkiye in 2009, have signed a letter to the EBU requesting Israel's removal from the competition.
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