Israel faces the threat of being kicked out of the Eurovision Song Contest. More than 1,000 Swedes sent an open letter to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), the organizer of the Eurovision Song Contest, condemning Israel's "hypocrisy in the face of the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza" and boycotting its participation, according to the European edition of the American "Political News Network".
According to Deutsche Welle, the letter called the Israeli army guilty of "serious war crimes." In the letter, the artists accused the EBU of "depoliticizing the competition" with the slogan of "double standard", since the EBU excluded Russia from the competition after the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in 2022. Belarus was also excluded on the grounds of "the country's treatment of human rights and press freedom".
This year's Eurovision Song Contest will be held in the Swedish city of Malmö in May. As the date of the tournament approaches, there are voices in some European countries that they will boycott the EBU if Israel continues to participate. Turkey's Anadolu News Agency reported that Spain's far-left party "We Can" urged ** to take a clear stand in parliament on the 1st against Israel's participation in the Eurovision Song Contest.
In response to these boycotts, Israel's ambassador to Sweden responded: "To push for a boycott of Israel is to support Hamas, to give awards to terrorism, which is inconsistent with the values of the EBU and the Eurovision Song Contest." ”
Global Times reporter Zhao Shuang.