“Should Israel be banned from Eurovision?”
That’s the question many Eurovision fans are contemplating. Ever since the Israeli government launched their assault on Gaza after Hamas’ October 7 attack on the country, the world has held its breath as the conflict on this historically tiny strip of land escalated. With over 31,000 Palestinians killed and millions displaced into southern Gaza, it stands out as one of the biggest humanitarian crises of our time.
Nevertheless, Israel is still on the list of participating countries for the 2024 Contest, and the Eurovision Broadcasting Union defended its participation, stating that Eurovision is a “competition for broadcasters – not governments – and the Israeli public broadcaster has participated in the contest for 50 years.” Hakochav Haba, the show which determined who would represent the country, still went on, albeit with a militaristic atmosphere hovering throughout the broadcast.
After Eden Golan won the competition, several songs have been proposed, at which KAN offered the lyrics to the EBU for political content. Their verdict will have great implications across the song contest, one which has seen great divides. With Belarus and Russia already banned for their own infractions, the spotlight is on the EBU and every decision they’ll make regarding the matter, and how will it play out on stage.
Israel at the Eurovision Song Contest:
Israel’s debut in 1973 marked the first time a country outside of the European continent joined Eurovision. This came about because Ilanit, who would eventually debut, found out in Germany that Israel was within the EBU borders, and so she turned down a chance to represent Germany with her partner . Unfortunately, it was too late for Israel to join the 1972 contest, so Israel had to wait a year.
The atmosphere in Luxembourg remained tense for Israel, as less than a year before, a terrorist attack during the Munich Olympics killed eleven Israeli athletes and colored what was supposed to be a redemptive games for Germany. Anybody who even dared to stand up during Ilanit’s performance could be shot by snipers. Nevertheless, “Ey sham” came in fourth, and got the ball rolling for Israel in the contest. When Ilanit came home from Luxembourg, she found out that many Israelis watched her performance, showcasing the beginning of the country’s interest.
Israel would frequently use the Eurovision stage to convey messages of Jewish survival and asserting their place in the world. A famous example is with Ofra Haza’s “Hi” in 1983—taking place in the same city of said massacre, the lyrics celebrate Jewish resilience amidst a cruel world. Along with her dancers, Ofra wore yellow—a reference to when Jews had to wear the yellow Star of David in Nazi Germany–and placed second in a field of twenty. The single would become a hit, and it still resonates with Jews today with “am israel chai” (the people of Israel live) repeated throughout the refrain. A more explicit version can be seen with “Kan”, Israel’s 1991 entry which came in third. With lyrics such as “Here are the friends I grew up with/
And I have no other place in the world” and “And after two thousand years, an end to my wandering”, it hints at the Jewish people’s many years as part of the diaspora, and how they finally found home in their ancestral homeland.
Jewish resilience can also be seen through their most recent entry, “Unicorn”. Using the titular animal as a metaphor, it speaks to one sticking to who they are, though one frequent interpretation was that it represented Israel standing alone in the Middle East. This was further emphasized with the recently released “Hope version” of the song, which was meant to rally the Israeli people after the attack.
And when they won Eurovision, Israel frequently projects soft power in their hostings. Most notably, in the 2019 contest, the organizers wanted to express soft power in Tel Aviv, which contrasted with their previous hostings in Jerusalem in how it portrayed a modern Israel. The organizers used details such as the Hebrew language, the color blue, and Jewish symbols to affirm Israeli state identity, and their role in the Eurovision Song Contest. In the process, however, they neglected to acknowledge the Palestinian people or the controversial aspects of their statehood. And despite Israel being at the center of the three major religions, there was little focus on Christianity and Islam. Eurovision 2019, with all its controversies, showcased Israel as a shiny country where people–particularly Jews–could make their dream a reality.
With their political situation, even seeing the name “Israel” on TV triggers a spark of pride for Israelis, who want to do everything they can to bring their country to light. This also translates to the Eurovision Song Contest, though this time, the Israeli delegation’s goal is to express their pain; how the European community will reply with the juxtaposition of Palestinian deaths is up for debate.
Why so complicated?
Each European nation has different views of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which, when they come together, is too incoherent for a stable policy. It hasn’t had much role in the peace process, and would instead support resolutions advocating for a return to the 1948 borders. Most notably, in the 1980 Venice Declaration, the fledgling European Community affirmed the Israeli right to security, but also sought for Palestinian sovereignty and respect for their rights. In addition, the EU is not only Israel’s biggest trading partner, but also Palestine’s biggest aid donor. When Hungary tried to eliminate Palestinian aid, the EU increased it, and tried to establish a land bridge in Egypt. These divergences in policy make it hard for the European Union to put pressure on Israel and to create a sustainable solution.
One notable case is with Germany. Because of their role in the Holocaust, “the security and existence of Israel is tied to the foundation of modern Germany”, which former Chancellor Angela Merkel summed up with how Germany’s fate is tied to Israel’s. This translated into German crackdowns on pro-Palestinian rallies, which contradicts with the relatively high Muslim population within Germany and Berlin as a center of progressive thought. It even gets mixed responses from Jews living in the country, with some thinking “official over-protectiveness could itself provoke an anti-Jewish backlash.”
On the flip side, some European countries are more empathetic to the Palestinian cause. In 2011, Iceland was the first Western European country to recognize the State of Palestine as an independent nation, and the Icelandic people share a similar sentiment in terms of Palestinian solidarity. When Netta won the Eurovision Song Contest with “Toy” in 2018, over 10,000 Icelandic citizens signed a petition to RUV to boycott Eurovision 2019, though Iceland would eventually participate with Hatari. Recently, the Icelandic Society of Authors and Composers rose their voices up to withdraw from this year’s competition should Israel compete.
There’s also a notable divergence in how European civilians think. In a 2018 survey amongst 7,000 Europeans in seven countries, many of them were indifferent towards Israel-Palestine, and didn’t have enough information to come up with a suitable conclusion. This didn’t mean there weren’t severe divergences between different populations, with respondents older than 65 seeing the state of Israel in a more positive light than those between 18-24 years old. A further divide is through different religious confessions–in France, where there are both strong Jewish and Muslim minority populations, both groups feared retribution, but for different reasons. French Jews are intimately tied with Israel, whereas French Muslims usually rally for the Palestinian cause. This has also manifested in rising Islamophobic and anti-Semitic attacks since October 7. When thrown into the same melting pot, it leads to divergent opinions in a fragile conflict, something which will reflect in May with the different responses to the Israeli song.
Crusading for Action:
Beyond the EBU’s actions, several other countries voiced their concerns about Israel participating in this year’s competition. Coming off a strong second place from Eurovision 2023, Finland’s broadcaster monitored the situation in Gaza, and suggested that they would continue with UMK whether or not Finland would ultimately compete. One of their competitors, Jesse Markin, stated should he win UMK, he would not compete in Eurovision if Israel was also participating. Meanwhile in the host nation Sweden, over a thousand artists signed a petition to get Israel banned from the competition, claiming “The fact that countries that place themselves above humanitarian law are welcomed to participate in international cultural events trivializes violations of international law and makes the suffering of the victims invisible.” As Eurovision fans are more progressive than average, these aspects are further amplified, especially in contrast with the general public and their governments.
Outside of the Eurovision sphere, calls to ban Israel from sporting organizations are timid. the International Olympic Committee hasn’t taken any action regarding Israel in next year’s Olympics. This isn’t surprising, seeing that it took days for the IOC to reply to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Even now, they allowed Russian and Belarusian athletes to compete in the Paris Olympics this year, albeit under a neutral flag. Meanwhile, UEFA still allows Israel to compete in the Euro 2024 qualifiers, saying that they haven’t discussed the possibility of banning them and differentiating the Israel-Palestinian conflict from the Russian invasion of Ukraine. In addition, FIFA stripped Indonesia’s right to host the u-20 World Cup in 2023, because they didn’t allow the Israeli team to enter the country.
While their track record on those who broke the “Olympic Truce”, a promise to not launch a war a week before or after the games, is mixed, the IOC is more stringent on punishing crimes against sport. When Russia was caught with doping allegations in 2018, they were banned as a country, though it did leave a pipeline for athletes to go through the games if they were clean. The ROC was particularly successful in the Tokyo games, with 71 medals in total, and many of their athletes are part of the Russian military.
For the 2024 Olympics, Israel is keen to send their biggest delegation ever, surpassing the 90 they sent for the 2020 edition in Tokyo. This contrasts with the news of Palestinian athletes and coaches getting killed alike in Gaza, and their stadiums turned into prisoner camps.
Like with Eurovision, the Olympics and international football have seen politics pervade onto its arenas, and determine who would compete and who wouldn’t. Both promised to evade the topic when it comes to how they conducted their affairs, but how they hosted is colored with what’s going on during the time. The slowness on how athletic organizations mirrors that on the EBU on Israel, though it also involves a larger scale with the United States involved in supporting Israel, and the Arab world becoming more cynical of the European world resulting from European hesitation to act on Gaza. European soft power is particularly strong, and Eurovision is an extension of that.
Conclusions:
A mix of historical memory, a configuration on different opinions, and proving disrepute colored the question on whether Israel would be able to compete at Eurovision this year. The eventual song, “Hurricane”, emerged out of discussions on whether the lyrics would be too political or not. Even with the EBU’s okay, it still brings on the gravity of the current situation.
The current discourse with Israel’s participation in the contest not only reflects with the song or the participating countries, but also with outside plans. In Malmö, security is being amped up, all while organizations, both pro-Israeli and Palestinian, apply for permits to protest. With the city also containing a notable Muslim population, Israel’s participation in the 2024 contest not only poses questions for the long-term reputation of the contest, but also the immediate safety of the other competitors.
Israel is well-known for using the Eurovision stage as a way to not only assert Jewish survival, but also to showcase Israel as a beautiful place to live, work, and play. In the process, however, many of their actions against the Palestinians are neglected, which was brought to a brighter spotlight in the last few months. And with the multitudes of fans finding ways to force the broadcasters to make a move, it’s still important for the question of Israel’s participation to come to light, and how they intend to use it this May.