Eurovision, a tribune of geopolitical squabbles

The Eurovision contest is changing from one year to the next, the connection with music being ever thinner. This year's edition will be no exception, being preceded by many geopolitical discussions. More than 400 Irish artists urged the country's Eurovision contestant, Bambie Thug, to "be on the right side of history" by boycotting the song contest, scheduled for May in Malmö, Sweden, because of Israel's participation, AFP reports. "We ask you to withdraw from Eurovision 2024, to listen to the call of the Palestinians to boycott the contest due to the participation of Israel," they write in a joint letter. "By participating in Eurovision, you will be on the side of the oppressor," they added. "I support all those who are boycotting. I think that if I hadn't participated in the contest, I would have boycotted too," said Bambie Thug. And the artist defended her choice to remain a candidate saying: "Ultimately, without us being pro-Palestine, there would be less competition for the other side (Israel) to win and there would be less solidarity there." . This year, due to the war in Gaza, now in its seventh month, Israel's participation in Eurovision was the subject of many protests. Criticisms were aimed especially at the organizers, the European Radio and Television Union (EBU) and the Swedish public broadcaster SVT. More than 100,000 visitors are expected in Malmö for Eurovision week, between May 5 and 11.

The organizers of the Eurovision contest attacked the "targeted social media campaigns" against the contestants, in the context in which threats were reported to the singer who will represent Israel.

The European Radio and Television Union acknowledged in a statement "the depth of feelings and strong opinions that this year's Eurovision contest has provoked - which has as its background a terrible war in the Middle East". While expressing its understanding that "people will want to engage in debate and express their deep views on this", the EBU expressed concern about "targeted social media campaigns" against some artists. The statement did not name the artists in question, but came in the context of reports that Israeli artist Eden Golan, 20 years old, received death threats through her Instagram account. "While we strongly support freedom of speech and the right to express one's opinions in a democratic society, we strongly oppose any form of online abuse, hate speech or harassment directed at our artists or anyone associated with the contest," it is stated in the EBU press release. Attacking Eurovision artists is "unacceptable and totally unfair", she said.

The EBU emphasized that "the decision to include any broadcaster, including the Israeli Kan, in the Eurovision contest is the sole responsibility of the EBU governing bodies and not of the individual artists". "These artists come to Eurovision to share their music, culture and universal message of unity through musical language." Israel's public broadcaster is a member of the EBU and can therefore participate in the Eurovision contest. However, the EBU forced Israel to change the lyrics to Golan's "October Rain" as it was too political, which is against Eurovision rules. The original track was widely believed to refer to the victims of the October 7 Hamas attack in Israel that triggered the Gaza war. Last month, however, Eurovision agreed for her to enter with a second song, "Hurricane", which contains the same music but different lyrics.