Slovenia Demands Israel’s Ban from Eurovision 2025 Over Gaza Genocide
Ljubljana (Quds News Network)- Slovenia’s public broadcaster, RTV SLO, has called on the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) to disqualify Israel from the 2025 Eurovision Song Contest over its ongoing genocide
The letter, sent on Friday to the EBU, followed a meeting of the broadcaster’s council earlier this month, during which members debated whether to boycott the competition, scheduled for May in Basel, Switzerland, or to refuse to broadcast Israel’s performance, reports said.
Ultimately, the council decided to demand that the EBU disqualify Israel.
In December 2023, following calls from numerous artists and senior figures in Eurovision-affiliated broadcasters to boycott Israel, the EBU clarified that Israel would not be disqualified, as it had not violated contest rules.
What is Eurovision?
The Eurovision Song Contest is a televised competition where artists from across Europe and beyond perform original songs to represent their countries. The event is organized by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU)
The organization emphasized that Eurovision is a competition between broadcasters, not countries or political stances. Following that statement, no countries withdrew in protest of Israel’s participation.
However, Eurovision has in the past excluded countries from participation for political reasons.
In 2022, Russia faced exclusion from the competition due to widespread criticism from various countries following the war in Ukraine. Russia did not participate in the competition the following year. Initially, the EBU stated that they had no intentions of barring Russia from the event but later reversed their stance. The group claimed to have conducted extensive consultations with its members and decided based on a recommendation from the governing body of the Eurovision Song Contest.
“The decision reflects concern that, in light of the unprecedented crisis in Ukraine, the inclusion of a Russian entry in this year’s contest would bring the competition into disrepute,” they said.
Pro-Palestine activists decried what they see as a double standard, given Israel’s onslaught on Gaza and heavily criticised military conduct.
They have said that Israel’s participation in the contest whitewashes a regime that is carrying out ethnic cleansing in Palestine and committing war crimes and genocide.”
More than 45,200 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the start of Israel’s ongoing genocide war in October 2023, according to the Health Ministry, with human rights groups, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, accusing Israel of committing “genocide” in the Palestinian enclave.
Source: qudsnen
