Recording artists Robyn, Fever Ray, Viagra Boys, and 1,000 more members of Sweden’s music community are demanding that Israel be excluded from Eurovision 2024.
On Monday, more than 1,000 members of the Swedish music community signed an open letter demanding that the European Broadcasting Union, Eurovision’s governing body, exclude Israel from this year’s Eurovision Song Contest, in response to Israel’s war against Hamas.
The annual contest is being hosted in Malmö, Sweden, this spring, as the country that won the previous year’s contest gets to host the next pan-European event.
But Robyn (pictured), Fever Ray, Viagra Boys, Refused, First Aid Kit, DJ Seinfeld, El Perro Del Mar, Lust For Youth, Say Lou Lou, Ane Brun, Kleerup, the Knife’s Olof Dreijer, and many others have signed a joint statement demanding that Israel be excluded from the show.
“We believe that by allowing Israel’s participation, the EBU is demonstrating a remarkable double standard that undermines its credibility,” their letter, first published by the Swedish newspaper, Aftonbladet, read.
“Allowing Israel to participate undermines not only the spirit of the contest but the entire public service mission. It also sends the signal that governments can commit war crimes without consequences,” the letter adds. “Therefore, we appeal to the EBU: Exclude Israel from the Eurovision Song Contest 2024.”
Some of the musicians who signed the letter against Israel had participated in past Eurovision contests on behalf of Sweden, including opera singer Malena Ernman, who is also the mother of climate change alarmist Greta Thunberg.
Greta Thunberg, 15, poses with her mother, opera singer Malena Ernman, in Stockholm, April 17, 2018. (TT News Agency/AFP via Getty Images)
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) has already responded to similar petitions from Finnish and Icelandic musicians, saying it will not exclude the world’s only Jewish state, according to a report by the Guardian.
The EBU has, however, excluded Russia and Belarus from Eurovision in recent years — Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, and Belarus for violating press freedom rules.
Israel has been competing in Eurovision since 1973. The country has won the contest a total of three times, with its most recent win in 2018.
You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and X/Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.
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