The Swiss winner of the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest has said they will be returning their award after Israel was cleared to participate in next year’s event.
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which oversees the event, ruled last week that Israel could take part in Eurovision despite five countries now saying they will boycott the event over Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza.
Nemo, the first non-binary singer to win the contest, said although Eurovision claimed it stood for “unity, inclusion and dignity for all”, Israel’s inclusion conflicted with those aims.
“Even though I’m immensely grateful for the community around this contest and everything this experience has taught me both as a person and artist, today I no longer feel this trophy belongs on my shelf,” Nemo said, writing on Instagram.
“Eurovision says it stands for unity, inclusion, and dignity for all. Those values made this contest meaningful to me.
“But Israel’s continued participation, during what the UN’s Independent International Commission of Inquiry has concluded to be a genocide, shows a clear conflict between those ideals and the decisions made by the EBU.”
Spain, Ireland, Slovenia, Iceland and the Netherlands have all said they will not be participating due to Israel’s genocide in Gaza and controversy surrounding the public vote for Israeli candidates in previous editions.
The Swiss Broadcasting Corporation has yet to comment on the boycott calls, though it has previously said it will be taking part in the contest.
Conflict was expected at the general assembly of the EBU last week but, in the end, no vote was taken over Israel’s participation.
“A large majority of members agreed that there was no need for a further vote on participation and that the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 should proceed as planned, with the additional safeguards in place,” the EBU said in a statement.
The Spanish national broadcaster RTVE, along with broadcasters from seven other countries, had formally requested a secret ballot at the general assembly over whether to exclude Israel.
However, the EBU denied their request.
Boycott campaign will continue
Pro-Palestine campaigners have promised they will continue to pressure more European national broadcasters to withdraw from the competition. “It’s really disgraceful that the EBU didn’t have the vote on Israel’s participation, and it’s really shameful that the EBU hasn’t expelled Israel,” said Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC) chairperson Zoe Lawlor after the assembly.
“Not surprising, but it is very shameful, and it is rank hypocrisy because Russia was expelled the day after the invasion of Ukraine.”
The next edition of the contest will be the 70th anniversary and is due to take place in May 2026 in Vienna, after Austrian entry JJ won this year’s contest with his song Wasted Love.
Israel was this year represented by Yuav Raphael, who survived the attack by Palestinian gunmen at the Nova festival in southern Israel on 7 October 2023, during which 378 people were killed.
Raphael came second, although afterwards there were accusations of vote manipulation during the public round, with Spain’s national broadcaster requesting an audit of the results.
Under pressure from calls for boycott, the EBU announced on 21 November a change to the rules of the competition and a strengthening of efforts to “detect and prevent any fraudulent or coordinated voting activity”.
IMAGE CREDIT: Swiss singer Nemo, who won the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 with The Code, is welcomed by supporters at Zurich airport on 12 May 2024 (Arnd Wiegmann/AFP)
[ SOURCE: MIDDLE EAST EYE ]
