Israel’s inclusion in the Eurovision song contest has always been controversial. The geographers among you may recognise that Israel isn’t even part of Europe (much like Australia). Beyond that, the nation of Israel has been repressing and murdering the Palestinian people for decades, and as such there’s a movement to boycott their cultural outputs.
The Israeli government has likely been very happy with its inclusion in Eurovision. Now, however, it looks like the competition is just another area in which they’re suffering one PR nightmare after another:
fuck israel free palestine #eurovision pic.twitter.com/2qD8SnR1Gi
— maria (@scarletsglow) May 17, 2025
The turning tide against Israel – even at Eurovision
As pictured above, protesters unveiled Palestinian flags during the performance by Israeli singer Yuval Raphael. Protesters also threw paint, as a spokesperson from the hosting Swiss Broadcasting Corporation reported:
At the end of the Israeli performance, a man and a woman tried to get over a barrier onto the stage.
They were stopped. One of the two agitators threw paint and a crew member was hit. The crew member is fine and nobody was injured. The man and the woman were taken out of the venue and handed over to the police.
After the Holocaust, people said “never again.”
In 2025, 80 years after the Holocaust, Israel finishes second place in #Eurovision whilst committing the most documented genocide in history.
Solidarity with this young man, David Ty.
pic.twitter.com/WOmoLYHtwb— Marxist777 📕🇵🇸 (@Marxist777) May 18, 2025
David was part of a three-strong Youth Demand contingent that travelled to Eurovision to express their disgust at Israel’s inclusion. You can find out more about Youth Demand here.
Raphael, who attended the Nova Festival which was attacked by Hamas in October 2023, sang a ballad titled New Day Will Rise. As those who support the boycott have pointed out, Palestine is facing one new day after another in which more of Gaza is reduced to rubble while Israel carries on as if that’s all normal:
This Eurovision week Israel has killed 300+ Palestinians, for them there is no new day.#Eurovision pic.twitter.com/WSsoG9qR0O
— Ryan Kindt 🏳️🌈⃤ (@KindtRyan) May 17, 2025
Russia: banned from Eurovision, Olympics, global sports.
Israel: accused of genocide by the ICJ, still getting standing ovations at song contests.
So it’s not about war crimes. It’s about who’s allowed to commit them.
Shame on you #Eurovision— Hala Jaber (@HalaJaber) May 17, 2025
Back to Europe, another PR nightmare for Israel were the broadcasters who used the opportunity to highlight Israel’s ongoing atrocities:
10 points for spain and 297 for israel. this is unreal. our broadcasters ended them anyways #Eurovision pic.twitter.com/qbUpTXvxtF
— blanca (@tesfayedua) May 17, 2025
🇧🇪🇵🇸 Belgian broadcaster VRT refused to air the performance of the Israeli contestant during Eurovision, citing Israel destroying Freedom of the Press.#Eurovision #EurovisionSongContest #EurovisiónRTVE #Eurovisión #Eurovision2025 #FreePalestine #Belgium #eurovisie pic.twitter.com/vnkxpyvQsw
— Palestine/ Libya War Monitor (@ResistEye) May 17, 2025
Belgium’s broadcaster VRT appeared to make a U-turn during Saturday evening’s Eurovision final after their choice to air an anti-Israel, pro-Palestine VT during the semi-finals.
It comes after Spain risked a huge Eurovision fine by displaying a statement ahead before the show, showing a black screen with white text in both Spanish and an English translation about “justice for Palestine”.
Prior to the final, the Eurovision Broadcasting Union (EBU) had warned Spain’s broadcaster RTVE of “punitive fines” if their commentators repeated references of the Gaza conflict, as they had done during the semi-final on Thursday.
Another controversy comes from Israel allegedly running targeted ads for its own entry during the official stream – something which is pissing off people who take Eurovision seriously and people who take genocide seriously:
By the way, Israel PAID FOR ADVERTS to vote for them in the Final, DURING the final, on the official YouTube broadcast. This should outright be illegal. Their tele vote win was categorically unjust #Eurovision pic.twitter.com/OkixomHoCc
— sᴜᴘᴇʀ ᴛᴠ (@superTV247) May 17, 2025
Israel running ads on the official Eurovision stream? I’m sorry this SHOULD be against the rules. #Eurovision pic.twitter.com/5apZrueelE
— Maxxy Rainbow 🌈🇪🇪 (@MaxxyRainbow) May 17, 2025
The "Israeli Government Advertising Agency" won Israel the televote. How is this allowed? #Eurovision #Eurovision2025 @EBU_HQ pic.twitter.com/flQHDlgPrI
— Verity Ritchie (@verilybitchie) May 18, 2025
#With Israel’s entry achieving second place, some are also accusing the nation’s far-right supporters of abusing the voting system:
"The UK voted for Israel", no the "UK" didn't, a bunch of far-right bellends hammered the phones. THIS 👇is what the UK really thinks of Israel. #Eurovision pic.twitter.com/UsMrChqxKi
— Jack D is on Bluesky 🏳️🌈 (@JackDunc1) May 18, 2025
Every year it’s the same thing. 🤣 https://t.co/KERjMpHDBL pic.twitter.com/iN2Cby9dl2
— Aaron Bastani (@AaronBastani) May 18, 2025
Another point of interest was the accusation that Eurovision obscured the reaction to the Israeli performance:
Reminder that the Eurovision have:
– anti-booing technology
– turned off the audience mics for Israels performance
– have fake cheering audio for Israels performanceHeres whats really happening in the arena while Israel are performing: pic.twitter.com/Y2zBzMUaWf
— Nicole 🌻🍉 | 🇫🇮🇸🇪 (@Nicoleep01) May 9, 2024
This was allegedly confirmed by Irish host Graham Norton:
Graham Norton basically saying we are not hearing the true crowd reaction for Israel is PEAK #Eurovision
— Kevin C (@tzenkethi) May 17, 2025
“Not sure what you’re hearing at home, slightly mixed response in the hall” – Graham Norton after Israel’s performance. YEAH YOU EXPOSE THAT ANTI BOOING TECHNOLOGY FOR US GRAHAM 💪💪#Eurovision #Eurovision2025
— ESC Jamie 🇬🇧🇩🇰 (@EurovisionJamie) May 17, 2025
Graham Norton having to desperately hide how happy he is that Israel lost is giving me life.
— Tom Newton (@TomNewton_18) May 17, 2025
‘Children burnt to death in tents’
Let’s not forget that Israel is generating far worse headlines than those related to Eurovision. The following is the front page of Al Jazeera’s hub for Israel-Palestine news stories:
The Israeli military has killed at least 125 Palestinians, including children sleeping in tents, as it unleashed a wave of air strikes across the Gaza Strip in the early hours of Sunday.
At least 36 people were killed and more than 100 wounded after Israeli warplanes bombed a tent camp sheltering displaced Palestinians in the al-Mawasi area of Khan Younis in southern Gaza, medical sources told Al Jazeera.
Horrific verified videos from the scene showed many bodies, including some on fire. The dead and wounded were taken to a nearby field hospital and the Nasser Medical Complex.
At least 125 people were killed on Sunday morning, including 42 in the heavily-bombarded northern parts of Gaza, medical sources told Al Jazeera Arabic. Three journalists were also among the victims.
The death toll has been rising sharply in the past four days, with hundreds massacred as the Israeli military prepares to significantly intensify its ground invasion of the Palestinian territory despite international criticism.
Israel overtly uses culture as a form of propaganda to whitewash, or artwash, its genocide in Gaza and underlying regime of settler-colonialism, apartheid, and military occupation over the Indigenous Palestinian people. Israel’s genocide has included a deliberate obliteration of archeological sites and cultural heritage across Gaza.
Just as South African anti-apartheid movements had called on international artists, writers and cultural institutions to culturally boycott South Africa, the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) urges international cultural workers and cultural organizations, including unions and associations, to boycott and/or work towards the cancellation of events, activities, agreements, or projects involving Israel, its lobby groups or its complicit cultural institutions.
International venues and festivals are asked to reject funding and any form of sponsorship from the Israeli government or complicit entities. Since Israel’s cultural institutions are implicated in genocide, apartheid and military occupation, international artists and arts organizations have a profound ethical duty to do no harm to the Palestinian struggle by working to end links of complicity with those institutions. Accountability for Israel’s oppression against Palestinians is more urgent than ever.
Tens of thousands of artists across the world and a rapidly growing number of arts organizations have publicly endorsed the cultural boycott of apartheid Israel.
Why?
The case for a cultural boycott of Israel
Israeli government officials have summed up how Israel instrumentalizes culture to cover up its grave violations of international law. “We are seeing culture as a hasbara [propaganda] tool of the first rank,” one official admitted, “and I do not differentiate between hasbara and culture.”
Israel’s cultural institutions are part and parcel of the ideological and institutional scaffolding of Israel’s regime of settler-colonialism, apartheid and military occupation against the Palestinian people. These institutions are clearly implicated, through their silence or active participation in supporting, justifying and whitewashing Israel’s systematic oppression and denial of Palestinian rights.
According to the BDS movement’s Guidelines for the International Cultural Boycott of Israel, in order for Israeli cultural institutions to end their collusion in Israel’s regime of oppression and become non-boycottable, they must fulfill two basic conditions:
- Publicly recognize the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people as enshrined in international law (including the three basic rights in the 2005 BDS Call) and
- End all forms of complicity in violating Palestinian rights as stipulated in international law,including discriminatory policies and practices as well as diverse roles in whitewashing or justifying Israel’s violations of international law and Palestinian human rights.
When international artists perform at complicit Israeli cultural venues and institutions or at events sponsored by Israel, its lobby groups or its complicit institutions, they help to create the false impression that apartheid Israel is a “normal” state. The absolute majority of Palestinian writers, artists and cultural centers have endorsed the cultural boycott of Israel, and there is a growing number of anti-colonial Israelis who support BDS, including the cultural boycott of Israel.
Israel losing the culture war even at Eurovision
We’re at a point now where Israel has completely destroyed its reputation internationally. While it still enjoys the support of world government’s and institutions, those relationships are increasingly in peril, with even the United States showing some signs that it’s growing tired:
Trump's envoy: "We want to bring the hostages home, but Israel is not willing to end the war. Israel is prolonging it.” So why isn't Trump arm twisting Netanyahu by suspending U.S. arms sales and military aid? https://t.co/eLDFZcekaU
— Kenneth Roth (@KenRoth) May 17, 2025
It’s clear that history will not look kindly on those who turned a blind eye in this moment.
Hopefully Eurovision will come to understand this and get back to its original mission of spotlighting the worst music that Europe has to offer – not genocidal Israel
Featured image via Eurovision Song Contest (YouTube) / The Independent (YouTube)
