Eurovision officials tell Israel resign or fly neutral flag – or be banned

European officials involved in organising the Eurovision Song Contest ‘unofficially’ told Israeli representatives that they need to ‘temporarily’ withdraw from the competition or else perform under a neutral flag as outrage spreads of over Israel’s participation ahead of a December vote in Geneva on whether the coloniser will be allowed to participate in next year’s contest.

Eurovision tells Israel to sort it out

The messages come after Irish broadcaster RTÉ said it will not take part if Israel does because of “the ongoing and appalling loss of lives in Gaza”.

RTÉ’s statement prompted musician and songwriter Phil Coulter to call on the UK and the BBC to withdraw from the contest completely if Israel takes part.

The officials’ suggestions are, of course, utterly inadequate. Israel is not in Europe and even before it began its genocide in Gaza it has been an apartheid state since its inception and has no place in any international competition while it treats Palestinians as lesser beings than Jewish Israelis – let alone while it continues its mass murder, through violence and starvation, of almost 700,000 innocent people so far, including half a million children.

Featured image via the Canary