Will Eurovision have to choose between Finland and Israel? More than 1,400 Finnish artists have signed a petition calling for Israel's exclusion from the next edition of Eurovision, which will be held in Malmö, Sweden, on May 11.
They are calling on the Finnish Broadcasting Company (Yle), Finland's public broadcaster, to boycott the contest if an Israeli candidate were to represent his country next May, due to alleged war crimes perpetrated by the Israeli army in the Gaza Strip, the Guardian reports.
"It is not in line with our values that a country that commits war crimes and militarily occupies another territory is offered a stage to polish its image through music," reads the petition signed by Finland-based artists, musicians and music industry professionals.
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Among the signatories of the petition are Olavi Uusivirta, Paleface and Axel Ehnström, who represented Finland in the contest in 2011, notes the BBC. They accuse Yle of double standards, pointing out that the channel was among the first to demand Russia's ban from the 2022 contest following the invasion of Ukraine "We now also expect the same active defense of values from Yle," they said.
Icelandic artists are also threatening boycotts
Last month, Yle's representative, Ville Vilén, said the situation in Israel and Gaza was "not quite the same" as in Ukraine. "As horrible as it sounds, this is not an interstate war of aggression like the one between Russia and Ukraine," he told the Finnish tabloid Ilta-Sanomat.
In December, the Icelandic Association of Composers and Lyricists also told Icelandic broadcaster Ruv that its members would not participate in Eurovision 2024 unless Israel was excluded from the contest.
For the time being, there are no plans to exclude Israel from the contest. "Eurovision is a competition for European and Middle Eastern public service television. This is a contest for broadcasters, not governments, and Israel's public broadcaster has been participating in this contest for 50 years," said the EBU (European Broadcasting Union), which said it was organizing "a non-political event."