cross-posted from: https://feddit.uk/post/47842441
Celebrated musicians including Massive Attack, Kneecap, Brian Eno, Sigur Rós, Nadine Shah, and many more have signed an open letter calling for a boycott of the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest in protest of Israel’s participation.
Campaign groups No Music For Genocide and the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic & Cultural Boycott of Israel are calling for a boycott of this year’s highly divisive Eurovision Song Contest.
More than 1,000 artists, including Massive Attack, Kneecap, Brian Eno, Sigur Rós, Nadine Shah, Mogwai and Hot Chip, have signed an open letter calling for a boycott of Eurovision 2026 in protest of Israel’s participation.
The letter calls upon the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) to ban KAN – the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation – from the upcoming contest.
“For the third consecutive year,” the letter states, Israel will be “celebrated onstage despite its ongoing genocide in Gaza, while Russia remains banned for its illegal invasion of Ukraine.”
“We refuse to be silent when Israel’s genocidal violence soundtracks and silences Palestinian lives,” the letter reads. “When children in Israeli prisons endure beatings for humming a tune. When all that’s left of nearly every stage, studio, bookshop and university in Gaza is piles of rubble, under which slaughtered bodies still await recovery and proper burial.”
In a statement, a spokesperson for No Music For Genocide said: “People of conscience around the globe are fighting complicity in every industry for a free Palestine and a freer world. While many of us in the industry make light of Eurovision or doubt our own power as cultural producers, genocidal Israel’s leaders speak openly about the contest’s geopolitical value.”
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That’s not the flex you think it is.
You choosing to vocalise your taste in music over your stance on genocide, especially considering you plan on not watching it anyway …
“can you believe those people can’t separate the art from the artist when it comes to genocide? also i hate ABBA for reasons i will not disclose”
Even if you end up kicking Izrael out or Eurovision or even killing Eurovision entirely, I don’t believe that will save even a single Palestinian life.
It won’t, but at least it also will deny the genocidal maniacs a propaganda platform where they can present themselves as cultured and civilised.
And that’s where we disagree. I don’t believe anyone looks civilised or cultured at Eurovision.
I despised Eurovision long before Israel became genocidal maniacs. Don’t get me wrong I also despise what Israel is doing right now. I just don’t believe boycotting Eurovision will do anything about it, and I don’t like empty gestures.
Lemme guess, you’re also fine with Israeli tourists hanging around your city?
Why shouldnt they? Should individuals be punished for the actions of their government?
I would be very suspicious about ANY tourists hanging out in my city. But let’s imagine there is a valid reason for a tourist to be here, in that case, it all depends on how they behave.
Please consider that you are suggesting that I should discriminate against an entire group of people based on their ethnicity, that’s basically what Israel does right now… In the extreme form.
Yes, that discrimination would include some genocidal maniacs but might just as well include oppositionists fighting the regime (running away from the oppressive government would explain why they ended up in my city), and is the most probable to just target some random guy who’s biggest fault is not stopping their government from turning insane, and there are a lot of people in the world guilty of that lately.
Is your government completely sane right now?
Not ethnicity, just nationality. I very clearly said Israeli, not Jew. See, this kind of narrative that blurs the line between nation and ethnicity is how they’ve been getting away calling all of their critics antisemitic. In a way, by using this argument, you’re supporting genocide.
Now, you’re using whataboutism. But I’ll entertain you on this one. Sadly, no government is ever completely sane. As for today most of them are far from being remotely sane. However, only a few of these are blatantly committing ethnic cleansing.
Should I go around my city and ask all tourists (both of them) to show me their passports to discriminate them based on their nationality?
It’s not whataboutism. I’m not implying that we should ignore what Israel is doing because {put any wrongdoing by the USA, Russia, Palestine, Iran, etc. here}.
I was trying to show, that it is really difficult for an individual to stop the country from going insane, and I refuse to punish random tourists without any proof that they are supporting what their government does.
We went a long way if you consider that it all started because I used a meme format to say that I hate Eurovision. I actually think that banning ANY country from it, would be beneficial for that country.
I fully support your hate to what Israel does I just don’t think this will help. I will happily be proven wrong.