Slovenia Demands Israel's Removal From Eurovision 2025

“[Kan’s] membership of the EBU provides Israelis with significant benefits, including a role in key international events such as the Eurovision Song Contest – the best-performing TV show in Israel last year – and access to major sports rights, including the FIFA World Cup 2026, ensuring free-to-air coverage for all Israelis,”

From Google @FizzyBisto. Two reasons there.

Morocco and Australia clearly shouldn’t be in it either, honestly. Armenia - arguable, but if Turkey, Russia and Ukraine get in, Georgia and Armenia can make a case for themselves.

I'd also like to know exactly what happened with Joost Klein for the Netherlands, and why he got booted out at the last minute. Without the EBU having the respect and honesty to properly tell us what he was alleged to have done and the results of the following investigations, I can only wonder if he said or did something about Israel that a huge proportion of viewers would have agreed with.

It does seem bizarre in the extreme that Joost's actions were deemed totally unacceptable for remaining part of Eurovision; yet Israel retains a completely clean sheet, regardless of anything that they have done.

To be fair, I suppose the logical question might be to ask why they joined the EBU in the first place. Is there a reason why non-European countries would join - any more than, say, Canada would seek to join the EU or Germany would apply to participate in the Africa Cup of Nations?

I'm very willing to be corrected, as it's only my surmising; but it seems to me that the likes of Australia may have wished to join the EBU as a positive action: because they share a common language and a great deal of cultural understanding with the UK and Ireland; whereas I can't help feeling that Israel would naturally have felt unwelcome in any (mainly Arab) Middle East union, and so saw the EBU and thought "That'll do instead".

@SmugglersHaunt they are ‘waiting’

But she's right though.

Is this your counter argument? Could you, please, refute the points I have made in response to your post?

Pot, kettle. You also sound incredibly patronising.

Alexander Mercouris who was disbarred from legal practice in London? The Alexander Mercouris who is a Russian apologist where Putin can do no wrong? Who is mourning the fall of Assad and who classifies Assad’s use of chemical weapons on his own people as a false flag operation by the West?

I would advise against.

@SuperfluousHen Would ye, aye?

🤣🤣🤣

I’d advise a watch of Alexander Mercouris daily reports for a better understanding of what’s actually happening (and has happened).

Yes @SuperfluousHen Completely unprovoked. But you know that, don't you

In case you're stuck

What happens in Ukraine is Ukraine's business

What happens in Ukraine is fuck all to do with their savage neighbours.

HTH

completely unprovoked 😳

Maybe they got
Fed up with the same handful of posters posting the same old shit on every thread.

It really is an echo chamber and so out of step with real life

Why shouldn't they? They're members of the EBU aren't they?

@OchaLove
Armenia?
Morocco?
Australia?

What's your thinly disguised reason for objecting to these?

EBU - European Broadcasting Union.

I did search and found it, looks like for a country to attend Eurovision they must be a member of EBU. Australia is another example. Morocco has participated once.

Because it's part of the European Television organisation which I forget the name of.

Why is Israel in every European contest or organization? Are they European or are they Middle Eastern? It is not in Europe geographically. If its population is European then why get upset when people say they are European colonial settlers in the Middle East.

By the way, I think Eurovision has always been about politics.

Pot. Kettle, black.
Not sure why we can't have differing opinions without the need to be personal.

I went to Eurovision this year. Bought flights before Oct 7th. Bought tickets before the conflict had really started. It was completely overshadowed by Israel. It was really awful in the area when they performed. It put excessive pressure on the competitors. The atmosphere in the arena when Israel performed was dreadful.

I'm not particularly interested in the rights or wrongs of whether Israel should be in Eurovision - Eurovision shouldn't be about politics. It just felt like being caught in the middle of someone else's argument and that was unpleasant enough.

I have said I won't go again whilst it persists. It ruined the event and I expect protests to be bigger this year and it will be harder to avoid them (a lot of people stayed in Copenhagen whilst protests were in Malmö).

However Israel are extremely unlikely to get booted because the event's main sponsor is Israeli.

I think Israel should remove themselves in good grace if they care about Eurovision itself. But then they won't because it's a propaganda opportunity for the government.

Eurovision should be outside of politics though because it's principal is about reducing hate and that's still necessary during conflict.

But I am also not impressed at the abuse dished out by pro-palestinian groups on this either. It doesn't make me more sympathetic. I am very aware genocide is being committed. It doesn't lessen my feeling that there's innocents on both sides who actively condemn the war who are on the recieving end of abuse dished out in the name of supporting 'the cause'.

You sound very ill informed.

Yet again Israel is condemned for doing what any other nation would do under the circumstances.
I sincerely hope that my president would not react in a way that would to lead him to having a warrant for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Why doesn’t Hamas release the hostages? Because they don’t care about their own citizens dying and suffering. Why did they launch an attack on Israel while knowing the probable consequences? Again because they don’t care about Palestinians.
You really need to keep up on what Netanyahu has said regarding the release of the hostages, hostages he cares little about, according to their families.
And yet the witless fools in the west line up to support Hamas, Hezbollah and the like - one of the most repressive regimes on Earth. It beggars belief.
Who are those "witless fools"?
I’m sick of the casual antisemitism so many people on Mumsnet trundle out.
Please provide evidence for this serious allegation. I am waiting.
They seemingly don’t care about what’s happening in countless other global conflicts.
The good old deflection!
It’s the old saw of “no Jews = no news".
Do you deliberately conflate Judaism and the actions of a far right government who views Palestinians as "human animals"? I don't.
I’m not Jewish but I can’t imagine what it’s like to have to read the rubbish spouted about Israel.
The truth does hurt, doesn't it?

They did but the Israel government's response of the last 14 months has been to slaughter, by any means available, over 43000 people.
The fact that Hamas inflicted horrors on Israelis does not excuse the level of cruelty the IDF has unleashed on Gazans. That was my point.