4 countries to boycott Eurovision due to Israel’s continued inclusion

I don't think anyone is doing this, holding Spain up as an ethical exemplar. Some posters are simply approving this particular decision by Spain's broadcaster.

Give me an example

Why?

I don’t think it’s helpful either, as I’ve said more than once. Just giving my perspective on what I think of Spain being held up as some kind of ethical exemplar.

Nor in any country, unfortunately. Hope Spain's efforts to deal with this are sustained and effective. But I wouldn't infer that their broadcasters boycotting of the Eurovision is in any way racist.

You literally do it all the time. All the time.

Israel has been in the competition since 1973. Surely you can see that the present boycott cannot be due to anti-semitism?

Except noone here regards all criticism of Israel as antisemitic. Only antisemitic criticism of Israel.

Ah.....the default setting of the pro-Israeli lobby-all criticism of Israel means you are antisemitic. Shame on you! Well done Slovenia, The Netherlands, Spain and Ireland. Showing a backbone regardless of the consequences and tut-tutting from certain quarters.

Spanish football fans were singing racist chants at a French player earlier this year. The racism certainly isn’t confined to the past!

I really can't take this 150 year business seriously. It's not even the same state, never mind constitution, political parties etc. Nobody who was alive before Jews were legally readmitted to Spain has walked the earth this century.

I'm resisting the very obvious comparisons with every other nation and their conduct and interventions, because, as I said, historical top trumps gets us nowhere.

I'm not praising anyone, least of all broadcasters, Israel shouldn't be in the competition, thats supported by 82% of the UK.

If for no other reason then their inclusion will wreck it for other singers, viewers and fans.

Possibly the broadcasters don’t have as much moral authority as posters praising the Eurovision boycotters would like us to think?

In general I don’t think sifting through past wrongs is all that helpful. I just think if I was a country which after expelling Jews (which many countries did including England) only let them back in 150 years ago I’d probably be a bit circumspect about Israel.

Probably the same as the descendants of the Palestinian diaspora will feel in 500 years time?

It’s hard to find a country that hasn’t acted terribly in the past. But it’s the ones that are acting badly now that need to be the focus for BDS.

If we were to summon all of our British, Irish, Spanish, Israeli etc forefathers of 150 years past to the discussion, of course we'd find many beliefs and attitudes of theirs unpalatable (as they would ours). It is hard to see how that has any bearing on the moral authority of their broadcasters in this instance.

I’m aware of that. I wonder how those descendants feel today.

If the bar is 150years and how countries have treated Jews since, its going to be a very meagre field for EV.

And look what they have come back to! No wonder Israel is so important to Jews worldwide.

Actually Spain acted well in 2015, allowing descendants of Sephardic Jews expelled during the inquisition to fast track Spanish citizenship.

That’s not an anti-Semitic move at all but rather one of reparations.

One person’s ethical problem is another’s antisemitic virtue-signalling.

Spain only let Jews back into the country just over 150 years ago.

I’m as entitled to my opinion about engagement with ethical problems and historical wrongdoing as the next poster.

Spain and Spanish people have as much standing as any other state to comment on and react to Israel's actions. Just as Britain and British people, despite our history, may comment on and react to Ireland's actions, as we see on this thread. We don't expiate the sins of our fathers by refusing ever again to engage in ethical problems.

I didn’t say it was, I’m just saying that I don’t think Spain has a leg to stand on. It would be laughable if it wasn’t actually quite a worrying straw in the wind in terms of antisemitic sentiment.

WTF.
Hamas is a 'bad organisation' and 'not actively committing a genocide'.
October 7th anyone? How quickly memories fade, or how little people cared in the first place.

The only thing preventing Hamas from genocide is Israel's superior military strength and commitment to self preservation. But no I'm totally with you, if Hamas hijacked a singing competition thst would be my red line too.

But but those countries aren't boycotting Israel! Its tbe broadcasters that are boycotting tbe IBA!

She really didn't say that!

As to your thought experiment, sure, Palestine and Israel have cultures worth celebrating, like all human societies. But Israel is a state as well as a society, and one may criticize the actions of the state. More pertinently, one may criticize its state media, which is the representative of Israel in this case, and one may decline to cooperate with it on this or any project.

Nobody would deny the benefits of celebrating Israeli culture in this contest, but one may certainly weigh those benefits against the need to collaborate with its state broadcaster in order to do so. This is what is meant when we talk about not engaging in business as usual with, in different instances, genocidal, apartheid, hostile, warmongering or rogue states. It is not a judgement on their cultures.