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

[Everexpanding]

In a statement released on Thursday afternoon, the Dutch broadcaster Avrotros said it would also withdraw from next year’s contest. “After weighing all perspectives, Avrotros concludes that, under the current circumstances, participation cannot be reconciled with the public values that are fundamental to our organisation.”

The Slovenian national broadcaster, RTVSLO – the first to threaten a boycott this summer – said participation “would conflict with its values of peace, equality and respect”.

Spain’s culture minister, Ernest Urtasun, backed the decision, adding: “You can’t whitewash Israel given the genocide in Gaza. Culture should be on the side of peace and justice. I’m proud of an RTVE that puts human rights before any economic interest

RTÉ feels that Ireland’s participation remains unconscionable given the appalling loss of lives in Gaza and the humanitarian crisis there which continues to put the lives of so many civilians at risk,” the broadcaster said in a statement.

https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2025/dec/04/ireland-spain-and-the-netherlands-to-boycott-eurovision-2026-as-israel-cleared-to-compete

Its utterly bizarre but you MUST NOT LAUGH.

Its because you're evil, @Twiglets1.

I know😉

Banal actually, but to move on from the predicted jolly bants of the usual apologists Iceland will decide whether to boycott on Wednesday, a recent poll showed 60% of Icelanders in favour

Whats the point? We're all only going to minimize, whitewash and distract, then you'll accuse us of being evil, then we'll make light of this by reading back your own words, around and around and around. I guess you must enjoy it? I'm off for lunch. Xx

@Everexpanding people can't expect to say laughable things and people not laugh.

Nice try.

Well you know nice to see that the citme board has proved such a source of amusement and bants for your merry crew

Not very tasteful, not even very apposite.

This was in reply to the recent post which has now been deleted.

Anyway, can I be an apprentice too?

Yes laughing when discussing civilian slaughter is not very tasteful,

Actually, its a very dispiriting place. Not least because of your insistence that I have a 'crew'. Its only because its so ridiculous that I and others laugh. But your insinuation that there is some sort of organised attempt to push a pro-Israel narrative is actually deeply offensive. You'll note that I and others don't insinuate such a thing at those who disagree with me. And you might want to reflect on why you get so many posts deleted.

Feel free to sign up

Nobody is laughing at civilian slaughter, as anyone reading this can see. Just stop now. Its trivialising attempts at sensible discussion.

I got a post in which said this board makes me think of the banality of evil without referring to any individual poster deleted, that is all

Seriously, why not reflect on why that’s so offensive.

You can make your points without being deliberately rude and offensive.

Nobody is minimising or dismissing civilian deaths, nobody is posting in support of settler violence, nobody is deflecting from the subject at hand. Discussion isn’t deflection. There is no ‘merry crew’ here. There are people posting on good faith on both ‘sides’ if I can call it that, people who engage robustly but respectfully. People who post useful information that helps us all understand better.

when you use quotes like that you seriously damage the pro-Palestinian argument that it’s not antisemitism that motivates you, at least in part.

I profoundly disagree, I believe never again applied to all peoples, I see nothing wrong with mentioning the banality of evil when discussing why people are on here daily justifying, minimising and deflecting from the current genocidal actions of Israel.

I do not have an anti semitic bone in my body

If there were posters on here justifying Russia’s actions I would reply to them in the same manner

And that statement betray's the problem. Russia and Israel are not equivalent. As explained so many times.

No Israel has killed way more innocent children
Russia : 733
Israel : 20,000

Why cant you engage with the issues rather than these blanket accusations attacking other posters? Noone is daily minimising and deflecting. You think its genocide. Others dont. Its a difference of opinion that you can't accept so you attack the people holding it (sometimes individually, sometimes collectively with your accusation of a 'crew') rather than engage respectfully.

The situation is different. Russia is the aggressor. Christ, Im not going over it again.

Yes, the numbers are horrific. Horrific that Hamas chose start a war with no intention of protecting its vulnerable civilians, an indeed uses children in combat in various ways, while Ukraine chose to evacuate its non-combatant women and children.