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

Oh I never questioned it I was just pointing out that in the previous year it was the Israeli delegation that was rebuked for their terrible behavior. Do you accept that?

There is no doubt that Raphael was at the receiving end of a lot of negativity and suffered because of that.

Every pro Israel head did vote for them but it wasn't enough because the judges score was so low, so it would appear that the song was a bit crap and that's why they didn't win. They came 2nd though even with a shite song so it's not that out there to believe they will win next year no?

Never thought I'd be heckled here because I say Israel will win at something 😂 But why do you think they will win, explain why 💀

The poster suggested earlier that they would do well because:
My expectation is that they will do very well with the public votes especially given the sympathy most people feel towards the rise in antisemitism.

So without a song decided, if even written yet, or a note sung people are already deciding who will do well. Makes a joke of the whole competition tbh so I can see why some broadcasters want no part in it.

You did question it though because after I mentioned bullies in my post you responded at 16.36 yesterday with "Bullies? Why?"

Then I reminded you that last year's Israel contestant was bullied, which you now kind of acknowledge by saying "Oh I never questioned it."

Who rebuked the Israel delegation for their terrible behaviour in 2024? I am not aware that they were rebuked by the organisers but if they were, please provide the source. I tried googling it but only found differing opinions on Reddit of who was guilty of terrible behaviour in 2024. The first mainstream article I found - from the BBC - was more about the bad behaviour directed at Israel.

The Israeli delegation at last week's Eurovision Song Contest faced "an unprecedented display of hatred" from other countries and their entrants, the national broadcaster has claimed.
This year's event was partly overshadowed by frayed tempers backstage plus protests over Israel's participation, due to the humanitarian cost of its war on Hamas.
On Thursday, a spokesman for public broadcaster Kan issued a statement to BBC News, accusing the other countries of anti-Israeli behaviour.
"This year, the Israeli delegation faced immense pressure and an unprecedented display of hatred, notably from other delegations and artists, publicly and collectively, solely because of the simple fact that we are Israelis and that we were there," it said.
"However, throughout the journey, the delegation maintained a dignified and respectful approach towards artists and other delegations, striving to foster unity around music while adhering to the competition's rules, unlike some other delegations."
After Saturday's contest, Eurovision organisers said some delegations "didn’t respect the spirit of the rules" at the event, without naming any countries.
The Israeli delegation were criticised by contestants including Ireland's Bambie Thug, who had been outspoken about its involvement.
Other participants, including the Dutch team, accused the Israeli delegation of filming them and posting clips online without their permission.
Israel was represented at the event in Malmö, Sweden, by singer Eden Golan, who received a mixture of boos and cheers from the audience. She finished fifth.
After the grand final, Bambie Thug, who had been outspoken in their pro-Palestinian views, accused Kan of "inciting violence" against them during its coverage.
During the first semi-final, one of the station's commentators noted that the performer had "spoken negatively about Israel", and told viewers to "prepare your curses" - thought to be a reference to a lyric in Bambie Thug's song.
"The broadcaster has disobeyed the rules and I hope next year they won’t be able to compete because of that," they told reporters after the contest.

https://www.aa.com.tr/en/culture/17-portuguese-artists-announce-boycott-of-eurovision/3770705

Maybe - given that there is increased anti semitism in Ireland- you should question it ..

https://static.eldiario.es/eldiario/public/content/file/original/2025/0519/18/1-aviso-a-israel-watermark-pdf.pdf

I was asking a genuine question about why you were using the word bullied and the events and usage that led to this word. There was the booing and the jumping on stage and the different abuse she suffered. But I just wouldn't have used that word bullying in the context I would use it in work .

I never denied it.

I don't understand what you are trying to say here.
I never questioned that there was negativity surrounding the singer, why are you saying I should question it now, that there wasn't any ???

Perhaps you should read the context before jumping in with the usual anti Irish sentiment so often displayed by posters on here .

Hard to understand how anyone could only consider the word “bullying” in the context of the workplace.

What about if a child suffered abuse at school from other children, wouldn’t you classify that as bullying? Or picking on someone because of their ethnicity or race or religion, that absolutely can be classifying as bullying. The singer last year was picked on because of where she came from not because of anything to do with herself as a person. And you haven’t ever considered that to be bullying behaviour? Maybe take some time to reflect how it would have felt to be her, a survivor of a massacre feeling hated for something outside of your control.

I'm ok with the reflection thanks Twiglets.

I genuinely misinterpreted the context - apologies. I should have read more carefully.
( Re your comment about anti Irish sentiment- I don’t think it’s anti Irish -or anti European - to refer to the increase in vile antisemitism)

Thank you for acknowledging that.

Unfortunately vile Antisemitism(I'm not mocking your words I can't think of a better way to describe it) is on the rise everywhere but there is a particular focus on Ireland on these boards.

I agree it’s on the rise everywhere. I don’t think Ireland has a bigger problem than other European countries but as I live in the UK ( and Ireland for about 3 months of the year) I tend to comment more about the situation in the UK and Ireland. I’m a teacher and I’m particularly concerned about the impact on Jewish schoolchildren.

I'm also a teacher but we don't have any Jewish children in the school (small rural school) but can only imagine the impact on those children (and their parents) mentally with current events that are unfolding around the world .

I agree about it being on the rise. Fortunately it's not something I have heard in my circle of friends and colleagues and would challenge it any a time if I did hear it .

I think one problem is people not even recognising antisemitism when they do see/hear it.

No one seems to think they are antisemitic or their friends/family are yet look at the rise in antisemitic attacks in the world. They don't come out of nowhere.

I agree with this. I have had very robust conversations with friends about it. Part of the issue is people who are very invested in not being racist or prejudiced, instead of thinking ‘perhaps I don’t really understand antisemitism and am perpetuating it due to ignorance, maybe I should change my behaviour’ think ‘I am not a racist person so my thoughts and words cannot possibly be antisemitic therefore the definitions of antisemitism must be wrong’. I don’t think huge numbers of British people consciously think ‘yeah I really hate Jews’.

I'm sure you're right that huge numbers of British people don't consciously think ‘yeah I really hate Jews’.

They just don't recognise antisemitism the way they recognise other forms of racist language, attitudes or prejudices.

I'm beginning to think the new Australian laws proposed are correct in assuming that education is where a lot of the resources need to be focused. It doesn't matter if schools have a lot of Jewish children in them or not, it's equally valid to teach about antisemitism in other faith schools or no faith schools.

Using the IHRA of antisemitism is always a good guideline to what we are hearing and seeing around us that needs to be called out . The examples it gives on its website are excellent to see where antisemitism exists in the public sphere as well as the advice that "criticism of Israel similar to that leveled against any other country cannot be regarded as antisemitic".

I agree that "criticism of Israel similar to that leveled against any other country cannot be regarded as antisemitic".

It's when people hold Israel to higher standards than other countries that there is a problem. Or when people hold individual civilians from Israel somehow responsible for what their government is doing when they wouldn't do that to civilians from other countries.

Or when people hold individual civilians from Israel somehow responsible for what their government is doing when they wouldn't do that to civilians from other countries.

People do do that to civilians of many countries (and often because of terrorists who definitely don’t represent mainstream thinking, not only because of the actions of elected governments).
Not that it makes it right of course!!

As illustrated by the phenomenal imbalance in discussions about Israel on Mumsnet compared to any other country or conflict. And when anyone points this out we are accused of trying to shut down discussion of Israel with accusations of antisemitism.

The IHRA definition is indeed helpful, but people misunderstand it. Read it in conjunction with Daivid Hirsh's analysis of tbe Livingstone formulation.

https://engageonline.wordpress.com/2010/10/05/david-hirsh-the-livingstone-formulation/

When people do that to civilians of other countries it can be rightfully called out as being racist or sometimes Islamophobic if it against Muslims.

When it is done against Jews the name for it is antisemitism.

When people point this out it is usually pointed out to them that it is a unique situation. Usually people don't rush to argue that its fine to blow up a cafe and kill 30 people because there was 1 terrorist having a cup of coffee there or it's OK to blow up an entire apartment block and the one next door full of sleeping families because 1 terrorist is sleeping there. They don't argue that it's fine to shut down the healthcare system, the sanitation system, the education system to flatten pretty much every building in some areas because there might be a terrorist there. They don't see videos of children being executed in the street and rush to talk about how they will grow up to be terrosists anyway. They don't argue that if only people loved their children more then their children would alive. They don't deny that apartheid is happening. They don't accuse human rights groups, the UN, medical doctors, the highest courts in the world as just being racist when they point out war crimes and criticise extreme violence. They dont go look at those fat mums when talking about starving children. They don't go well what about UAE when talking about Ukraine. I could go on and on and on.

It's disingenuous to omit that little nugget of information but I think we have all become used to that at this point.

Thank you for illustrating the point.

Can I ask how @CrossChecking accused people of weaponising antisemitism in their post that proved your point.
(Or have I misunderstood the Livingstone formula I read your link)