Competition starts on Tuesday at the Eurovision Song Contest, with divisions over Israel’s participation hanging over the 70th birthday of the over-the-top pop music extravaganza.
Five countries — Spain, Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Iceland — are boycotting the contest to protest Israel’s inclusion over Tel Aviv’s ongoing genocidal war on Gaza, in which tens of thousands of Palestinians have been killed, and large parts of the besieged territory have been destroyed.
Rights groups have also criticised Israel’s participation with Amnesty’s secretary general Agnes Callamard saying in a statement that it “offers the country a platform to try to deflect attention from and normalise its ongoing genocide in occupied Gaza”
“Songs and sequins must not be allowed to drown out or distract from Israel’s atrocities or Palestinian suffering.”
A UN-backed probe in September determined that “genocide is occurring in Gaza.”
Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza killed more than 72,700 people, wounded over 172,500, and caused widespread destruction that affected 90 percent of civilian infrastructure since October 2023.
Several demonstrations are planned in Vienna during Eurovision week against Israeli atrocities, and security is tight, with police officers from across Austria deployed in the capital, and support from forces in neighbouring Germany.
Israeli singer Noam Bettan is among 15 acts competing for votes from viewers and national juries in Tuesday’s semifinal at the Wiener Stadthalle arena. The top 10 will go through to Saturday’s grand final, along with 10 from Thursday’s second semifinal.
