Eurovision has rolled over for Israel and four other nations have walked out over it, but another body HAS had the guts to so no to Israel...
Right, so Eurovision has finally hit the point where the organisers can’t keep up the pretence anymore, because when Spain, Ireland, the Netherlands and Slovenia all walk rather than share a stage with Israel, it tells you the whole neutrality myth has rotted through.
The European Broadcasting Union is still trying to sell the idea that this isn’t political, which is quite something when the public can watch Gaza being levelled in real time and then watch the EBU act like participation is just a technical matter. And the funniest part is that Guinness World Records, of all things, has shown more awareness of the moment by quietly freezing submissions from Israel and the Palestinian territories, because even the people who count the world’s tallest dog know when a situation is too toxic to pretend otherwise. The EBU just hasn’t caught up.
Right, so Eurovision likes to pretend it exists somewhere above politics, that it sits in this sealed-off cultural bubble where music floats free of the real world, yet here we are watching the whole thing come apart because the European Broadcasting Union has decided that Israel’s participation matters more than the credibility of the contest and more than the broadcasters who actually make it work. Spain has walked. Ireland has walked. The Netherlands and Slovenia have walked. And these aren’t fringe withdrawals from countries who dip in and out depending on the budget; these are core European broadcasters, and Spain in particular is part of the financial backbone of Eurovision, so the idea that this is just another flare-up that will settle down again doesn’t hold. The structure is cracking because the myth the EBU keeps selling, the one about neutrality and music being above politics, has finally collided with reality, and reality is winning. What’s happening here is the result of years of selective enforcement and double standards. The EBU moved fast when Russia invaded Ukraine. It didn’t wait for debate or consensus. It didn’t hide behind process. It banned Russia outright, and that ban was framed as a moral necessity. Nobody in the EBU seemed confused about Eurovision’s political role then. Nobody said “music must stay separate.” They understood that participation has a political meaning whether they admit it or not, which is why watching them now try to pretend that Israel’s participation is some kind of neutral decision is embarrassing, because even people who don’t normally follow Eurovision can see that the EBU isn’t dealing with principle, it’s dealing with fear.
►SOURCES: AL JAZEERA: Eurovision organisers debate whether Israel should be barred from contest; Spain, Ireland boycott Eurovision Song Contest over Israel’s inclusion QUDS NEWS NETWORK: Ireland, Spain, the Netherlands and Slovenia to boycott Eurovision 2026 following Israel’s participation TIMES OF ISRAEL: Guinness World Records says it stopped taking records from Israel after October 7 HAARETZ: Guinness World Records suspends Israeli submissions citing current climate
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