A growing international movement of artists and cultural figures is escalating pressure on the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) to bar Israel from the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest, with more than 1,100 signatories backing a public boycott call over Israel’s ongoing military campaign in Gaza that critics label genocide. The open letter, released jointly Tuesday by campaign coalitions No Music for Genocide and the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic & Cultural Boycott of Israel (a core part of the global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement), argues that allowing Israel to compete serves to whitewash the country’s military actions against Palestinian civilians.
Co-signed by high-profile names including rapper Macklemore, British singer Paloma Faith, Irish rap group Kneecap, British trip-hop collective Massive Attack, and multiple former Eurovision champions, the letter challenges the moral legitimacy of holding the 70th edition of the contest in Vienna next year against the backdrop of crisis in Gaza. “How can any performer or Eurovision fan in good conscience participate at the contest’s next edition in Austria amidst US-Israeli plans for hyper-surveilled concentration camps in ‘New Gaza’?” the letter reads. “There are moments in time when passive silence is not an option. We refuse to be silent when Israel’s genocidal violence soundtracks and silences Palestinian lives.”
A core pillar of the signatories’ criticism is the EBU’s widely decried double standard in its handling of conflicting geopolitical conflicts. In 2022, just weeks after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the EBU quickly moved to ban Russia from competing, arguing that the “unprecedented crisis” meant Russian participation would “bring the competition into disrepute.” More than 30 months into Israel’s military operations in Gaza, which the Gaza Ministry of Health reports has killed over 72,000 people, the EBU has repeatedly rejected calls to eject Israel and upheld the eligibility of Israeli public broadcaster Kan to enter the contest.
“The EBU’s hypocritical responses to Russia’s and Israel’s crimes have removed any illusion of Eurovision’s claimed ‘neutrality’,” the letter continues. “Yet more than 30 months of genocide in Gaza – alongside ethnic cleansing and land theft in the besieged West Bank – aren’t considered sufficient to apply the same policy to Israel.”
The boycott call comes after a months-long chain of protests that have already split the 2026 contest. When the EBU rejected a proposal to hold a binding vote on expelling Israel during its December governing body meeting, five member broadcasters from Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia, and Spain announced they would withdraw from the Vienna event entirely. Reporting from Israeli outlet Ynet last year confirmed that Israeli President Isaac Herzog assembled a dedicated lobbying team to pressure EBU member states directly, with the explicit goal of blocking the binding vote that Israeli officials anticipated they would lose.
The open letter praised the withdrawing countries for their stance, adding that organizers also commend “the many national selection finalists committing to refuse to go to Eurovision.” This wave of protest follows a high-profile individual act of resistance from 2024 Eurovision champion Nemo, the Swiss winner who returned their trophy earlier this year after the EBU confirmed Israel would be allowed to compete in the 2025 contest. As the 2026 event approaches, the boycott campaign continues to gain momentum among cultural workers, putting increasing pressure on the EBU to reverse its stance on Israeli participation.