Iceland: “There was no Israeli intervention in Songvakeppnin” says Yogel Segav
Yongel Segav in his message to Eurovisionfun gives explanations for the issue that is being accused by a part of the Icelandic press today. Specifically, on behalf of KAN, he tried and succeeded in interfering in Songvakeppnin, in order to prevent the victory of Bashar Murad.
Yongel Segav explains to Eurovisionfun that the facebook group in which they are mentioned as instructing its members to support Hera Bjork so that she is the winner of Songvakeppnin and not Bashar Murad, is a small group of 400 members, of which only half are Icelandic. In addition, he adds that this was simply a proposal to friends, as there were similar proposals from dozens of pro-Palestinian activists in favor of Bashar Murad.
Hello, I’m Yogev Segal. The man who was written about in that lousy tabloid in Iceland. I work at KAN, it’s my daily job. I am working as a broadcast operator, a totally technical position in KAN channel. This fact has nothing to do with the matter. KAN has no role in this.
I have a deep connection with Iceland and Icelanders, I have visited Iceland 8 times and I have a website for travelers to Iceland in Hebrew. The “campaign” referred to in the article is nothing more than a post to a group of 400 people, half of whom are Israeli and half Icelandic. The post was worded in a very peaceful way – not against Bashar but against the meddling of politics in Eurovision.
Those who voted are Icelanders, not me. There is no “interference” here. In the superfinal, Hera won by a wide margin. As Palestinian activists wrote on every social network to vote for Bashar, I proposed something different, to a small group of people, some of whom are just my friends. There is nothing wrong with that! This is not an intervention. They tried to create a conspiracy theory.
Icelandic public television today confirmed that Hera Bjork will represent the country at Eurovision 2024 with the song Scared of Heights, putting an end to rumors that the country would withdraw from the contest, and to the questioning of Hera’s victory to the national final.
Stay tuned to Eurovisionfun for all the updates!
The Icelandic media never accused Segal of “interference”, but of attempting to influence the outcome. They also never claimed he was acting on behalf of KAN. Noting where he is employed has more to do with raising questions about the ethics involved. Would it be okay if an employee of DR led a campaign to influence the outcome of the Greek national selection?
A campaign is a campaign no matter it’s size or if it succeeds.
This campaign was reported elsewhere than in what Segal deems to be “tabloids”, such as visir.is which is part of one of the largest media company in Iceland, although before his employment was reported.