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Germany: Ben Dolic signs an open letter to the EBU against Israel!

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It seems like the statement of EBU that confirms that KAN and Israel can normally participate to the contest has sparked reactions among the fans but not only.

A few hours later, the (almost) Eurovision Song Contest 2020 representative of Germany, Ben Dolic, signed an open letter to the EBU and made a post on X (Twitter) about it, which you can see below:

“The continued acts of violence by the state of Israel cannot be supported under any circumstances. As an artist, a past Eurovision participant and as a human being, I will not support the EBU’s decision to allow a state that has committed so many atrocities to tens of thousands of civilians participate in the Eurovision Song Contest.

There is no logical explanation for a music competition with the main message of spreading love to have a connection with a place that has acted against their main message in such horrific ways.”

There have been calls to ban Israel from Eurovision 2024. In Finland, 1300 artists signed a petition asking for Israel to be removed. The British representative Olly Alexander has also shared in public his opinion against Israel. Also just recently Montaigne signed an open letter to the EBU asking the ban of Israel from the contest, just as Ben did.

Germany originally planned to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest 2020 with the song “Violent Thing” written by Borislav Milanov, Peter St. James, Dag Lundberg, Jimmy Thorén and Connor Martin and performed by Ben Dolic, but then the contest was cancelled due to the Coronavirus outbreak. You can listen to “Violent Thing” on the video down below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hAobDQ9GbT4

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Sweden: The left party demands the ban of Israel from Eurovision Song Contest! | The response of SVT!

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In May, Malmö will host the Eurovision Song Contest. On May 7, the festivities kick off and on May 11, it’s time for the final. But lately the contest is leaning towards politics. The leader of the Left Party, Nooshi Dadgostar, demands that the organizers ban Israel from participating in the competition. Nooshi Dadgostar explicitly says:

“Eurovision should not invite Israel.”

The reason for the Left Party‘s announcement is the ongoing war that in Gaza, where Israel has been dragged before the International Court of Justice in The Hague. The legal process has been initiated after South Africa filed a complaint against Israel to the court.

“Aggressive war against children”

Nooshi Dadgostar adds on the matter:

“Tens of thousands of people have been killed. It is not the right signal to send that Sweden gives space on stage to such a state. Israel is waging an aggressive war against children and their parents and is now being prosecuted for genocide and there are many indications that they are committing war crimes right now.”

When asked if it is reasonable for her, as a politician, to interfere in a production in this way, she responded:

“I love Eurovision. It is a place of celebration and fellowship, but I think many people share the view that a state that has killed so many children cannot be given this place. Otherwise, it’s as if the outside world doesn’t care about the killing. This has to stop.”

Social Democratic party doesn’t want to interfere

Social Democratic MP Lawen Redar, who sits on the Riksdag‘s Culture Committee, strongly disagrees.

“I don’t interfere in how this type of programme should be implemented. It must be up to the public service broadcasters in Europe, and it is certainly unusual to boycott individual nations from participating.”

The response of SVT

SVT refers the question of Israel‘s participation in Eurovision to the European Broadcasting Union and Madeleine Sinding-Larsen write:

“SVT will not comment on this because it is the EBU that decides which members participate in the competition and SVT will follow the EBU’s decision.”

Aftonbladet has reached out to the EBU but there is no response yet.

Source: Aftonbladet / Fredrik Björkman
Photo: Sarah Louise Bennett/EBU

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Sweden: How will Malmö’s budget of 30 million Swedish crowns be used for Eurovision?

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A bit more than six months have passed since SVT revealed that Malmö will be the host city for the Eurovision Song Contest 2024, on July 7.

There will be televised semi-finals on 7 and 9 May. On Saturday 11 May, the final will be broadcast all over the world from Malmö Arena.

This week, Malmö‘s top politicians hammered out how Malmö‘s taxpayers’ money should be used around the giant event. The Chair of the Municipal Executive Board Katrin Stjernfeldt Jammeh said on the matter:

“A completely unanimous municipal executive board supported the distribution. Much of the work will be done out in the committees and therefore we set aside money there.”

Already last autumn, in last year’s budget, agreements were signed for around SEK 10 million – including with Malmö Arena, Malmömässan and Malmö Live.

The rest of the money that is supposed to be used for the music festival was invested by the municipal board this week:

  • The Technical Committee will receive SEK 6.6 million for the work on Eurovision Park and Eurovillage at Folkets Park.
  • The Culture Committee will receive SEK 1.8 million for its work on programmes and communication.
  • The Recreation Committee will receive SEK 3.3 million for the work with 600 unpaid volunteers and for city decoration, such as flags and banners that will fill Malmö.
  • The Municipal Executive Board is also allocating SEK 6.3 million to a wide range of general extra costs linked to the giant event.

Despite galloping inflation, this year’s Eurovision Song Contest will not be more expensive for Malmö‘s taxpayers than the contests ten years ago says the city of Malmö‘s project manager Karin Karlsson:

“More people are contributing content than they did ten years ago. We are trying to work with the business community in a much more comprehensive way than we did then.”

Already in a couple of weeks, on January 30, Farah Abadi and Pernilla Månsson Colt will lead the draw for places in the two semi-finals. At the same time, the world is under pressure from major international conflicts, such as the wars in Ukraine and Gaza.

Shortly after the announcement that Malmö will be the host of the Eurovision Song Contest, the Swedish Security Service raised the terrorist threat level in Sweden. On 1 November, a total bag ban was introduced at major events. It is still unclear what additional and stricter security measures may be required ahead of the giant competition in Malmö. But politicians know that it could lead to new costs for the city. Karin comments:

“As far as security is concerned, we are waiting for information from the police. This will have consequences for the centre of Malmö as a whole. We are already working preventively by trying to choose places with perimeter protection and places we are used to working with.”

“In the first instance, public transport will be offered.” says the municipal board’s decision document. One can assume that this will be offered to the volunteers and press that are attending to work on the contest. But would that also mean that the artists will also travel by bus or train to the competition arena in Hyllie? Karin Karlsson responds:

“No, that’s where the line is drawn. We have a special responsibility to ensure that they arrive on time. The participants will travel in rented buses or electric cars. It’s Malmö’s advantage that we have such good public transport. It’s also a way to save money. We want the whole event to be used by public transport.”

Source: Sydsvenskan
Photo: Martin Meissner

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Norway: Demonstration against Israel outside NRK before the first heat of MGP 2024!

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When it became known on 5 January who would participate in Norwegian MGP, a bunch of protesters showed up outside NRK in Oslo. Fredrik Solvang, the host of MGP 2024 commented on the demonstration, stating that he does not support boycotting Israel in Eurovision 2024. He explained that such a decision would place him in a challenging position as a host, highlighting the inherent difficulty for a television station to adopt a stance amid an ongoing conflict, particularly when providing journalistic coverage.

Activities against Israel continue today in Oslo, Norway, when a few moments before the first heat of Melodi Grand Prix begins tonight, the Action Group for Palestine demonstrates outside the audience entrance at Marienlyst. They wrote in a press release:

“Our demand is that Norway and NRK work for the exclusion of Israel from Eurovision 2024. During the commemoration, we will have a total of 116 dead journalists.”

They further write that they want to remind NRK of its responsibility as a public service broadcaster, to stand in solidarity with freedom of the press and the special source journalists have to protect during war.

As of January 10, the government of Gaza reports that 116 journalists have been killed since October 7. There will also be 116 protesters outside NRK tonight. Protesters have laid on the ground, wearing blue vests to symbolize journalists who have been killed in the war. Janne Heltberg, who has turned up at the audience entrance says:

“We hope that NRK and Melodi Grand Prix get the courage to state from MGP that Israel does not have enough in Eurovision to do in 2024.”

Several other petitions have also been launched, which are being judged in Finland and Iceland.

Source: NRK

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Israel: “Fill your mouth with ice cubes and shut up” says Yizhar Cohen to Icelanders!

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Yizhar Cohen, the first Israeli winner of Eurovision, responds harshly to Icelanders who have previously called for Israel’s exclusion from Eurovision 2024 through protests and petitions to the Icelandic broadcaster.

So far, no EBU member has called for Israel’s exclusion from the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest, with Israel proceeding with its usual preparations to select the artist who will represent the country in Malmö in May. However, Israel’s participation in the competition remains a hot topic in Iceland.

We previously informed you of a protest by pro-Palestinian organizations in front of the headquarters of the Icelandic national television RÚV, in which protesters demand that the EBU excludes Israel from Eurovision 2024. They even gathered 9,500 signatures calling on RUV to leave Iceland in protest if Israel finally participates. Also, the association of composers and lyricists of the country, in an official announcement, calls on RUV to boycott Eurovision 2024 due to the Israeli participation.

The first Israeli winner in the Eurovision Song Contest, Yizhar Cohen, was asked to give his opinion on the protesters in Iceland. Yizhar Cohen was the winner of the 1978 Eurovision Song Contest with the now-classic “A Ba Ni Bi“, and his career has been on the rise ever since.

Invited to Channel 13, Cohen responded to Icelanders who express disapproval of Israel’s participation in a very firm manner by speaking in English so that he could be understood by all:

My dear fellow anti-Semitic “ice friends”. We know that you hate…sorry, that you dislike us. When the Eurovision took place in Tel Aviv, your group was hanging out with extremists Palestinians and supported terror against us. You know you are fighting for human rights for everybody in the globe, except for the human rights of Israelis and human rights of Jews, and that’s why you are anti-Semitic. So now you want to boycott us in Eurovision 2024. You are fed by so many lies and pro-Palestinian propaganda and you know completely nothing about us. You just shout, shout and shout. So I have an idea for you – maybe instead of bringing your political views in Eurovision, just bring a great song and win the contest? That’s the way that we’ll remember you. If not, you can continue keep barking as much as you want. I have a secret for you – we will stay here for another 50 thousand years, if you like it or not.

You have a lot of ice in Iceland, right? So, fill your mouths with ice cubes and shut up!

How do you judge the words of Izhar Cohen? Tell us in the comments below! Stay tuned to EurovisionFun for all news!

Source: Euromix