Thousands protest at the Eurovision final as five countries boycott Israel Objections

Spain, the Netherlands, Ireland, Iceland and Slovenia all withdrew in opposition to Israel’s involvement in its war in Gaza.

As the Eurovision Song Contest reached its final stage on Saturday night in Vienna, thousands protested outside Israel’s inclusion, and five countries boycotted the event because of civil war in Gaza.

Demonstrators marched through the Austrian capital to demonstrate what critics described as a double whammy. Organizers of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) refused to exclude Israel, despite banning Russia following its invasion of Ukraine four years ago.

Eurovision, which attracted 166 million viewers last year, is seeing the biggest boycott in its 70-year history.

Spain, the Netherlands, Ireland, Iceland and Slovenia all withdrew due to Israel’s inclusion, while some of their national broadcasters refused to broadcast the program.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who has become one of Europe’s most vocal opponents of Israel, said on Friday that the election would put Spain “on the right side of history”.

Last month, more than 1,000 artists asked fans to boycott Eurovision in an open letter protesting Israel’s participation. Some of the artists were the most critical of Israel, Macklemore and Paloma Faith. Macklemore has released a song protesting Israel’s war on Gaza.

Two standards

On Monday, Amnesty International Secretary General Agnes Callamard criticized the EBU for allowing Israel to participate.

“The failure of the European Broadcasting Union to stop Israel from Eurovision, as it did with Russia, is a cowardly act and a metaphor for the big show in relation to Israel,” he said.

According to reports from Vienna, Al Jazeera’s Charlie Angela said 2,000 demonstrators gathered in the city early Saturday to protest Israel’s involvement.

Angela said the protesters argued that the contest normalized Israel’s actions in Gaza, adding that Eurovision was “bent over backwards” to justify including Israel and excluding Russia.

Russia has experienced widespread cultural neglect following the invasion of Ukraine. It is so prohibited from international football competitions, and FIFA and UEFA have banned Russian teams from all competitions, including the Champions League.

The Eurovision winner will be chosen by expert judges and TV viewers who vote for their favourites.

Austria won the competition last year, with Israel second.

The Israeli government was later accused of interfering with the vote. New rules are in place.