The Eurovision Song Contest proudly promotes itself under the motto “United by Music,” claiming to foster unity, peace, and cross-cultural celebration. However, allowing Israel to participate in Eurovision while it continues to face widespread international condemnation for its actions in Gaza — actions that numerous human rights organizations and UN bodies have described as potential war crimes — reveals a troubling double standard. This inconsistency becomes especially stark when contrasted with the European Broadcasting Union’s (EBU) swift decision to ban Russia from the competition following its invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

The EBU justified Russia’s exclusion by stating that its presence would bring the contest into disrepute, yet it has not applied the same principle to Israel, despite similar — if not more severe — humanitarian concerns. This selective enforcement of moral standards undermines Eurovision’s credibility and dilutes its message of unity. By choosing to overlook ongoing violence and suffering in Gaza, Eurovision is inadvertently sending the message that some lives and conflicts are more politically palatable than others.

Music is indeed a powerful tool for unity, but true unity requires moral consistency. To ignore the grave humanitarian crisis in Gaza while continuing to celebrate Israel on the Eurovision stage is not just hypocritical — it’s a betrayal of the very values the contest claims to uphold.

Uphold “United by Music”. 

Israel must be banned from Eurovision until meaningful steps toward peace are taken and the violence against civilians comes to an end — anything less makes a mockery of the contest’s values.