RTE says participating would be ‘unconscionable’ as a result of Israel’s war on Gaza and the ‘appalling loss of lives’.

Ireland, which has been critical of Israel’s war on Gaza, will withdraw from next year’s Eurovision Song Contest if Israel is permitted to compete, the national broadcaster RTE has announced.

The broadcaster in a statement on Thursday said participating would be “unconscionable” as a result of Israel’s war on Gaza.

Ireland has taken one of the strongest stances against Israel’s atrocities in Gaza and joined South Africa’s International Court of Justice (ICJ) case accusing Israel of committing genocide.

The ICJ in its interim order in January last year said Israel must take steps to prevent acts of genocide in Gaza. Numerous rights organisations have said Israel’s war in Gaza is genocide.

Israel has closed its Dublin embassy in protest against Ireland’s criticism of its military actions against Palestinians.

Israel has participated in Eurovision as a longtime member of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which organises and coproduces the annual event.

Eurovision is organised by the EBU in cooperation with its members, national public service broadcasters such as RTE, in more than 35 countries.

Recent editions of Eurovision have been overshadowed by opposition to Israel’s participation in the contest over its continuing military assault on Gaza, which has killed more than 64,000 people. Currently, the Israeli army has been carrying out relentless bombardments of Gaza City to force its nearly 1 million residents to flee.

“RTE feels that Ireland’s participation would be unconscionable given the ongoing and appalling loss of lives in Gaza,” the broadcaster asserted.

The Irish broadcaster said it was also deeply concerned by “the targeted killing of journalists in Gaza, the denial of access to international journalists to the territory and the plight of the remaining hostages”.

Israel’s war has killed more than 270 journalists, making it the deadliest conflict for media workers ever recorded.

‘Still consulting’

The EBU said it understood the “concerns and deeply held views around the ongoing conflict in the Middle East”.

“We are still consulting with all EBU members to gather views on how we manage participation and geopolitical tensions around the Eurovision Song Contest,” Eurovision director Martin Green said in an emailed statement.

“Broadcasters have until mid-December to confirm if they wish to take part in next year’s event in Vienna. It is up to each member to decide if they want to take part in the contest and we would respect any decision broadcasters make.”

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said in May that Israel should be excluded in the future. Madrid has also imposed an arms embargo on Israel.

Noting that Russia had not been allowed to take part since its invasion of Ukraine in 2022, he said “Israel shouldn’t either because what we cannot allow is double standards in culture”.

A final decision about Ireland’s participation in the 2026 competition will be made once the EBU makes its own decision on Israel, RTE said.

Ireland has taken part in the contest since 1965 and won seven times. Only Sweden has matched its record number of victories.

Source:

Al Jazeera and news agencies