Iceland threatens to drop out of 2024 Eurovision song contest if Israel are allowed to participate, (though Iceland failed to qualify last year)

• Iceland’s Association of Composers and Lyricists demanded that Israel be excluded from Eurovision song contest due to its bombardment of Gaza

Iceland has threatened to drop out of the 2024 Eurovision song contest if Israel are allowed to participate amid the IDF’s relentless bombardment of Gaza. 

Iceland’s Association of Composers and Lyricists demanded that Israel be excluded from the competition due to its ‘war in Gaza and the killing of innocent civilians and children’.

They said that if Israel’s performers are not banned, Iceland would drop out of next year’s Eurovision contest that will take place in Malmo, Sweden, in May. 

But such a threat may fall flat given that Iceland failed to even qualify for the competition last year.

‘We all have the duty to take a stand against war and the killing of innocent civilians and children,’ the Association said. ‘We always have the choice not to put our names on such things, whether we are individuals or state institutions.’ 

Israel Entry Noa Kirel performs on stage during The Eurovision Song Contest 2023 Grand Final in Liverpool on May 13, 2013. Noa ended up in third place with her performance of her hit ‘Tattoo’ in Liverpool

It said Israel should be disqualified from competing in Eurovision because the contest is supposed to be the space of ‘joy and optimism’, not ‘military force’.

It comes as Israel is facing mounting international pressure today over its war in Gaza, with even its key ally the United States criticising the ‘indiscriminate bombing’.

Now in its third month, the war was launched in response to the unprecedented attacks on Israel by Hamas on October 7 that left 1,200 Israelis killed as they tried to flee a music festival and their homes.

It has left Gaza in ruins, killing more than 18,600 people, mostly women and children, according to the latest toll from the Hamas-run health ministry, and causing ‘unparalleled’ damage to its roads, schools and hospitals.

In response, Iceland has called on Israel to be banned from the Eurovision contest after the competition’s committee ruled that the Israeli team shall be represented. 

This year, Israel marked the 50th anniversary of its first appearance in Eurovision, having first appeared at the event in 1973. Their singer, Noa Kirel, ended up in third place with her performance of her hit ‘Tattoo’ in Liverpool.

Buildings destroyed in Israeli strikes lie in ruin, as the conflict between Israel and Hamas continues, in Rafah, in the southern Gaza Strip on Wednesday

Meanwhile in 2019, Iceland similarly protested against Israel’s bid to host Eurovision in Jerusalem. 

Israel had been chosen as hosts after Israeli singer Netta Barzilai won the contest in 2018 with her spunky pop anthem ‘Toy’.

But Israel’s bid to host it in Jerusalem was controversial. Iceland and dozens of European artists, led by former Pink Floyd frontman Roger Waters, signed a letter calling for the contest to be moved elsewhere. 

Demonstrations erupted outside television studios at a number of national finals. Boycott activists stormed the stage during France’s semi-final round. Iceland’s performers had vowed to leverage their platform to show the “face of the occupation.” 

Amid the controversy, Israel was forced to host the contest in Tel Aviv. 

Eurovision debuted in the wake of World War II to heal a divided continent. 

Over the years, the earnest show of European unity has mushroomed into a campy, over-the-top spectacle that brings together acts from 41 countries, including those with little or no connection to Europe, such as Turkey and Australia.

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