Reuters: Two Belgian ministers have called for Israel's exclusion from the Eurovision Song Contest while the Gaza war is ongoing as a punitive measure for the toll on Palestinian civilians.
Controversy over the conflict has hit various cultural events, with organiser The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) resisting calls from some artists and activists for Israel to be dropped from Europe's May 7-11 annual song competition.
Belgium's French-speaking Culture Minister Benedicte Linard and Flemish counterpart Benjamin Dalle added their voices.
"Just like Russia has been excluded from competitions and Eurovision following its invasion of Ukraine, Israel should be excluded until it puts an end to its flagrant violations of international law, which are causing thousands of victims, especially children," she said on X.
There was no immediate response from the EBU, or from Israel, which says it is the victim of a smear campaign over its push to root Hamas militants out of the Palestinian enclave.
Linard told parliament on Wednesday she would ask French-language public broadcaster RTBF, which is organising Belgium's participation in Eurovision, to voice the concerns to the EBU.
Dalle said an Israeli suspension would be appropriate while so many Palestinian civilians were suffering, according to a report by Flemish broadcaster VRT.
Israel has already agreed to revise the lyrics of its potential submission to the song contest after EBU took issue with verses that appeared to reference Hamas' Oct. 7 attack.
The leading Israeli submission is "October Rain", a ballad sung by female soloist Eden Golan. It had included lyrics such as: "There's no air left to breathe" and "They were all good children, each one of them" - apparent allusions to victims of Hamas' killing and kidnapping spree which sparked the war.
Eurovision, to take place this year in the Swedish city of Malmo, bills itself as a non-political event and can disqualify contestants deemed to have breached that rule.
In World
-
Volodymyr Zelensky has warned European leaders Donald Trump will ignore them if the continent doesn’t take better care of its own defences.
-
President Donald Trump signed an executive order temporarily suspending all U.S. foreign assistance programs for 90 days pending reviews to determine whether they are aligned with his policy goals.
-
President Donald Trump ordered the U.S. to withdraw from the Paris climate agreement on Monday, once again placing the world's top historic emitter of greenhouse gases outside the global pact aimed at pushing nations to tackle climate change. Here are some reactions to the announcement of the second U.S. withdrawal from the climate pact:
-
Moldova and its separatist Transdniestria region inched towards a deal on Monday to allow gas to flow to residents of the rebel enclave, who have been suffering from power and heating cuts since the start of the year.
Leave a review