Israel’s ambassador to Sweden, Ziv Nevo Kulman, is not pleased that more than 1,000 Swedish artists have signed a petition calling for Israel to be banned from the Eurovision Song Contest.
– Signing this petition is like giving a gift to the terrorists in Hamas, he says.
– There is a war going on in Gaza, and of course people die in wars on both sides. This is not a war we started, nor is it a war we want, he said in an interview with tax-funded SVT.
Kulman goes on to claim that the artists are “punishing” Israel for something that Hamas is responsible for.
When asked if it is impossible to criticize the suffering of civilians in Gaza without supporting Hamas, the ambassador did not give a clear answer.
– I urge the artists who signed the petition to watch the excellent documentary on SVT Play about the music festival massacre in Israel. People their age, who were there to celebrate music and love, were slaughtered, raped and taken hostage. Then the signatories of the petition might want to say something about the hostages, about their humanitarian conditions and rights.
10,000 children killed
As we recently reported, the Swedish artists believe that Israel, which has killed over 10,000 Palestinian children and a large number of journalists and is under investigation by the ICC for genocide, has no place in the music competition, and they point out that Russia was quickly and easily excluded from the competition in connection with its invasion of Ukraine.
“Allowing Israel to participate not only undermines the spirit of the competition, but the entire public service mission. It also sends the message that governments can commit war crimes with impunity. Therefore, we appeal to the EBU: Exclude Israel from the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest”, the artists wrote.
