The Swedish Left Party Vänsterpartiet wants Israel to be excluded from the Eurovision Song Contest, citing allegations of war crimes against the country. The party argues that it is “not the right signal” for Sweden to host a state that has killed “tens of thousands of people”.
Left-wing party leader Nooshi Dadgostar says Israel should not be invited to this year’s song contest because of the ongoing war in which the country is accused of genocide against Palestinians. Israel is also a defendant and has been taken to the International Court of Justice in The Hague after South Africa referred it to the court.
– Tens of thousands of people have been killed. It’s not the right signal for Sweden to give such a state a place on the stage, she told Schibsted tabloid Aftonbladet.
Sweden hosts the Eurovision Song Contest in May, which is broadcast on SVT, but it is the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) that decides which countries can take part in the competition. In 2022, Russia was excluded after protests from SVT and other broadcasters. Dadgostar says that while there are “big differences in the nature of the conflict” between the two countries, both are under investigation for war crimes.
– What they have in common is that they are both being investigated for war crimes and crimes against humanity, she told the taxpayer-funded SVT.
SVT says it will not comment on the matter, but will follow the EBU’s decision on which countries can participate.
“SVT will not comment on this because it is the EBU that decides which members participate in the competition and SVT will follow the EBU’s decision”, they wrote to Aftonbladet.
