- cross-posted to:
- europe@lemmy.ml
- cross-posted to:
- europe@lemmy.ml
The Netherlands will not take part in next year’s Eurovision Song Contest following the decision by organiser EBU not to exclude Israel.
Public broadcasting company NPO said no other broadcaster will step in to send a Dutch entry after AvroTros’s withdrawal, although it will ensure the contest is still broadcast for Dutch viewers.
European public broadcasters met at the EBU headquarters in Geneva to discuss the future of Eurovision on Thursday. AvroTros, together with broadcasters from Ireland, Iceland, Spain and Slovenia, had argued that Israel’s public broadcaster should be barred because of the war in Gaza.
AvroTros also said the Israeli government had used the contest as a “political instrument”, pointing to a government-run promotional campaign for the country’s entry.
Disappointing if Israel isn’t excluded
They aren’t for some reason. Them committing genocide seems to be the main reason that people like to boycott Israel, and i get those people, but i personally think the massive voter manipulation would be a much more sensible basis to exclude them. EBU has rules but are letting Israel get away with it. I wonder if it has something to do with where their biggest sponsors are from.
They rejected the secret voting on whether to allow them to participate or not. So it was a public voting. After that, Spain, Ireland, Netherlands and Slovenia have already left the contest. Belgium and some others will announce their position soon.