Russia was banned from competing in Eurovision. Why has Israel been allowed to?
https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/eurovision-2026-israel-russia-boycotts-explainer/1x47p6or9

Good question. Why do the organisers of Eurovision keep making excuses for Israel's invasion and genocide in Palestine? Just as it is appropriate to ban Russia from Eurovision, it is appropriate to ban Israel from Eurovision. Because Eurovision continues to support Israel's crimes against humanity, I think we have a clear ethical responsibility to hold Eurovision to account, and the standards of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement mean we should boycott Eurovision.

#Eurovision #BoycottEurovision #Russia #Ukraine #Israel #Palestine #Genocide #BDS #BoycottDivestmentSanctions

Russia was banned from competing in Eurovision. Why has Israel been allowed to?

Five countries have now pledged to boycott the song contest's 2026 edition. Here's what you need to know.

SBS News
Eurovision 2025: The Astronomical Amount Israel Will Invest in Its Performance! - Eurovision 2025

Just under a week ago, Yuval Raphael was chosen to represent Israel in Eurovision 2025, and now the amount "Keshet 12" will finance for the Israeli Eurovision delegation to Basel has been revealed: 3.5 million shekels! All details in the article.

EuroMix
@justenoughducks @BinChicken
And because the moment anyone says anything bad about Israel, they begin to loudly scream about anti-semitism and Nazis.

@MeiLin Right! There's always some backlash against people speaking-up about Israel's involvement in Eurovision, but I haven't seen any cases that are honest or sincere. Not one. It's not a "good faith argument" to accuse people of antisemitism for objecting to the odious actions of the government of Israel.

Is it antisemitism to protest the crimes against humanity being committed by the government of Israel? No.
Does caring about the lives of Palestinian people transform someone into a Nazi? No.

Culture Washing is a powerful tool of state propaganda. The massive cross-platform advertising campaign by Israel boosted public votes for their entry, which helped them win the public vote and grab second place overall this year. That was cheating. It nearly worked; they came quite close to winning. I think they justified cheating because they hoped a win in Eurovision would improve the public image of their government. It's important for Israel to win Eurovision at any cost — even cheating — because the winner hosts the finals the following year. Gaining prominence in Eurovision raises public opinion, and has the potential to legitimise the political and political actions of the government of Israel.

Culture Washing is all about "optics". I think that when Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement calls for people/countries to ban Israel from participating in international events such as Eurovision, it can be very effective at removing their ability to perform Culture Washing. The propogandists for Israel know BDS works, which is why they accuse people of antisemitism any time someone mentions a boycott. It's so tiresome.

@justenoughducks "Follow the money" is such effective way to uncover motivations and political backers. Seems that journalists these days put little effort into research, so this is great work by the journalists who went looking for answers about millions of dollars being spent and the links with Kan 11 and Keshet 12. I'm also grateful to the countries that have withdrawn from Eurovision in protest — they're putting principles and humanity above money.