The Spanish government is against Israel’s participation in the Eurovision final

The Vice-President of the Spanish Government and Minister of Labor, Yolanda Diaz, spoke out this Friday against Israel’s participation in the final of the 68th Eurovision Song Contest, which will take place on Saturday in Malmo, Sweden.

In a publication on the social network “

According to the Spanish ruler, Israel is “incompatible with the values ​​​​promoted by competition and should not participate” in the event, which in this edition commemorates the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which has lasted for decades but intensified after the attack by the Palestinian group Hamas in Israel on October 7, as a result of which killed nearly 1,200 people, with the country led by Benjamin Netanyahu responding with an offensive that killed more than 34,000 people in the Gaza Strip, according to both sides.

The government’s stance comes after its Sumar party launched a social media campaign to rally support to prevent Israel’s Eden Golan from competing in the final.

With the slogan “Sign now to exclude Israel from the Eurovision Song Contest. Don’t compete in Saturday’s final!'” Sumar is aiming to collect as many signatures as possible to try to get the country expelled from the 68th edition of the competition.

In the petition, Sumar claims that the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) accepted Israel’s participation at a time when the country’s armies are “destroying the Palestinian people and devastating the entire region” of the Gaza Strip.

The party also criticizes the organization for censoring those demanding an end to this war, citing Palestinian-Swedish artist Erik Saade (Swedish representative in the 2011 competition with Popular), who brought the conflict to the table on Tuesday. on stage during the opening number of the first semi-final, when he sang with his left hand wrapped in a keffiyeh.

Eric Saade’s position was later criticized by the EBU.

“It is intolerable that every time someone raises their voice and demands to stop this massacre, there are those who defend the murderers,” Sumar argues, demanding that the world “stop being complicit in the genocide of the Palestinian people.”

Meanwhile, Spanish public radio broadcaster RTVE, through its delegation present in Malmö, asked the EBU to guarantee freedom of press and opinion during the festival following an incident involving a journalist from Spain.

“The Spanish RTVE delegation has communicated to the EBU its commitment to freedom of the press and opinion and has demanded that it guarantee respect at Eurovision,” said a statement published by Spanish public radio on the social network X.

The publication was distributed today after the Spanish journalist was approached by Israeli journalists when, after the performance of the Israeli representative at the competition, Eden Golan loudly shouted “Free Palestine” twice at the first rehearsal of the final.

According to EFE reports from several people who witnessed the incident, the Israeli journalist, upon hearing the comment, “began reprimanding him and taking photographs of him.”

A few minutes later, two other Israeli journalists approached and began taking photographs of the Spanish journalist’s accreditation. “Why are you doing this here if you are a journalist?” they asked “excitedly and with an aggressive attitude.”

At the same time, an image reporter, also an Israeli, appeared and began filming the Spaniard “with a spotlight on his face, trying to intimidate him”, ignoring his pleas to leave him alone.

The 68th Eurovision Song Contest is marked by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which has lasted for decades but intensified following the October 7 attack on Israel by the Palestinian group Hamas, which killed nearly 1,200 people. Led by Benjamin, Netanyahu responded with an offensive that killed more than 34,000 people in the Gaza Strip, according to reports from both sides.

Since it became known that Israel, represented by Eden Golan, will be participating in the competition, political representatives and European artists have made several requests to the EBU to veto the country’s participation in the competition.

Israel, which is one of 26 countries that will take part in the Eurovision final this year. it was the first non-European country to take part in the music competition in 1973, and it has won four times, including alongside transgender singer Dana International in 1998.