Ireland, Slovenia, Spain, the Netherlands and Iceland have already signalled they are unwilling to participate if the EBU permits Israel to compete, as the humanitarian crisis in Gaza continues to intensify.
Well that sucks but not unexpected :( Thank you the nations who have not taken the knee
The SBS knows that it’s connection to Eurovision is tentative. We’re sorta a novelty, like a guest who is cool so everyone is happy we extend our visit. We are in because SBS is a member of the European Broadcasting Union - which is a bit of a technicality. But everyone likes us so they let it slide. If we start rocking the boat or making a fuss, the rules of membership will likely become more strict to exclude us. It would likely also exclude other non European nations like Israel.
Something that I see as already a bit of a risk. If they make the rules more strict to exclude Israel, that ruling would also likely exclude Australia.
Look, I’m deeply sympathetic to the idea of our political leaders being pragmatic so they can hold on to power and not be replaced by someone worse, when the cost would be being kicked out of Eurovision then obviously they should go all in.
If they make the rules more strict to exclude Israel
Israel shouldn’t be excluded because they’re not European. They should be excluded because they’re doing a genocide. The same way they already excluded Russia for their war on Ukraine. There’s no reason that should have any bearing on Australia one way or the other.
As for not rocking the boat, that’s an incredibly weak excuse. I’d rather Australia be kicked out of Eurovision permanently than give one ounce of support to genocide.
SBS is an Associate Member, which isn’t a technicality. ABC is also one, as are networks in Canada, New Zealand, China, India etc.
I went to the SBS website to submit a complaint, before realising that you actually can’t submit a complaint unless you specify a date of the program. And then I realised…we’re talking about an event that’s a year away? Surely that’s excessive. The last one wasn’t that long ago.
But yeah, our public broadcasters should not be promoting genocide. They were more than happy to boycott Russia immediately for their war of aggression. Why is Israel given special dispensation for genocide?
Because we live in capitalist dictatorships and Israel commands a huge amount of capital, with pro-genocide cronies across the leadership of most western economies.
