Israel has no place at Eurovision while committing atrocities in Gaza | Opinion

A nation that is perpetrating genocide cannot continue to sing. And a world that sees a nation perpetrating genocide cannot sing with it. Nor can it accept the fact that this nation wants to continue singing as if nothing had happened. The fact that Israel can even imagine that it would participate in a singing competition, with all its sequins and special effects, at the height of the genocide in the Gaza Strip, while its soldiers are killing and destroying without mercy, shows that it has lost its way. It should have understood on its own that it has no place in any international celebration right now. Had it bowed its head in shame and removed itself from the Eurovision Song Contest, it would have retained far more honor than it has by hurling accusations of antisemitism at the entire world, as if the world were the one committing massacres in Gaza rather than the Israel Defense Forces. Eurovision is a song competition for European public broadcasters. Israel entered it, as it has other European events in the fields of science, sports and culture, thanks to Europe's special treatment of it. It's a week of pleasure and songs, as well as quite a bit of nationalism, for fans of the genre. The contest is considered apolitical, but in 2022 the European Broadcasting Union excluded Russia due to its invasion of Ukraine. Russia's ouster was considered self-evident. Nobody whined about "hatred of Russians." Who wants to do a Cossack dance alongside young people whose friends are shelling homes in Kyiv? So Russia is out of Eurovision, as it should be. Its ban was a moral decision, not a political move. And Israel raised no outcry over it. Israel's invasion of Gaza is far crueler and more genocidal than Russia's invasion of Ukraine, though that invasion was also cruel and criminal. If we measure them, for instance, by the number of children slain – a measure that reflects barbarism – then 659 children have been killed in Ukraine during three and a half years of war, while in Gaza more than 18,000 children have been killed in roughly two years. Is there even a question as to whether a country whose soldiers are killing so many children is entitled to participate in an international festival? What are Israelis talking about when they talk about antisemitism in this context? Only philosemitism and love of Israel kept the country in the contest this year. It shouldn't have been there even then. https://archive.ph/VPOLD