A worldwide movement of over 1,000 artists including Björk and Lorde is demanding a total boycott of Eurovision 2026. With several countries already pulling out, the contest faces a huge crisis.
No Music For Genocide has issued an open letter calling for fans to boycott the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest unless Israel is banned from participating.
The open letter calls on for “public broadcasters, performers, screening party organisers, crew, and fans to boycott Eurovision until the EBU bans complicit Israeli broadcaster KAN.”
It has been signed by over 1,000 artists including Björk, Lorde, Hayley Williams, Wolf Alice, Fontaines D.C., Clairo, Kneecap, Massive Attack, Faye Webster, NTS and more.
Signees write that they “reject Eurovision being used to whitewash and normalise Israel’s genocide, siege and brutal military occupation against Palestinians.
“As artists, we recognise our collective agency – and the power of refusal. We refuse to be silent. We refuse to be complicit. We call on others in our industry to join us. And we stand in solidarity with all principled efforts to end complicity in every industry,” the letter continues.
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The boycott comes after it was announced in November that the Eurovision Song Contest was changing its rules around promotion and voting after a number of broadcasters raised concerns about Israel’s result at last year’s competition.
Israeli singer Yuval Raphael received the largest number of votes from the public in the contest in May, ultimately finishing as runner-up after the jury votes were taken into account.
Russia was banned from Eurovision after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 but Israel has continued to compete for the past couple of years despite disputes.
In December, Dutch broadcaster AVROTROS, Spain’s RTVE and Ireland’s RTE immediately said they will not participate in or broadcast the 2026 contest following the European Broadcasting Union’s general assembly meeting.
Slovenia’s broadcaster has also now said it will not be involved and claimed Belgium and Iceland would join the boycott.
The letter praises the principled withdrawals of the Spanish, Irish, Icelandic, Slovenian, and Dutch broadcasters, and the many national selection finalists committing to refuse to go to Eurovision. It states: “Just as artists stood against oppression in South Africa, we stand together now.”
The UK’s shadow culture secretary Nigel Huddleston said at the time: “It is absolutely right that Israel has been allowed to participate in Eurovision. It is deeply concerning to see so many countries choosing to boycott the event because of Israel’s inclusion.
“Music should be a uniting force, not a tool to be weaponised for political ends. We trust the Government will clearly rule out joining or legitimising this boycott in any capacity.”
No Music For Genocide is a cultural boycott encouraging artists and rights-holders to “reject art-washing” and pull their music from streaming platforms in Israel in response to the genocide in Gaza, as determined by Amnesty International.
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