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Accusing Israel of ‘ethnic cleansing,’ Iceland demands barring Israel from Eurovision

Iceland joins Spain and Slovenia in demanding the Jewish state be expelled from the Eurovision song contest, accusing Israel of war crimes in the Gaza Strip and ethnic cleansing.

By World Israel News Staff

Iceland’s government is demanding that Israel be barred from the annual Eurovision Song Contest, accusing the Jewish state of “war crimes” and “ethnic cleansing” in the Gaza Strip.

This year’s contest, slated to be held from May 13 through the 17 in Basel, Switzerland, is currently set to feature Israeli contestant Yuval Raphael, 24, with the song “New Day Will Rise.”

A survivor of the Hamas massacre at the Nova music festival on October 7, 2023, Raphael was wounded during the invasion and survived by hiding among the boldies of slain festival-goers.

However, Icelandic Foreign Minister Thorgardur Kathrin Gunnarsdóttir has petitioned the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which organizes the Eurovision contest, to expel Raphael from this year’s competition, citing Israel’s ongoing war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

“As an ordinary citizen, it strikes me as strange and unnatural that Israel is allowed to participate in Eurovision, given the war crimes and ethnic cleansing that have occurred in Gaza over the past weeks and months,” Gunnarsdóttir told the newspaper Visir.

Gunnarsdóttir has called for the EBU to “examine the issue” and to back Israel’s expulsion, but fell short of calling for Iceland to boycott the show if Israel is permitted to remain.

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“I think Iceland should participate if the competition is held but we need to examine the issue and act within the EBU regarding Israel’s participation,” she said.

Two other countries, Spain and Slovenia, have also urged the EBU to bar Israel from this year’s competition over the Gaza war.

While the EBU has refused to bar participants over political objections aimed at the governments of their home countries, Spain, Slovenia, and Iceland have argued that the EBU should open the issue up to a vote among member states.

Last year, Iceland and Finland threatened to boycott the Eurovision Song Contest should their demand to remove Israel be ignored, though both countries did end up participating.