Dear Michael Lowther, Delegations & Events Co-ordinator for the Eurovision Song Contest,
I am writing to you as one of many who were shocked and frustrated to find that Israel, a nation whose Prime Minister and former Defence Minister have been issued with Arrest Warrants for their war crimes by the International Criminal Court (1), was included among the nations being represented at this year's Eurovision Song Contest.
Why does Eurovision continue to welcome Israel to the 'non-political' Eurovision Song Contest, when Russia was dropped in 2022? There is clearly a double standard going on here.
Israel has broken its ceasefire agreement and continues to bombard innocent civilians. Israel has blocked all humanitarian aid into Gaza, cutting off food, medicine and fuel, leaving millions of people at the brink of famine (2). Israel was still allowed to participate in Eurovision.
On the 17th May, the same day that Yuval Raphael represented Israel, her country killed more than 70 Palestinians in Gaza, and attacked the houses and tents for displaced people in southern Gaza’s al-Mawasi area, killing at least 24 people and wounding many others (3). As of 19th May 2025, the Palestinian Ministry of Health in Gaza has confirmed at least 53,339 people killed, including at least 17,400 children (4).
As you may already know this death toll includes 6 year old Hind Rajab who in a car with her aunt, uncle and three cousins attempting to flee Gaza. Audio recordings of the young girl calling emergency call operators suggest that she was the only one left alive in the car, hiding from Israeli forces among the bodies of her relatives. Her pleas for rescue were abruptly ended as the line was cut amid the sound of gunfire. Hind was killed along with the two paramedics who tried to save her (5).
1 https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cly2exvx944o
2 aljazeera.com/news/2025/3/18/gaza-tracker...
3 aljazeera.com/news/liveblog/2025/5/17/live-israel-...
4 aljazeera.com/news/2025/3/18/gaza-tracker...
5 bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-68261286...
Does Eurovision really wish to continue to support Israel in its war crimes by giving them a platform to perform and appear to be a peace loving nation? How would you have managed next year's Eurovision if Israel had won, as they came very close to doing on Saturday night?
I and the other people who have signed this open letter would like to know what steps you are taking to ensure that Israel is no longer able to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest, at the very least until it is willing and able to comply with the International Rule of Law.
We await your response.
Signed,