The decision of the European Broadcasting Union
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) has considered rejecting the song that Israel has submitted for the Eurovision Song Contest 2024. According to various Israeli media, the EBU considers the song’s lyrics too political.
Although the lyrics of the song have not been made public, some details are known that give clues about its content. The title of the song is ‘October rain’, which suggests that it is talking about the beginning of the war between Israel and Gaza and the attack by Hamas last October 7. It has also been reported that the song will be performed by Eden Golan, a young Israeli artist.
Eurovision regulations
One of the Eurovision guidelines is that the songs presented cannot be political or advertising in nature. Despite this, Israel’s public television, which has chosen the song, has assured that it has no intention of changing it and prefers to stay out of the festival if the song is not approved.
Controversy and calls for the exclusion of Israel
Israel’s participation in Eurovision has also generated controversy in the political sphere. Parliamentarians from Podemos, Esquerra Unida (IU) and BNG in Congress, among others, asked in early February for Eurovision to exclude Israel from the music festival. Some of the criticism is based on the accusation of genocide against the Palestinian population and the denunciation of the occupation and blockade of the Palestinian territory by Israel.
Eurovision 2023 results
In the 2023 edition of Eurovision, Sweden’s Loreen won with the song ‘Tattoo’, becoming the first woman to win the festival. Sweden scored 583 points, while Finland and Israel came in second and third, respectively. Spain was in 17th position with Blanca Paloma.