MADRID, 6 Feb Almost 30 MEPs called on the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) to apply the same standards to Israel as to Russia as part of the Eurovision 2024 music competition «, the Spanish left-wing party Podemos (We Can) said in a letter to the EBU published on Tuesday.
«The European Broadcasting Union issued a statement expressing its wish that Eurovision «remains an apolitical event where artists and broadcasters compete, not governments,» the document says.
The authors of the letter recall that Eurovision vetoed Russia’s participation in the competition from 2022 after the start of a Russian special military operation in Ukraine.
«We ask you to be consistent and apply the same standards when making decisions, and therefore we ask you to reconsider your decision to allow its (Israel — ed.) participation in the European Song Festival,» the MEPs concluded.
Earlier in January, more than 1.4 thousand representatives of the Finnish music industry signed a petition to national broadcaster Yle demanding influence on the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and ban Israel participate in a music competition.
Last December, the Icelandic publication Iceland Review reported that the Icelandic Association of Composers and Songwriters had asked the national broadcaster not to take part in Eurovision 2024 if Israel were among the participants.
Last July, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) announced that the Swedish city of Malmö would host the Eurovision 2024 music contest. Malmö has previously hosted Eurovision in 1992 and 2013.
On October 7, Israel was subjected to an unprecedented-scale rocket attack from the Gaza Strip as part of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, announced by the military wing of the Palestinian Hamas movement. After this, the organization’s fighters entered the border areas in southern Israel, where they opened fire on both military and civilians, and also took more than 200 hostages. In Israel, according to the latest data from the authorities, about 1.2 thousand people were killed, this number includes civilians, soldiers, foreign citizens and workers, and it was also reported that more than 5 thousand were injured.
In response, the Israel Defense Forces launched Operation Iron Swords against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. Within a few days, the Israeli military took control of all populated areas near the border with Gaza and began carrying out air strikes on targets, including civilians, in the strip. Israel also announced a complete blockade of the Gaza Strip: the supply of water, food, electricity, medicine, and fuel was stopped. At the end of October, the ground phase of the Israeli operation in the enclave began. Gaza City was surrounded by Israeli ground forces, and the enclave was effectively divided into southern and northern parts.
The number of victims of Israeli shelling of the Gaza Strip since October 7 has exceeded 27 thousand, more than 66 thousand people were injured.
Hamas claimed that there were about 200-250 hostages in the Gaza Strip. After the end of the truce, Israeli authorities announced that 126 Israelis and 11 foreigners remained hostage with Hamas, and 110 abducted were released.
The Russian Foreign Ministry called on the parties to stop hostilities. According to the position of Russian President Vladimir Putin, the settlement of the Middle East crisis is possible only on the basis of a “two-state” formula approved by the UN Security Council, which provides for the creation of an independent Palestinian state within the 1967 borders with its capital in East Jerusalem.
The Palestinian-Israeli conflict, related to the territorial interests of the parties, has been a source of tension and clashes in the region for many decades. A UN decision with the active role of the USSR in 1947 determined the creation of two states — Israel and Palestine, but only the Israeli one was created.
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