Eurovision 2026 | Israel allowed to compete | Netherlands, Ireland, Spain, Slovenia, Iceland withdraw

Port Vale Devil

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Good to see The Netherlands and Spain boycotting the Eurovision after Israel have been patted on the back and allowed to compete.

Hopefully loads more countries will follow in the boycott.
 
Quite frankly it’s diabolical that Israel have been allowed to compete. Respect to Spain and Netherlands taking a stand.
 
About to be bedlam in our house. The wife loves Eurovision, hosts a podcast on it, interviews acts etc. They agreed they'd not cover it if Israel were in.
 
At the end, Germany, England, France and Israel will be the only countries in competition and Germany and England will both fail to make the top 3.
 
Slovenia have withdrawn as well and stated that they expect there will be six countries boycotting as a result with Iceland (had said before the vote they'd withdraw if Israel stayed) and Belgium as the two who haven't yet announced it.
 
HTG said:
At the end, Germany, England, France and Israel will be the only countries in competition and Germany and England will both fail to make the top 3.
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England?
 
Doubt I'll bother watching it, Israel will probably end up winning. Shame as I enjoy it most years but it's been a farce. There's just no justification for them competing and if it's just politics what's the fecking point.
 
Man, I wish my country had a backbone like Ireland, Netherlands and Spain.

But it's great to see, and since these are western democracies we usually compare ourselves with, it hopefully opens the eyes of a few people.
 
I hope the portuguese government feels embarassed by spain's position and does the same.
 
Fair fecks to RTE. Actually doing the right thing here. And no doubt it won’t be without other consequences. Hope their IT security systems are up to scratch.
 
Given how they removed russia, they can't even pretend they don't do politics.

I'm not sure how they thought this would play out any other way but entirely ruining the reputation of the competition.

There is an unexplainable division between what people in general think of israel and what people in positions of power do.
 
The Belgian public broadcaster's unions have just announced they want to block the broadcast here too.
 
Nogbadthebad said:
Given how they removed russia, they can't even pretend they don't do politics.
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Meanwhile..

We’ve just had some reaction from the director of the Eurovision Song Contest.

Martin Green says he is "pleased" that members were given an "opportunity to debate" Israel's place in the contest before the vote.

"It was a full, frank and honest and quite moving debate, but as we can see from the emphatic result, they really came together on a belief that the Eurovision Song Contest shouldn't be used as a political theatre,” he says.

“It must retain some sense of neutrality."
 
maniak said:
I hope the portuguese government feels embarassed by spain's position and does the same.
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The article I read said that Portugal, Belgium and Iceland would make decisions in the coming days. The list of countries is likely to grow.
 
Mike Smalling said:
The article I read said that Portugal, Belgium and Iceland would make decisions in the coming days. The list of countries is likely to grow.
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I hope so. Sadly the current government will only do it out of embarrassment, not any sort of conviction.
 
Massive Spanner said:
Meanwhile..

We’ve just had some reaction from the director of the Eurovision Song Contest.

Martin Green says he is "pleased" that members were given an "opportunity to debate" Israel's place in the contest before the vote.

"It was a full, frank and honest and quite moving debate, but as we can see from the emphatic result, they really came together on a belief that the Eurovision Song Contest shouldn't be used as a political theatre,” he says.

“It must retain some sense of neutrality."
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Wow.

The level of disdain they have for the general public is completely off the charts.
 
maniak said:
I hope so. Sadly the current government will only do it out of embarrassment, not any sort of conviction.
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Better than nothing. I'd take a late removal out of embarrassment for Denmark, because I don't think there is any chance they do so out of principle. We just love placing 19th in a silly song competition so much.
 
Massive Spanner said:
Meanwhile..

We’ve just had some reaction from the director of the Eurovision Song Contest.

Martin Green says he is "pleased" that members were given an "opportunity to debate" Israel's place in the contest before the vote.

"It was a full, frank and honest and quite moving debate, but as we can see from the emphatic result, they really came together on a belief that the Eurovision Song Contest shouldn't be used as a political theatre,” he says.

“It must retain some sense of neutrality."
Click to expand...
So we should expect Russia to be allowed to compete then?
 
Hopefully they all pull out and the competition folds so we no longer have to pay tax money for this garbage.
 
the funny thing is, all these years it was all about "messages" and values as the music itself was mostly garbage.

and now this.
 
Forgive my ignorance, but what good is it really going to do anyway? I said the same when everyone boycotted everything russian, right down to taking Lev Yashin out of FIFA games. Does it really make a difference to the policy makers, or just punish the people living in that country who for whatever reason enjoy Eurovision?
 
Good on them. Oh how I’d like for Denmark to do the same.
 
2 man midfield said:
Forgive my ignorance, but what good is it really going to do anyway? I said the same when everyone boycotted everything russian, right down to taking Lev Yashin out of FIFA games. Does it really make a difference to the policy makers, or just punish the people living in that country who for whatever reason enjoy Eurovision?
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https://www.nelsonmandela.org/news/...ed-nations-special-commitee-against-apartheid

The sports boycott was significant in mobilising awareness of the apartheid laws and support for the anti-apartheid movement and impacted people in more immediate ways in comparison to other types of sanctions. This is because news about sporting events being cancelled and sport players being prevented from travel or choosing not to participate spread quickly to people in many different sectors around the world.
 
maniak said:
https://www.nelsonmandela.org/news/...ed-nations-special-commitee-against-apartheid

The sports boycott was significant in mobilising awareness of the apartheid laws and support for the anti-apartheid movement and impacted people in more immediate ways in comparison to other types of sanctions. This is because news about sporting events being cancelled and sport players being prevented from travel or choosing not to participate spread quickly to people in many different sectors around the world.
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Also, there is broad support within Israel for its war with Gaza (whatever nuances can be added about the nature of that support and how informed Israelis are of what really happened - and still happens - in Gaza), Israel has actively used its contestants the past few years to promote its viewpoint (through the songs and people selected), and Israel has also rigged the voting process in any way they can to get a good result.

So the Israeli broadcaster and public are not innocent bystanders here, and Israel's participation has been highly politicized by Israel itself.
 
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Mike Smalling said:
Better than nothing. I'd take a late removal out of embarrassment for Denmark, because I don't think there is any chance they do so out of principle. We just love placing 19th in a silly song competition so much.
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Deserved too for bringing Lego into the world for me to step on. Evil bastards those Danes.
 
Hopefully this can create a wedge here in Britain with continued calls for us to drop out and Keir Starmer and any other immoral politician/commentator chaining himself to the apartheid, sinking both their reputations.
 
dumbo said:
Hopefully this can create a wedge here in Britain with continued calls for us to drop out and Keir Starmer and any other immoral politician/commentator chaining himself to the apartheid, sinking both their reputations.
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That snivelling little rat Starmer will be doing his upmost to avoid the subject
 
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