The Israel problem

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Dear EBU,

I understand that Eurovision is a competition between composers and artists from all Europe, not about politics. I also know we have been used to think of Israel as a civilized and democratic country that belongs to the family of other decent European countries. And that Russia, in spite of EBU:s inclusive and non-political principles, crossed a border of decency when they invaded Ukraine, which justified exclusion from the Eurovision.

 

The Israel government has repeatedly expressed that their goal with the ongoing war in Gaza is to “eliminate once for all” all persons who belong to the Hamas government and to the Hamas party. This idea, that a conflict can be resolved by total extinction of the enemy, i.e. killing everybody on the other side, is by itself inhumane and uncivilized. In addition, it is counterproductive and will only give more fuel to the ancient conflict in the region and lead to escalation, and could even threaten world peace. 

 

Even worse are the repeated war crimes committed by Israel in its hunt for Hamas members. To exemplify, when they have suspected that some Hamas members might hide under a hospital, they have bombed the whole hospital, killed innocent patients and health staff and in addition incapacitated the hospital so that future patients cannot receive treatment. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there have been nearly 600 attacks on healthcare facilities in Gaza and the West Bank since the conflict began. These attacks have resulted in the deaths of 613 people within health facilities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including 606 in Gaza and seven in the West Bank, and more than 770 injuries. Out of 36 hospitals in Gaza, today only 15 are partly functional. Israel argues that this is the fault of Hamas, because they use hospitals as shields. But this does not hold in International Law. You do not have the right to bomb hospitals and kill hundreds of civilians even if you think that there is an enemy somewhere among them. 

 

The same faulty reasoning is behind the war itself. Israel says that it was a terrorist act by Hamas to attack and kill a large number of Israel civilians. That is true, and that is of course a very serious crime. But this does not allow the Israelis to commit indiscriminate killing of civilians on the other side as a tit-for-tat. International Law, or any other national law, does not permit murder as revenge. 

 

Another aspect is the lack of proportions. So far, around 1200 Israelis were killed in the attack by Hamas on October 7, to be compared with 25000 civilians, over 10000 of them innocent children, who have been killed by Israeli attacks in Gaza. There is simply no respect for human life, at least if they are Palestinian.

 

Other disturbing facts that can be added to this list of atrocities is the targeting by Israel of journalists who try to report what is happening from inside Gaza. Until now, around 120 journalists have been killed, and among these were cases with helmets and jackets clearly indicating “PRESS”. Targeted attacks and killing of journalists is a war crime according to International Law. There is reason to conclude that these attacks were a deliberate attempt by the Israeli government to obstruct the media from informing the rest of the world what is going on Gaza and thereby exposing repeated war crimes committed by the Israeli forces.

 

Finally we have the situation on the West Bank. Numerous UN resolutions have declared Israeli occupation of the West Bank to be illegal and have demanded Israel withdrawal from occupied territory outside the Israeli border. Instead the Israel government has encouraged Israeli citizens to settle on the West Bank and have assisted them in taking over homes and areas that for generations belonged to Palestinian families. Israeli forces have then protected the settlers with armed force against Palestinians who want their land back. This situation has intensified since the war began, and many Palestinians have now been detained under “administrative detention”, without any criminal charges.

 

In summary, I think we need to reconsider our image of the present Israeli government based on their actions in the ongoing war. Their policy against Palestinians, both in Gaza and on the West Bank, is cruel and inhumane and is based on an unacceptable idea that extinction is the solution, rather than dialogue and mutual understanding, with a two-state solution as a natural result. In contrast, the Israeli government says they want to take over the territories they are now occupying. The government have used intensive propaganda to convince Israeli citizens that their cause is just. “We have the right to defend ourselves” Is a mantra that has been repeated. Of course. But this is not about defense, unless you mean that you can protect yourself from a hostile neighbour by killing him and taking over his house. This is something that goes far beyond what is normally meant by “defense”. 

 

The rest of the world needs to send a wake-up signal to the Israeli people: We see other things than what your government is telling you, and we don’t accept it. Excluding Israel from  Eurovision 2024 is a strong such signal that could help open the eyes of many citizens in Israel to what their government is actually doing. “Your country has, just like Russia, crossed a border of decency with what you are doing to the people in Gaza. And that makes it impossible for us to include your country in Eurovision 2024.”

 

Other considerations are the risk of other countries dropping out if Israel is permitted to participate, and in addition security risks in carrying out Eurovision with such a country as Israel being allowed to participate. 

 

I hope with these arguments, and others you can think of yourselves, you will reconsider the previous decision to allow Israel to participate in Eurovision 2024.

 

Kind regards

Krister Håkansson