MADRID: The Eurovision song contest should exclude Israel, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Monday, expressing solidarity with \u201cthe people of Palestine who are experiencing the injustice of war and bombardment.\u201d
\nThe intervention by Sanchez, one of the most outspoken critics of Israel\u2019s devastating war in Gaza, comes after protests against Israeli participation marked last weekend\u2019s extravaganza in Switzerland.
\nRussia has not been allowed to participate in Eurovision since its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
\n\u201cTherefore Israel shouldn\u2019t either, because what we cannot allow is double standards in culture,\u201d Sanchez said at an event in Madrid.
\n\u201cSpain\u2019s commitment to international law and human rights must be constant and must be coherent. Europe\u2019s should be too,\u201d added the Socialist leader.
\nAhead of the Eurovision final on Saturday, Spanish public broadcaster RTVE aired a message in support of Palestinians \u2014 despite being warned to avoid references to Gaza by Eurovision organizers the European Broadcasting Union (EBU).
\nIn April, RTVE wrote to the EBU requesting a \u201cdebate\u201d over Israeli participation amid civil society \u201cconcerns\u201d about the situation in Gaza, where the risk of famine is rising.
\nSanchez, who last year recognized a Palestinian state, also expressed on Monday \u201ca supportive embrace for the people of Ukraine and the people of Palestine who are experiencing the injustice of war and bombardment.\u201d
\nAt an Arab League summit in Baghdad on Saturday, the Socialist leader called for more international pressure on Israel to stop the \u201cmassacre in Gaza.\u201d
\nThe occupied Palestinian territory has been under a complete aid blockade by Israel since March 2.
\nSpain will submit a proposal to the United Nations General Assembly to ask the International Court of Justice to rule on Israel\u2019s compliance with international obligations on humanitarian aid access to Gaza, Sanchez added.
\nHamas\u2019s October 2023 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,218 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
\nHamas also took 251 hostages during the attack, 57 of whom remain in Gaza, including 34 the military says are dead.
\nIsrael\u2019s retaliatory offensive has killed 53,339 people in Gaza, mainly civilians, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.
\nThe UN considers the ministry\u2019s figures to be reliable.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
MADRID: The Eurovision song contest should exclude Israel, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez said on Monday, expressing solidarity with \u201cthe people of Palestine who are experiencing the injustice of war and bombardment.\u201d The intervention by Sanchez, one of the most outspoken critics of Israel\u2019s devastating war in Gaza, comes after protests against Israeli participation marked […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":479480,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-479467","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n