BERLIN
\nGermany\u2019s culture minister on Saturday slammed threats by several European countries to boycott next year\u2019s Eurovision song contest if Israel took part as politicizing a cultural event.
\nSpain said this week it would boycott the world\u2019s largest live televised music event in May if Israel participated, and Ireland, Slovenia, Iceland and the Netherlands have made similar threats.
\n\u201cEurovision was founded to bring nations together through music. Excluding Israel today goes against this fundamental idea and turns a celebration of understanding between peoples into a tribunal,\u201d said Wolfram Weimer in a statement.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s precisely because Eurovision was born on the ruins of war that it should not become a scene of exclusion.\u201d
\nAustria, which is hosting the next Eurovision, had on Friday expressed regret over the threats.
\nOther countries like Belgium, Sweden, and Finland are also considering a boycott and have time till December to decide.
\n\u201cEurovision is based on the principle that artists are judged on their art and not on their nationality. The culture of cancelation is not the solution \u2014 the solution is diversity and cohesion,\u201d Weimer said.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s precisely because Eurovision was born on the ruins of war that it should not become a scene of exclusion,\u201d he added.
\nThe European Broadcasting Union, the organizer of Eurovision, is set to decide whether Israel will take part in the 2026 edition at its general assembly in December.
\nThis year\u2019s edition in Basel in Switzerland drew in 166 million viewers across 37 countries.
\nPro-Palestinian activists protested in Malmo, Sweden in 2024 and in Basel in May over Israel\u2019s participation amid its devastating offensive in Gaza.
\nThe war was sparked by Hamas\u2019s October 2023 attack on Israel that resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally of official figures.
\nIsrael\u2019s retaliatory campaign has killed at least 65,174 people, also mostly civilians, according to figures from the territory\u2019s health ministry that the United Nations considers reliable.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
BERLIN Germany\u2019s culture minister on Saturday slammed threats by several European countries to boycott next year\u2019s Eurovision song contest if Israel took part as politicizing a cultural event. Spain said this week it would boycott the world\u2019s largest live televised music event in May if Israel participated, and Ireland, Slovenia, Iceland and the Netherlands have […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":504037,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-504017","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n