A scandal involving Israel is arising around the "Eurovision 2026" international song contest to be held in Vienna, the capital of Austria. The public broadcasters of Ireland, Iceland, Spain, the Netherlands, and Slovenia have announced that they will boycott the contest if the Israeli representative participates.
Medianews.az reports that Ireland, Iceland, Spain, and the Netherlands had confirmed their participation in the contest. The updated list includes these countries alongside the host: Albania, Germany, Australia, Azerbaijan, Great Britain, Czechia, Denmark, Finland, Israel, Sweden, Switzerland, Cyprus, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Montenegro, Norway, San Marino, Serbia, Ukraine, and Greece.
The first semi-final of the contest is scheduled for May 12, the second semi-final for May 14, and the final for May 16.
Since 1956, in the "Eurovision" contest, a project of the European Broadcasting Union which brings together public broadcasters, Ireland and Sweden have won 7 times; the Netherlands, France, Luxembourg, and Great Britain 5 times; Israel 4 times; Switzerland, Denmark, Italy, Austria, Norway, and Ukraine 3 times; Spain and Germany 2 times; Monaco, Belgium, Yugoslavia, Estonia, Latvia, Turkey, Greece, Finland, Serbia, Russia, Azerbaijan, and Portugal once.
In 1947, the UN decided to partition the lands of Palestine and to establish the states of Israel and Palestine in the region. Israel was established in 1948 and admitted to the UN in 1949. Palestine declared independence in 1988 and was granted observer status at the UN in 2012.
A significant portion of the territories assigned to Palestine by the UN is occupied by Israel.
Since 2006, the Gaza Strip has been under the control of HAMAS, a military-political organization (Islamic Resistance Movement). On October 7, 2023, HAMAS launched a military attack from the Gaza Strip into Israeli territories, resulting in many deaths and hostages; subsequently, a major war erupted, and most of Gaza was completely destroyed. Part of the international community views Israel's response as very brutal and claims that Palestinians are being subjected to genocide.
Toğrul Ali,
Medianews.az
