Association for Defending Victims of Terrorism – More than 1,400 music makers in Finland have signed a petition demanding that Israel be banned from participating in the Eurovision contest, due to what they described as “war crimes” in Gaza.
If Israel is not excluded from the competition, they want the country’s public broadcaster (known as “Yili”) to withdraw Finland’s participation from the competition.
Yally says it is monitoring the position of the European Broadcasting Union, which organizes the competition. Last month, Icelandic musicians made similar demands to the country’s official radio station, Rove.
Lukas Korpilainen, one of the authors of the petition, told Hofodstadsbaldt, the most widely circulated Swedish newspaper in Finland, that “it is unacceptable for Israel to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest to polish its image.”
The most prominent Finnish artists who signed the petition include: Olavi Jusvirta, Pallivas, and Axel Ehnström, who represented the country in the 2011 competition.
According to UNRWA, the United Nations relief agency for Palestinian refugees, 1.9 million Gazans have been displaced – about 85% of the population – and 1.4 million of them are taking shelter in its facilities.
