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The letter, published today by the cultural boycott movement No Music For Genocide (NMFG), argues that the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) is applying double standards by keeping Russia banned over its 2022 invasion of Ukraine while allowing Israel to compete for a third consecutive year amid its ongoing military campaign in Gaza.
Signatories include Brian Eno, Massive Attack, Paloma Faith, Paul Weller, Kneecap, Hot Chip, IDLES, Sigur Rós, Young Fathers, Mogwai, and Black Country New Country. The letter also welcomes recent withdrawals by broadcasters in Spain, Ireland, Iceland, Slovenia, and the Netherlands.
“Russia was banned from Eurovision in 2022,” Kneecap said in a statement. “Israel has been murdering Palestinians for decades and is now committing genocide – and for the third year running, they’re welcomed back onto the stage. That’s not neutrality. That’s a choice.”
The Belfast hip-hop trio, who have faced legal battles and visa issues over their own political statements, added: “Silence is complicity. We stand with No Music for Genocide and every artist, fan and broadcaster who refuses to let the world’s biggest music event be used to whitewash genocide.”
This year’s contest, the 70th Eurovision, takes place in Vienna this May. Last year’s final drew 166 million viewers globally, rivaling the Super Bowl and the Grammys.
The EBU banned Russia in 2022, stating that its presence would “bring the competition into disrepute”. The open letter questions why the same standard has not been applied to Israel, pointing to more than 29 months of military action in Gaza and ongoing operations in the West Bank.
NMFG launched in September 2025 and has since coordinated the removal of participating artists’ music from all streaming platforms in Israel. The movement draws direct inspiration from cultural boycotts targeting apartheid South Africa.
The full open letter is published below.
This May, millions of people are expected to tune in to the 70th Eurovision Song Contest. For the third consecutive year, they’ll find Israel celebrated onstage despite its ongoing genocide in Gaza, while Russia remains banned for its illegal invasion of Ukraine.
As musicians and cultural workers, many living within the reaches of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), we reject Eurovision being used to whitewash and normalise Israel’s genocide, siege and brutal military occupation against Palestinians.
We stand in solidarity with Palestinian calls for public broadcasters, performers, screening party organisers, crew, and fans to boycott Eurovision until the EBU bans complicit Israeli broadcaster KAN.
We applaud the principled withdrawals of the Spanish, Irish, Icelandic, Slovenian, and Dutch broadcasters, and the many national selection finalists committing to refuse to go to Eurovision. Just as artists stood against oppression in South Africa, we stand together now.
Apartheid Israel’s president Isaac Herzog – named in South Africa’s submission to the International Court of Justice for inciting to genocide – has played a leading role in lobbying broadcasters not to ban Israel from the contest, the world’s most-watched live music event.
The EBU's hypocritical responses to Russia’s and Israel’s crimes have removed any illusion of Eurovision's claimed “neutrality”. In 2022, the EBU said that Russia’s presence would “bring the competition into disrepute”.
Yet more than 29 months of genocide in Gaza – alongside ethnic cleansing and land theft in the besieged West Bank – aren’t considered sufficient to apply the same policy to Israel.
How can any performer or Eurovision fan in good conscience participate at the contest’s next edition in Austria amidst US-Israeli plans for hyper-surveilled concentration camps in 'New Gaza'? There are moments in time when passive silence is not an option.
We refuse to be silent when Israel’s genocidal violence soundtracks and silences Palestinian lives. When children in Israeli prisons endure beatings for humming a tune. When all that’s left of nearly every stage, studio, bookshop and university in Gaza is piles of rubble, under which slaughtered bodies still await recovery and proper burial.
As artists, we recognise our collective agency – and the power of refusal. We refuse to be silent. We refuse to be complicit. We call on others in our industry to join us. And we stand in solidarity with all principled efforts to end complicity in every industry.
No stage for genocide. #BoycottEurovision.
Signed: Brian Eno, Massive Attack, Paloma Faith, Paul Weller, Kneecap, Hot Chip, Of Monsters and Men, IDLES, Sigur Rós, Young Fathers, Mogwai, Black Country New Road, Nadine Shah, Dry Cleaning, David Holmes, Salute, Vacations + more
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