Kneecap, Brian Eno, Erika de Casier sign Eurovision boycott letter protesting Israel’s involvement
- Text by Sydney Lobe
- Photography by No Music For Genocide (courtesy of)
No Music For Genocide — It calls upon the European Broadcasting Union to ban Israel from the upcoming competition, which is set to take place in Vienna between May 12 and May 14. Other signatories include Massive Attack, Hot Chip and Nadine Shah.
Several prominent musicians including Kneecap, Brian Eno, Erika de Casier, Massive Attack, Paloma Faith and more have signed an open letter calling for a boycott of the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest in protest of Israel’s participation.
The letter has been jointly penned by No Music For Genocide (NMFG) and the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI).
It calls upon the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) to ban KAN – the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation – from the upcoming contest, which is set to take place in Vienna between May 12 and May 14. Eurovision is the world’s most-watched live music event, drawing millions of viewers around the globe each year.
- Read next: “Madness can be overcome”: Robert Del Naja releases statement after Palestine Action arrest
The competition was initially created by the EBU as a way of to unifying disparate countries through music. The letter comes as Israel enters Eurovision for the third year since its occupation of and ongoing genocide in Gaza.
In a statement, a spokesperson for NMFG said: “People of conscience around the globe are fighting complicity in every industry for a free Palestine and a freer world. While many of us in the industry make light of Eurovision or doubt our own power as cultural producers, genocidal Israel’s leaders speak openly about the contest’s geopolitical value.”
In 2022, the EBU barred Russia from participating in the song contest after its invasion of Ukraine, and the ban remains. The letter argues that Israel should receive the same treatment.
Kneecap said: “Russia was banned from Eurovision in 2022. For the third year running, [Israel is] welcomed back onto the stage. That’s not neutrality. That’s a choice.”
Other signatories to the letter include Hot Chip, Of Monsters And Men, Black Country, New Road and Peter Gabriel.
No Music for Genocide is a campaign backed by over 1,000 musicians and record labels, which has seen them remove their songs from all music platforms in Israel as part of a cultural boycott in the country in protest against genocide in Gaza. Artists such as Lorde, Clairo, Hayley Williams, Fontaines D.C. and Björk are participants.
Artists who have signed the open letter calling for Israel to be banned from the Eurovision Song Contest
Broadcasters from Spain, Ireland, Iceland, Slovenia and the Netherlands have already withdrawn their participation in Eurovision 2026 as a result of Israel being cleared by the EBA to compete. Each of the countries have national selection finalists.
The letter continues: “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.”
For more information on No Music for Genocide, and to read and sign the open letter, visit the campaign’s official website.
Sydney Lobe is a freelance journalist. Follow her on Instagram.
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