Israel’s participation in the European competition, the final of which will be held on Saturday in Malmö, has sparked tensions over Israel’s pounding of Gaza. Many in Europe called for the country to be banned. At the end of March, participants from nine countries, including Switzerland’s Nemo, one of the favourites, called for a permanent ceasefire.
See also: Eurovision 2024: Everything that happened in the semi-finals – Satti’s “roll”, the “3 queens”, Israel and the protests (Photos – Video)
Israel’s Eden Golan took part in the evening’s Second Semi-Final despite the backlash due to the country’s ongoing war in the Gaza Strip, with the song ‘Hurricane’.
Swedish Public Broadcasting (SVT) had said it would not cover any denunciations of Israeli participation with effects, but it became apparent that applause effects were used during the telecast.
It is recalled that the spectators reacted to the appearance of Israel’s representative, Eden Golan, in the 1st Semi-Final of the Eurovision Song Contest with shouts, disapproval and cheers, however the situation in the 2nd Semi-Final seems to have been… corrected.
See also: Eurovision 2024: Israel’s representative was booed – She was singing and the crowd was shouting “Free Palestine” (Video)
When in 2015 the EBU used ‘anti-booing technology’
In 2015 the EBU had to protect Russia from world condemnation over Ukraine’s annexation of Crimea and violations of the rights of the LGBTI community in Russia.
So he developed an interesting patent which he called “anti-booing technology”. On the night of the competition in Vienna, the rest of Europe did not hear a whiff of boos against Russia, unlike in 2014 when every point against Russia was met with howls of outrage.
Years passed (probably) without it being used again. But they needed it again this year.
What is the EBU’s position on Israel’s participation?
The organizing Authority of Eurovision 2024, that is the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), took a position on the question of Israel’s participation in this year’s contest through its announcement published on December 8, 2023 and noted that it did not plan to exclude Israel.
Characteristically, in its relevant position published in the Belgian newspaper HLN, the EBU emphasized: “The Eurovision Song Contest is a competition for public broadcasters from across Europe and the Middle East. It is a competition for broadcasters – not governments – and Israel’s public broadcaster has been participating in the competition for 50 years. The EBU is a member-led organisation. The governing bodies of the EBU – led by the Board of Directors – represent the members. These bodies evaluated the list of participants and decided that the Israeli public broadcaster complies with all the rules of the competition. Along with 36 other channels, it can participate in the 2024 competition.”
Furthermore, it is pointed out that the EBU based its decision on the attitude of other international organizations towards Israel. “At the moment there is an inclusive attitude towards Israeli entrants in major contests, the Eurovision Song Contest remains a non-political event, uniting audiences around the world through music,” the EBU concluded in its position.
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