By Chris McCall
Copyright dailyrecord
The Scottish Green Party has called on the BBC to follow the example of Irish broadcaster RTE and boycott the Eurovision song contest if Israel is allowed to take part. Patrick Harvie MSP said the annual musical extravaganza should not be used “to whitewash genocide”. RTE is the second of 37 broadcasters who took part in the 2025 contest to make its participation next year conditional on Israel not being allowed to join. A spokesperson for the Irish broadcaster said: “RTE feels that Ireland’s participation would be unconscionable given the ongoing and appalling loss of lives in Gaza. RTE is also deeply concerned by the targeted killing of journalists in Gaza, and the denial of access to international journalists to the territory, and the plight of the remaining hostages.” Slovenia’s national broadcaster, RTVSLO, has also said it will participate in next year’s contest only if Israel is not involved. There is also growing calls in Spain for a similar boycott. Harvie, the party’s culture spokesman, said: “Eurovision is a celebration of diversity, love and unity. I want people to be able to truly enjoy it, but that’s not possible if it’s being used to whitewash genocide. “We must never normalise war crimes. When Gaza is being obliterated, and the Palestinian people collectively punished and deliberately starved, we all need to take a stand. That includes Eurovision. “As one of the ‘big 5’ Eurovision broadcasters, the BBC carries a loud voice and should use it to join RTE and others in speaking out against Israel’s inclusion and joining the boycott. “Russia has been rightly excluded since its illegal and immoral invasion of Ukraine. Palestinian lives are worth just as much as Ukrainian ones, and the same principles have to apply.” The Eurovision song contest will take place in Vienna next May and is the world’s second biggest TV event, with more than 160 million viewers. Martin Green, the director of the song contest said: “We understand the concerns and deeply held views around the ongoing conflict in the Middle East. “We are still consulting with all EBU members to gather views on how we manage participation and geopolitical tensions around the Eurovision song contest. “It is up to each member to decide if they want to take part in the contest and we would respect any decision broadcasters make.” To sign up to the Daily R ecord Politics newsletter, click here
