Spanish broadcaster RTVE has sent a letter to the EBU asking for an open discussion about the participation of Israel at Eurovision.
The letter was sent by RTVE’s president, José Pablo López, following a discussion with the broadcaster’s Board of Directors.
López wrote to Noel Curran, director-general of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), requesting for a debate to be opened between the organisation’s members about the inclusion of Israeli broadcaster KAN in the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest, to be held in Basel this May.
A press statement from RTVE reads as follows:
“In this letter, RTVE conveys its commitment to the EBU, but also acknowledges the concerns raised by various civil society groups in Spain regarding the situation in Gaza and the participation of the public television station KAN in the competition.
“RTVE believes it would be appropriate for the EBU to recognise the existence of this debate and facilitate a space for reflection among EBU member broadcasters on the participation of Israeli public television station KAN.”
Ever since protests surrounding Israel’s participation at the song contest began in the run-up to Eurovision 2024, organisers at the EBU have repeatedly shut down these calls. They affirmed their position that the event is a competition between public broadcasters rather than governments, noting the contest must remain apolitical.
RTVE is now raising the point that, if this is the case, then those public broadcasters should be able to undertake an open debate about the issue, rather than having the EBU dictate their position.
EBU response
Update: The EBU has issued the following statement in response to RTVE’s letter.
“We welcome RTVE confirming their commitment to the Eurovision Song Contest and appreciate there are concerns and deeply held views around the current conflict in the Middle East.
“All Members of the EBU are eligible to compete in the Eurovision Song Contest and we remain in constant contact with those participating this year, including RTVE, on all aspects of the Contest.”
Following their letter, RTVE becomes the second Eurovision participating broadcaster to publicly comment on Israel’s appearance at the contest. The council of Slovenia’s national broadcaster, RTVSLO, adopted a resolution last December calling for the withdrawal of Israel from Eurovision 2025.
There have been repeated calls from musicians, fans, unions, human rights activists, and other notable figures for Israel’s removal from Eurovision since the beginning of the Israel-Gaza war in October 2023. The conflict has seen more than 50,000 people killed in Gaza, with multiple organisations accusing Israel of committing war crimes and acts of genocide.
The war began when Hamas carried out an attack in southern Israel on 7 October 2023, during which 1,200 people were killed and 251 others were taken hostage.
Really fun teh fact that are people downvoting comment against Israel, like one i did. I bet they not even read them, but i am ok with that. I have my opinion, you have yours. Just do not spread hate.
Dont get me wrong: There’s nothing wrong with not liking my opinions. However, perhaps you should comment and explain why you don’t agree. The way I’ve seen it, it makes it seem like you only read the part that said Israel shouldn’t participate and then you disliked it.
Dont worry. You will be dealt with.
Look in the mirror sweetheart. Wiwibloggs isnt the IDF.
Really funny how the Zionists that claim to be on the side of the truth still have yet to provide the proof to back their claims up.
The holy land belongs to the palestinians. Not the eastern european israelis
Free palestine!
Has no one noticed that Judaism is a Satanic cult?
It’s very sad how Isr*el has affected wiwiblogs journalism. The other party cannot be mentioned in the comments and in your articles you mention an area rather than a separate country. So Isr*el has the right to control occupied territory? Why were you never like this at the start of the Russian invasion? Being neutral does not equal seeing the world from one party’s perspective
They should open a debate on future Catalan entries
Spain isnt butchering thousands of Catalan people every day and denying them food and water. That’s the difference
Ok, what is the lie? Do you know something about Catalonia that we don’t?
See, I tried warning you, but you just keep going in this direction…
Faith is strong… 😉
Hi Wiwibloggs team,
When Israel’s and Yuval’s song came out, comments were closed and we were not allowed to comment on the song, her voice, the video. The art.
When it’s about banning Israel, your comment section is wide open again.
Since last year I only watch your site every now and then, and always in ad free Duckduckgo browser or on pc with an Ad blocker.
you can comment on the wiwibloggs YT channel
Thanks, but I will not sponsor or view Wiwibloggs on YT anymore.
Gurl, Bye! This isn’t your personal departure lounge to make an announcement.
Keep it up, dear…and you too will be dealt with. Trust!
“you too will be dealt with” ?
Wiwibloggs really has gone downhill. It’s just pychopaths everywhere, these days.
Once these p*** arrive, they start harassing the entire board, so I’d say you are right.
Not at all. Just a friendly warning.
We really don’t need savage behaviou as well as persobal attacks….on top of all the nasty propaganda.
Why are the Zionist services so keen to deny the undeniable by handing out negative votes and votes? Reality is reality and can never be hidden.
In my mentally nobody envolved on a war should be on Eurovision (Ukraine is a clear exception because they were invaded). Israel is in a war that is difficult to judge: the only not-guilty element here are Gaza People. So, Israel shouldn’t be able to participate on ESC. But remenber this is just my opinion, dont rage!
Morally speaking, I send my best wishes to the civilians (and those forcefully conscripted who wanted to stay civilians if they weren’t literal slaves of the system) who want to end this conflict in every war-affected country. Peace for everyone, please! That said, let’s just focus on purely *pragmatic* issues that affect Eurovision itself. Does I s r a e l participating affect the result? Absolutely! Does U k r a i n e ‘s ? Absolutely! Purely from a song contest standpoint, they mess-up the score by having a huge advantage in televoting. They are guaranteed qualifiers and top… Read more »
I don’t think it’s a good idea to exclude countries at war. Then they are punished twice. Let them have some escapism and joy in those difficult times. And artistic expression.
That’s certainly a good argument against it. I’m just saying let’s have a discussion on the topic among EBU executives. There are pros and cons, but unless they are all throughly examined, this topic will come again and again.
Dominic, I appreciate your points and thank you for this kind neutral expression. I still think music can and should be separated from politics. I don’t consider singing about loss and pain which already occured, as harmful in music in general; only if there are mentions of specific details (like names, locations) of the war, in this contest’s frame. And I only consider it overall negative if a song contains lyrics about plans to keep a war and lyrics which encourage hurting the other side. With that, I get your point that this needs to be settled once and for… Read more »
2/3 – splitting to 3 parts just in case: Many opposing Israel’s participation would be happy to see p a les ti ne / g a z a participate. Of those many that wouldn’t have mind (some happy) if such song was about the w ar from that other side perspective and about harming Israel while still ruled by h @@ m as. Same for other countries with such, like seeing I r a n , Ye men etc’ – as in the Olympics and any international event; or at least they barely protest against those. That’s to further point… Read more »
do you really have to take a position on conflicts everywhere?
When there are thousands of innocent people being k1lled by a eurovision participating nation daily then yes
it’s about music
Being able to just look away from people suffering when u want must be really nice
Believe me, I see it and it’s terrible, but my life doesn’t have to be defined by tragedies all around the world either.
Your life doesnt. But a public instituiton white washing an apertheid regime currently commiting a gen**ide does
When will people understand that this is music and not politics?
As soon as the war cr1minal is kicked out we can focus solely on music, deal?
nah Im focusing on the music already. I will suggest you to find something else to watch if you dont want to focus on the music
I will focus on the music once i dont have to be fed gen0cidal propaganda down my throat
what is the point of watching eurovision then? are you not wasting your time?
Look at any news channel around the world for these “fake” events. Cant show the truth to someone who doesnt want to see it
how is it fake or invented?
so you are saying that people dying is fake? bfr now lol
I mean, I don’t see you taking a stance on say Yemen, Sudan or Myanmar
And i dont see you taking a stance on the muslim concentration camps in China. Fact of matter is, ebu is allowing israeli propaganda to air for millions of people to see while they are actively commiting w4r cr1mes. Why do you wanna excuse their actions so badly?
I ban the song: I consider it p r o p a g a n d a, how can she she sing a new day will rise…when over 20.000 children died in Gaza (and counting) , and a new day for them will never rise… She obviously only speaks about the grief and on behalve of her own people and that is not what Eurovision is all about. Israel is responsible for the ethnical cleansing and the genocide that’s going on in Gaza right now. Since Moroccan oil is an Israeli company and the main Eurovision sponsor I’m doubting the… Read more »
How can it be 20.000? You guys were saying this number also one year ago.
Its not 20.000 the updated number is 60-70 thousand
Total Palestinians; now the total is 60K. A third of those murdered are children.
Israel’s “Octopus tentacles” wont get your savage uncivilized country out of war crimes charges in the ICC and ICJ. What is needed is a “final solution” against Israels Gen*0cide, Apar*theid, Ethnic Clea*nsing.
“Final solution”?
Oh, they should stop with their violent act against humanity. Oh, I know let’s refer how we deal with them with words used to describe acts against humanity towards people similar to them………
How much I ever condemn such cruel acts I would never wish for more violence as revenge. Don’t respond to hate with more hate
The irony is Ana Maria Bordas, Director of Content Production at RTVE, has been elected as the new Chair of the Eurovision Song Contest Reference Group for a two-year term.
Love how this comment has been downvoted so many times by the “small hat bridage” when all Ive done is sourced the EBU Website.
Every comment people notice YOU make will always be downvoted due to your an ti se mi tic tropes as your pathetic “octopus tentacles” and “final solution”, discovering your true s… face. Then again, of course biased wiwibloggs team members, especially “jonathan vautpuke” allow such comments while deleting other comments to tell the truth about H@S and the whole picture and confront ant is emi tes like yourself. Just like they blocked comments about Israel’s song and Yuval but now allow profanity and brainwash comments – only for those spreading lies and twists-only against Israel. Probably this very comment won’t… Read more »
Then feel free to leave. No one is forcing you to stay. It takes a special kind of evil to downvote a comment ending a gen*0cide but your mob love to play the victim to justify your sick savage behaviour. Bye Gurl!
Is it’s now that Wiwi will let me speak freely?
This is just hypocrisy. Period .
Gurl, please troll somewhere else.
I do believe that I have free speech. That’s my opinion. You don’t agree ? That’s ok to me .
It wouldn’t have been so bad but wiwiblogs didn’t let us comment on the Israeli song .
What are you talking about? Deban reacted on the wiwbloggs YT channel to Raphael’s song. Go and comment there.
The comments were closed here. Wiwibloggs readers were not allowed to talk about the song, video, her voice.
And now, when it’s about banning Israel, the comment section is wide open.
You guys will find any excuse to scream antisemitism.
I prefer the human rights over the Eurovision. It is time to say NO to this.
Yes, please! Protesting and booing is just creating televoting points for Kan. I guess you don’t want to risk that?
Rather that than supporting a country that as we speak causes a g*n*side, those who stay silent…
Eurovision must have the rule that prohibits any country with an on-going military conflict participate until peace is established. The immediate ban should cover Russia, Ukraine, Israel. Three more countries on the watch-list: Azerbaijan, France, and the UK for warmongering.
Have you completely lost your mind? Banning Ukraine would be just wrong. Damn hypocrite.
Ukraine committed war crimes, similar to Russia. They entered Russian territory in Kursk and hence are an aggressor too.
Ukraine ignores international law of Human rights convention by forcing conscious objectors into combat. That is enough for me to dislike Ukrainian government. That said, I prefer them 1000 times to the evil regime in Russia.
You are crazy. People like you are destroying our continent.
Bring back Bosnia and replace them
Please, that country’s name is Bosnia and Herzegovina. Stop being offensive.
It is too late in the day I would say and 2 years has almost passed. Makes no difference what happens at this stage as the damage has already been done. I just think it’s all too awkward for the contest. We just have to endure and live with it.
Said from the privilege and security of our homes. Humanity really has embraced the “as long as it’s not me” approach hasn’t it? As long as there’s songs about saunas will all be ok.
OMG, these comments are a war zone
Those p*** like it like that. 🙁
Again? I am tired of this discussion. If you were really interesested in an open debate, you could have had it last summer. But now? What‘s your actual point?
It has more effect now as it threatens the viability of the contest.
Yeah, sure. Mossad. Coz obviously they don’t have any bigger problems but your comments on a Eurovision news site.
‘Shlomo, I need an update on our operation to infiltrate the Iranian nuclear power plants.’
– ‘Had to stop working on it, boss. A bloke over at Wiwibloggs had some very strong words about us taking part in Eurovision.’
‘Good job, mate. That’s why I promoted you.’
Lol
It seems to be the same 5 people posting over and over every time Israel is mentioned.
Any country that doesn’t want Israel to compete should just remove themselves from Eurovision. If they don’t remove themselves then they can zip it.
Adrian endorses a regime that kills children, you heard it here first.
That means every country would withdraw and there wouldnt be eurovision. Much easier if we just throw the baby k1ll3rs out
I wish that would happen. Right before the semifinals. The Joy of watching EBU get swallowed by their lack of a moral spine. Warms the heart.
Right RTVE 2nd to try and bring politics into the contest, issue a fine!
The whole “a political” motto ebu tries to convey is nothing but a cute fantasy. Every action is political. Throwing out russia was political. Keeping in israel is political. Letting israel portray jerusalem as property of Israel during eurovision 2019 was political. Saying lgbtq rights isnt state politics is political. Saying they only wanna accept value politics in the contest is political. Everything is
Until the ap@rtheid ends, until the genoc1de stops, until there is a free and fully independent P@lestinian state, Isr@el must not be welcome at Eurovision.
Exactly my point. Guess which entity was invented back in 1947 because Western powers didn’t want to keep Jewish people in their own countries where their homes and properties were and also because they wanted a state they controlled inside the Arab world.
You really expect me to argue with you when you are bringing up Moses to justify a literal genoc1de. Troll
Funny…147 countries also support the “invented entity.” France and Malta seem to be next on the list to recognize the “invented entity.”
” *deeply* held views” alright.
MyH3r!t@ge…
Great to see E B U’s timely response. *MANGE TAK!!!*
EasyJet!
Why are people afraid of an open debate by broadcasters? If you sincerely and wholeheartedly believe you are doing the right thing, a debate would come to that conclusion, no?
Royal Caribbean, Booking.com, Bailey’s, Idealista and EasyJet’s money are all having ties with Österdahl who demands all of them to extend their sponsorship. I am still waiting for giving the new ones a chance when Österdahl resigned, hopefully next year.
Why would there be a debate? The EBU held meetings with the broadcasters after the last edition. They all knew Israel would participate in 2025, just like in every other year. Still, every broadcaster signed on for Eurovision 2025.
If they have an issue with Israel being part of it now, RTVE has only itself to blame.
Moroccanoil…
Booking.Com, MyHeritage, Royal Caribbean, Bailey’s, EasyJet and Idealista = Martin Österdahl. Yeah?
Israel has a much much better song than Spain ….perhaps that’s why they’re so bitter .
RTVE is controlled by Socialists and whatever they do is just thinking of elections and votes. I dont know why are they doing this exactly now, just a month before the Festival. It is evident that EBU is not going to decide against Israel in just one month. What I know for a fact is that they are not doing this out of the purity of their Hearts.
This isn’t a Left Wing/Right Wing issue.
It’s human rights and rule of law and we all have a responsibility to protect that and hold perpetrators to account.
I agree human rights should transcend politics—but when a state broadcaster like RTVE suddenly finds its moral compass one month before Eurovision, it’s fair to question the motives, especially given their silence during Spain’s own repression of democratic rights in Catalonia (Catalan leaders were jailed and voters beaten in 2017…)
True accountability begins at home.
Democratic rights doesn’t mean that you can decide to vote for whatever you want to vote, whenever you want to vote without any guarantee or control… Would you also call “democratic rights” the United States Capitol assault on 2021??
Catalan leaders? You mean Catalan independence leaders. It’s not the same thing.
There was a right wing national government controlling RTVE when that stuff happened in Catalonia. Now (been 7 years already) there is a left wing national government who actually amnistied those Catalan leaders and of course take human rights more seriously than the fascists we used to have 7 years ago governing in Spain.
“This” being RTVE calling on EBU to facilitate an open debate is a very leftist thing.
Countries in Europe are democracies which means that people voting decide what they want. And last year people voting decided to support Israel: Spanish televote gave 12 points to Israel and Europe gave the second BEST score to Israel. So stop whining and Accept what the majority voted.
Sympathy votes after Oct 7
There has been so much anger since then
We will see this year then.
Yeah.
Royal Caribbean…
And the fact having EasyJet remaining as the official airline sponsor for third consecutive year is not forgivable. To make sure having a proper airline sponsor, contract for one year at least, such as one year for Ryanair, like they did to Vueling.
RTVE did not support the Generalitat de Catalunya during the 2017–2018 constitutional crisis. In fact, RTVE was widely criticised for bias in favour of the Spanish central government. Here’s a breakdown: 1. Perception of Bias RTVE, being a state-owned broadcaster, was accused of echoing the Spanish government’s narrative and minimising Catalan pro-independence perspectives. Several RTVE journalists publicly denounced editorial interference and censorship during the crisis. Some even wore black in protest, and a group launched the initiative “RTVE no es manipula” (“RTVE is not to be manipulated”). 2. Coverage of the Referendum (Oct 1, 2017) RTVE was criticised for failing… Read more »
Catalan immersion from ages 0 to 8 (early childhood education and the first cycle of primary education). The only language of communication and learning is Catalan. Students whose home language is Catalan have the right to learn and interact at school in their native language; this right is categorically denied to students whose home language is Spanish, including students with special educational needs. Catalan is the sole language of instruction and learning from ages 9 to 16 (second and third cycles of primary education and all secondary education). School life is in Catalan, and all or almost all subjects are… Read more »
True: 1. Catalan is the main language of instruction in Catalonia’s public education system. This is part of an official “language immersion” model established in the 1980s to promote fluency in Catalan and ensure its survival after decades of suppression under Franco’s regime. 2. Catalan is the primary language used in most subjects, with Spanish (Castilian) taught as a separate subject. 3. All students are expected to become fluent in both Catalan and Spanish by the end of compulsory education (age 16). 4. The Spanish Constitution and the Catalan Statute of Autonomy both recognize Catalan and Spanish as official languages… Read more »
As a European civil servant, I tried to work in Barcelona and couldn’t get a position because I only speak fairly fluent Spanish but no Catalan. That’s really crazy. So, isn’t there discrimination because I don’t speak Catalan but I do speak Spanish? I think there’s a huge lack of information about what’s really going on in Catalonia, and you have to live there for a while to understand it. I invite you to visit Catalonia and you’ll see that in a restaurant, if you don’t speak Catalan, they won’t serve you, and if you speak Spanish, they won’t serve… Read more »
Wow! I’m surprised by so many negative votes for telling the truth. I think there are actually more Catalans than Spaniards who support Esc
Go home!
RTVE calling for an “open debate” on another country’s controversial actions rings hollow when it failed to do the same during Spain’s own constitutional and human rights crisis ( the constitutional crisis which took place in Spain from 2017 to 2018 as the result of a political conflict between the Government of Spain and the Generalitat de Catalunya). It suggests a double standard: willing to scrutinize foreign governments, but silent or complicit when it comes to domestic authoritarian measures. RTVE should have been banned from Eurovision a long time ago.
We are not interested about Cataluña.We are here to Talk about music.
This is a song contest site. Music not politics. WiWi why are you letting this happen?
Exactly. When Israel’s song came out, we couldn’t comment on her song. Comments closed.
But now, when it’s about RTVE wanting to exclude and ban, now the comment section is wide open.
Rtve has been pushing israels disqualification since october 2023 and has been making formal complaints to ebu regularly. The fact some of you are suprised when Spain is one of the most propalestinian countries and one of the little handfull of european countries that recognize palestine as a state is beyond me.
Ahmad Manasra, Palestinian, got released from Israeli prisons after more than ten years. He was imprisoned at the age of 13 without a lawyer, without a parent. According to Amnesty or Israeli human rights organisation B’tselem, he’s only one of hundreds Palestinian child prisoners.
He was released with a Star of David shaved on his head.
Everyone who’s supporting Israel or staying silent, is guilty as well. Silence is complicity.
Ahmad Manasra stabbed with a knife a 20-year old man and a 13-year-old boy.
Still waiting for that precious evidence you Zionists conveniently seem to lack…
It’s disgusting that you see conspiracies everywhere. Especially when it’s about Israel. Getting Kan banned is not a human right.
They think it works but we all know
Hopefully EasyJet needs to be banned as a sponsor too
Free Catalonia.
I think there is a big difference, the Spanish state does not indiscriminately and daily kill Catalan children and women.
So you’re supporting the oppressor Spain?
Free wales, free kosovo, free north cyprus. We could go on and on, fact of matter is, none of them are actively getting unalived on a daily basis
Most catalans don’t want the independece now. They have realized that if Catalonia was to be declared independent they’d be ruled by a bunch of deranged and absurd people (Puigdemont and company).
To anyonw saying why now and it’s too late, that’s nonsense. First, it’s never to late to do the right thing and secondly, if EBU can disqualify Netherlands last year on the finals day, i repeat on FINALS day, what are you smoking saying they can’t do anything in April?
A very good point.
To be exact, they didn’t disqualify Netherlands – they disqualifies that loon.
The EBU could have been disqualified Israel last year in the Grand Final by harassing other competitors.
Yeah, I agree. They should have. Still, that woulda been a one off.
They COULD disqualify Israel last year on the finals day when the EBU realized that the entire delegation broke a lot of rules.
EXACTLY. Thank you
So apparently it’s never too late to mass debate.
I think it really is time for Israeli fans in here to understand what people are saying and stop trying to put words that people didn’t say in their mouth. No, we don’t hate israeli and/or jewish people. No we are not supporting terrorism. Yes some of us can understand that this situation is incredibly complicated and that our country would probably do horrible things too if it was attacked. BUT it doesn’t mean that we should stay silent when such things are happening under our eyes. I personnally support neither side in this conflict. Everything that’s happening right now… Read more »
AMEN
“I personally support neither side in this conflict.”
Then you side with the oppressor which is Israel. Every human being deserves to live in dignity and freedom, Palestinians included.
Everything is not black or white. I feel deep sadness for the Palestinian people, but I also know that if my country came under attack, I would want it to defend itself. That’s what bith sides claim doing here. I totally disagree with what the Israeli government and army are doing, because the limits were crossed a long time ago! But I also know that this conflict goes back far too far and that I’ll never understand all its aspects for the simple reason that I’m not directly affected. I assume that if I don’t understand something properly, I can’t… Read more »
“If my country came under attack, I would want it to defend itself.”
Israel has been literally terrorising Palestinians in the West Bank for decades, every single day. The West Bank is Palestinian territory, Israel has no business doing anything there. Don’t they have a right to defend themselves too? Why don’t you mention that?
You’re gaving your own interpretation of my words. I never said that Israel government and army aren’t terrorising Palestinians as well as I never said Palestinians don’t have the right to defend themselves. They sure do. What I’m saying here is that it is easy for us, people living in peaceful countries, to judge the situation from the outside but we absolutely have no idea of what our own country would be ready to do in such a situation. I do not support what israeli government is doing but I’m done judging Israeli people because I can understand why fighting… Read more »
I know right that we’re agreeing on Israel’s participation. I just don’t like that you seem to draw a symmetry between an oppressor and the oppressed. I say it again: every major human rights organisation is very clear in their opinion that there’s no symmetry in this conflict.
I guess I could say that I agree on that 🙂 I will not consider this conflict as good vs evil though. I would say bad vs worse (again, talking about leaders on both side). Intentions seem bad to me whatever the side is but clearly israeli leader, to avoid saying his name, is using every ounce of power and all the ressources he has to destroy the other side… and this is the worst to me. He is not fighting anymore, he is annihilating.
You totally lost me with your last sentence.
Okay Spain, then withdraw. Show us you mean it and you are not virtue signalling.
It’s April already. It’s too late and we have to wait for 2026.
They can always choose not to go.
Your comment is horrible. Why should Spain withdraw? Should a woman who has been abused by a man stop going out on the streets because of that? Your comment is offensive to many people.
You completely missed the point.
No honey, I haven’t lost my point of view, you just don’t know what you write, baby.
Babe, the contest would crumble if spain withdrew. Theres a reason spain is part of the big five. The contest can survive without the w4r Cr1minal israel, but cant without spain
It survived without Italy for like 13 years.
First of all, that was before the inflation of the 2020s. Back when almost all of eastern europe was participating and the contest was cheaper, and we all saw the high quality the contest received when italy entered. Not the same at all if spain were to withdraw in 2025
We can always invite Russia back and give them big 5 status, they also provided some high quality entries or Turkey. Sadly, the EBU is too complacent with leftist identity politics for that to happen.
Wasnt talking about quality entries, was talking about the high amount of money italy brought with them. And i agree, i dont see why Russia isnt allowed to participate if israel is