Europe's annual Eurovision Song Contest faces unprecedented division as five nations boycott this week's competition in Vienna over Israel's participation, while the event marking its 70th anniversary continues to draw enthusiastic fans and 35 competing countries. The boycotts and alternative concerts highlight growing tensions between cultural institutions and political pressure campaigns.
Ten countries including Israel and favorite Finland won places Tuesday in Saturday's final of the contest, whose motto is "United by Music." The competition drew 166 million viewers in 2025 and continues to attract strong viewership this year, despite organized opposition.
Spain, Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Iceland are boycotting the contest as performers compete in the pop music competition. Israel's participation has sparked anger over its military campaign in Gaza and elsewhere, prompting alternative concerts across Europe.
Alternative Events and Political Pressure
In an ornate Brussels concert hall, Palestinian songwriter Bashar Murad stood before hundreds and delivered a mournful performance of Nina Simone's "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free" in English and Arabic, and the audience erupted when the final notes faded. The performance Tuesday evening was part of a protest movement against this week's Eurovision Song Contest.
Alternative concerts are taking place across Europe this week, including the "United for Palestine" event in Brussels, where European musicians performed alongside Murad and other Palestinian artists. Murad said, "It's always amazing to be in the same room with people who believe in the same things as you and people who believe that we can't just let the show go on."
Katrien De Ruysscher, founder of the activist group SOS Gaza, which organized the Brussels event along with rights group 11.11.11, said, "We have to create an alternative because the participation of Israel is problematic."
Organizers of the concert in Brussels said similar events are taking place in Austria, Germany, Slovenia, Italy and Spain. Spanish public television, which in past years broadcast the Eurovision contest, plans to air alternative broadcasting on Saturday evening. It said the program titled "La Casa de la Música" will be a tribute to the musical legacy of the broadcaster, marking its 70th anniversary. It will feature performances by 20 veteran and newcomer musicians including the winners of a Spanish contest, the Benidorm Fest, who would normally have gone to Eurovision.
Israel's Long Eurovision History
Since joining in 1973, Israel has won four times, giving the country visibility at a high-profile event that celebrates diversity. Many Israelis have said they feel they are being unfairly ostracized with the boycotts and other protests.
Murad's mother and father, a founding member of the influential Palestinian music group Sabreen, unsuccessfully petitioned the Geneva-based European Broadcasting Union, which runs Eurovision, to admit Palestine to the contest in 2007.
Israel's place in the contest has become contentious as outrage has grown over the carnage in Gaza, the occupied West Bank, Lebanon and Iran, with massive popular protests and European Union politicians mulling new sanctions.
Broadcasting Union Stands Firm
Amnesty International secretary general Agnès Callamard said she believes Eurovision should throw Israel out of the competition like it did Russia in 2022 after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. She said, "Songs and sequins must not be allowed to drown out or distract from Israel's atrocities or Palestinian suffering."
The 2024 Eurovision contest in Malmo, Sweden, and last year's event in Basel, Switzerland, saw pro-Palestinian protests that called for Israel to be expelled and allegations that Israel's government broke the contest's rules to support its contestant.
Performers are judged by juries in participating nations and viewers around the world, and this year the broadcasting union tightened voting rules in response to the vote-rigging allegations. But the broadcasting union declined to kick Israel out, spurring five countries to boycott.
Israel's President Isaac Herzog welcomed the union's decision, saying at the time that "Israel deserves to be represented on every stage around the world."
However, none of the alternative events will boast an audience like the Eurovision contest, which continues to draw enthusiastic fans this year.
Murad said he hoped the alternative events can spark some reflection of the pop cultural juggernaut's original mission to unite people through song. He said, "The purpose of these alternative programs that are happening is to remind Eurovision what it's actually about and to try to hopefully bring it back, to correct its course and make it actually live up to the things that it claims to be about," and, "A lot of people in the world feel that the competition has lost its meaning."
Why This Matters:
The Eurovision boycott represents a test case for whether cultural institutions can maintain political neutrality in an increasingly polarized environment. The European Broadcasting Union's decision to maintain Israel's participation despite pressure from activist groups and five national boycotts preserves the competition's stated mission to unite through music rather than exclude based on political disputes. The contrast between Eurovision's 166 million viewers in 2025 and the alternative concerts' smaller audiences suggests that public appetite for the competition remains strong despite organized opposition. However, the boycotts and vote-rigging allegations that prompted tightened voting rules raise questions about whether political pressures will continue to erode the contest's cultural mission. Israel's 53-year participation history and four victories demonstrate the country's longstanding integration into European cultural institutions, making exclusion a significant precedent that could affect other international competitions and events.