Cultural boycott organizers No Music For Genocide have today issued an open letter calling on fans of Eurovision to boycott this year’s broadcast, with more than 1100 signatories including Massive Attack, Brian Eno, Kneecap, Peter Gabriel, Sigur Rós, Dry Cleaning, Primal Scream, and Black Country New Road. Artists and other cultural workers are encouraged to add their names here.

Earlier this month, Massive Attack's Robert Del Naja was one of around 500 people arrested at a pro-Palestine demonstration in London, which he later described as "total madness."

This is the third consecutive year since commencing its genocide in Palestine that Israel has been allowed to compete in the song contest, in direct conflict with the European Broadcasting Union’s 2022 decision to exclude Russia for its invasion of Ukraine. The open letter, which is also supported by the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement for Palestine, asks why the world’s largest music event continues to fail to apply the same standard to Israel.

Read the full text of the letter below, and consider joining the global boycott when the 70th Eurovision Song Contest takes place May 12–16.

In addition to the letter, No Music for Genocide organizers have provided a press statement as follows: 

"Every year, for its entire 53-year tenure as a Eurovision participant, Israel has perpetuated its terrorizing systems of apartheid, torture, land theft, and military occupation against Palestinians from the river to the sea with complete impunity. 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. NMFG stands with and amplifies the incredible grassroots organizing efforts across Europe to boycott Eurovision until Israel is banned. From PACBI to direct actionists, from Film Workers For Palestine in Hollywood to striking dockworkers in Italy and Morocco, people of conscience around the globe are fighting complicity in every industry for a free Palestine and a freer world."

The release also includes a statement from Kneecap, who say:

"Russia was banned from Eurovision in 2022. Israel has been murdering Palestinians for decades and is now committing genocide – and for the third year running, they're welcomed back onto the stage. That's not neutrality. That's a choice. We've paid a price for speaking out – lost gigs, court cases, visa bans – and we'd do it all again tomorrow. Silence is complicity. We stand with No Music for Genocide and every artist, fan and broadcaster who refuses to let the world's biggest music event be used to whitewash genocide. No stage for genocide. Free Palestine.”