Musicians from around the world signed a letter Tuesday calling for a boycott of Eurovision over Israel's participation. Artists like Macklemore or the groups Massive Attack and Kneecap are asking to exclude the Israeli public broadcaster KAN, "which has been complicit in crimes against humanity committed by Israel".

Published on: 04/23/2026 - 6:37 p.m. Modified on: 04/23/2026 - 6:37 p.m.

New controversy for Eurovision. More than a thousand artists called on Tuesday April 21 to boycott the next edition of the singing competition, organized on May 16 in Vienna, due to the participation of Israel. Famous musicians like Massive Attack, Kneecap and Macklemore have signed a letter on the movement's website "No music for genocide".

The letter garnered more than 1,100 signatures, mostly from artists on small and medium labels. But several famous groups and musicians, most of whom have already actively joined the cultural boycott movement of Israel for many years, have signed this appeal, according to the organizers.

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Among them are Peter Gabriel, Roger Waters (ex-Pink Floyd), the British group Massive Attack, the musician and producer Brian Eno, the rapper Macklemore or the Northern Irish trio Kneecap, a member of which was prosecuted by the British courts for displaying a Hezbollah flag during a concert in 2024 before seeing the charges dropped.

These signatories call for the exclusion of the Israeli public broadcaster KAN, "which has been complicit in crimes against humanity committed by Israel." “As musicians and cultural workers, many of whom live in the area covered by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), we refuse to allow Eurovision to be used to whitewash and normalize the genocide, siege and brutal military occupation of the Palestinians by Israel,” the signatories write.

Several European countries refuse to participate

The Franco-Israeli singer Noam Bettan, 27, was chosen to represent Israel, a mission which has a strong patriotic dimension in a country where the competition is extremely followed and its candidates supported.

The Eurovision contest, which is celebrating its 70th edition this year, is shaken by the largest boycott in its history around Israel's participation. Broadcasters from Spain, Ireland, Iceland, the Netherlands and Slovenia announced their defection. They criticize Israel for the conduct of the war waged in Gaza, in retaliation for the October 7, 2023 attack by the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas on its soil.

Israel has won Eurovision four times, the last time in 2018. During the last edition, Israeli singer Yuval Raphael, survivor of the October 7 attack, came second, winning the most votes from the public.

With AFP

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