- Music
- 07 May 25
National Union of Journalists call for RTÉ to oppose Israel's participation in Eurovision
"As journalists, we note Israel’s targeting and killing of Palestinian media workers, who provide photographic, video and online content to newsrooms across the EBU in the absence of international journalists gaining access to Gaza," said NUJ Dublin Broadcasting Branch chair Emma O Kelly. "As well as the loss of life we are deeply concerned at the impact of this on media freedom and the EBU’s stated values."
Members of the National Union of Journalists at RTÉ have written to Director General Kevin Bakhurst urging the broadcaster to formally oppose Israel's inclusion in the Eurovision.
The letter mentions Israel's blockade of humanitarian supplies which began on March 2, its airstrikes in areas of Gaza with dense civilian populations, its activities in the West Bank and emphasises the Irish government's condemnation of these actions as breaches in international humanitarian law.
"Ireland's formal stance on Israel's actions is further highlighted by its filing of a Declaration of Intervention at the International Court of Justice in South Africa's case against Israel under the Genocide Convention on January 6," the letter reads.
Responding to the letter, Eurovision Director Martin Green said "it is our role to ensure the contest remains - at its heart - a universal event that promotes connections, diversity and inclusion through music."
"[The EBU is] an association of public service broadcasters, not governments, who are all eligible to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest every year if they meet the requisite requirements," Green said. "It is not our role to make comparisons between conflicts."
"The EBU remains aligned with other international organisations that have similarly maintained their inclusive stance towards Israeli participants in major competitions at this time."
Emma O Kelly, the NUJ Dublin Broadcasting Branch's chair, appeared on RTÉ Radio One's Morning Ireland said the letter was sent "because we feel there's a time to act - and that time is now."
"We collectively believe that there's a moral obligation on RTÉ and on the EBU to act to suspend Israel," she said. "We don't believe that the EBU needs a precedent but if they want a precedent they have it, and that precedent of course is Russia."
Russia began its invasion of Ukraine in early February, 2022. That same month, the country and its broadcaster were banned from participating in the Eurovision.
"We believe that was the right course of action then, but unfortunately the actions of Israel over the past year-and-a-half in Gaza have put what Russia did in those first few days in Ukraine absolutely into the ha-penny place," O Kelly continued.
"We have a case for plausible genocide before the internationals courts," she added. "We have arrest warrants out for the Prime Minister of Israel and we are saying to the EBU, when does it draw the line?"
"If all of this isn't enough, then what is?"
