cross-posted from: https://lemmy.ml/post/36045128
Dutch broadcast company AVROTROS has announced that the Netherlands will boycott the 2026 edition of the Eurovision Song Contest if Israel is allowed to compete. The Netherlands is the fifth country to announce a planned boycott of the event, which is scheduled to be held in Vienna.
“AVROTROS can no longer justify Israel’s participation in the current situation, given the ongoing and severe human suffering in Gaza,” the company said in a statement. The organization manages Dutch participation and broadcast rights for the competition as part of the Dutch public broadcasting umbrella, NPO.
AVROTROS stated that they have been in discussions with the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) regarding Israel’s participation in 2026. The broadcaster added that they are also concerned about the “serious erosion of press freedom,” citing the interference by the Israeli government in last year’s edition, claiming that the event was used as a “political instrument.”
The truth is the Netherlands isn’t respecting its obligations as a signatory to the Genocide Convention. So you dirt tactic isn’t going to work
Yeah and again, the people responsible for deciding if they are attending Eurovision aren’t responsible for any of that. They arent 1 people. The relevance of their defense spending vs their attendance to a music competition is nada. I’d rather there being mild hypocrisy vs 100% complicity.
And again i don’t talk about the netherlands people or the broadcast company. I am talking about The Netherlands as a country represented by a government that still do acts supporting israel while pretending to be against the gonocide