For nearly a year, DiEM25 has been calling on the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) to bar Israel from Eurovision due to its ongoing genocide in Gaza and its long-standing system of apartheid and occupation. We argued then, and continue to argue now, that cultural platforms must not be used to whitewash state violence or shield governments from accountability.

Now, that call is finally being echoed across Europe.

Over the past week, the Eurovision Song Contest has been plunged into crisis as a wave of broadcasters, artists, and former winners have publicly withdrawn rather than share a stage with a state carrying out genocide.

Far from isolated acts, these boycotts form a rapidly growing front built on moral clarity and international solidarity – the exact principles DiEM25 has urged the EBU to uphold.

A wave of boycotts

Five countries have now confirmed they will not participate in Eurovision 2026 if Israel remains in the contest: Iceland, Spain, Ireland, the Netherlands, and Slovenia.

Iceland’s public broadcaster RÚV made the position explicit: Eurovision “cannot bring joy or peace” while turning a blind eye to mass civilian suffering. Others have echoed the same message: it is impossible to celebrate unity and culture while one contestant state is accused of war crimes on a catastrophic scale.

Meanwhile, inside national competitions, resistance is intensifying. In Portugal, no fewer than 17 artists competing in Festival da Canção announced that they will refuse to represent Portugal at Eurovision 2026 should they win that competition, rejecting any complicity in “a blatant double standard” that bans Russia but welcomes Israel.

Artists are refusing to be used for art-washing

The backlash is not limited to broadcasters. Switzerland’s 2024 Eurovision winner, Nemo, is returning their trophy in protest, stating that Eurovision cannot defend “European values” if it simultaneously offers a stage for a state under investigation for genocide. This is not a protest against Israeli artists – but against the use of culture to obscure crimes committed by the state.

This is precisely the argument DiEM25 made when we launched our campaign, “No Platform for Apartheid: Exclude Israel from Eurovision.” Eurovision cannot pretend to be non-political when its own decisions legitimise oppression.

A moment of cultural courage, and a final push

What we are witnessing now is a cultural uprising against complicity. Broadcasters, artists, and audiences have chosen integrity over spectacle, and Europe is finally catching up to what many human rights groups, including DiEM25, have insisted all along.

But the pressure must continue.

If the EBU insists on defying its own values and enabling art-washing, then the only ethical position left is a full, Europe-wide boycott of Eurovision 2026. The message must be clear that our continent is against cultural whitewashing. No Eurovision for apartheid.

Let’s boycott Eurovision 2026 unless Israel is removed.

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