Artists stage Brussels alternative to Eurovision over Israel participation

Belgian actress Katrien De Ruysscher and allied activists staged an alternative musical festival in Brussels on Tuesday to protest Israel’s participation in the Eurovision Song Contest, telling Anadolu exclusively that the initiative titled “United for Palestine” was created after organizers learned Israeli broadcasters would compete in this year’s contest while Belgian outlets maintained their planned involvement. The event, which coincided with the Eurovision first semi-final in which Belgium and Israel appeared on the same night, was organized by Belgian NGOs, unions, and solidarity groups who argued that the competition has abandoned its founding values of unity and human rights, featuring former Belgian Eurovision contestants, local musicians, and Palestinian artists who combined musical performances with messages of solidarity under the slogan “Don’t watch Eurovision. No stage for genocide.”

Normalization concerns

De Ruysscher stated that Israel’s inclusion contributes to what she described as the normalization of violence in Gaza, asserting that cultural and academic institutions must give important signals that they do not allow such actions to be normalized through entertainment platforms. “We found that the participation of Israel is very problematic due to the genocide in Gaza,” she said, explaining that the counter-event sought to focus on the original meaning of the Eurovision Song Contest, which she defined as uniting people and upholding human rights values. She also criticized Belgian political leaders for failing to take stronger action regarding the war in Gaza, saying “they act too little; they don’t do enough,” and emphasized that it remains essential for the public and audiences to speak up and continue protesting against the normalization of atrocities.

Double standards

The European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which organizes Eurovision, has repeatedly defended the contest as a non-political event, but De Ruysscher rejected that argument by pointing to Russia’s exclusion from the competition following the war with Ukraine. “They say Eurovision is not political, but they made it political… Russia is not allowed to participate; Israel is. I think within the form that the Eurovision Song Contest is right now, it has no future,” she said, predicting that this weekend’s final would determine the competition’s future legitimacy and adding that the event must return to its founding values established after the Second World War, when the contest was designed to unite countries rather than divide them.

De Ruysscher stressed that artists bear a moral responsibility to address political and humanitarian crises rather than remain silent, stating that arts and culture are always related to the world we live in and that performers carry a valuable voice that must be heard. “I think artists have to speak up,” she said, calling on cultural figures to use their platforms rather than remain complicit. Broadcasters in Iceland, Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia, and Spain decided to withdraw from this year’s competition in Vienna following the EBU’s decision to allow Israel to compete, while the final is scheduled for Saturday.