Moviment Graffitti will be holding a national protest on 21 February, calling for Malta’s withdrawal from the Eurovision Song Contest as long as Israel is allowed to participate.
“Israel should never have been allowed to participate in this competition or to present itself as a normal state while exterminating Palestinians and stealing their land,” the organisation stated.
Graffitti said Israel’s ongoing genocide in Gaza has massacred over 70,000 Palestinians, the majority of whom are children, and has razed the territory to the ground. The genocide, it added, follows decades of illegal occupation, apartheid policies, settler expansion, and the mass kidnapping, expulsion, and dispossession of Palestinians.
Graffitti highlighted what it called double standards in the European Broadcasting Union’s decision-making. Last year, in the midst of the genocide in Gaza, the Israeli broadcaster allocated a record budget to its Eurovision participation. In contrast, Russia was immediately barred from the Eurovision following its invasion of Ukraine.
“Since the European Broadcasting Union took the shameful decision to allow Israel’s participation, Malta now has the opportunity to take a stand for justice and international law by joining Spain, Iceland, Slovenia, the Netherlands, and Ireland in withdrawing from this compromised competition,” the group said.
The 70th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest will be held at Wiener Stadthalle in Vienna, Austria. Two semi-finals will be held on 12 and 14 May, and the final on 16 May. Earlier this month, the Malta Eurovision Song Contest was won by Aidan with his song Bella. He will represent the country at the finals.
The protest will be held on Saturday at 3pm, starting from outside parliament in Valletta. Endorsements for the protest can be submitted on their website here or by emailing [email protected].