The No Music For Genocide campaign has issued a new open letter signed by 1,100 artists and cultural workers calling for Israel to be banned from participating in the 2026 Eurovision Song Contest.
The letter comes after the December 4 vote held by organisers, the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), that decided Israel would be allowed to participate in the 2026 contest in Vienna next month. The decision was made despite both Israel’s involvement in the ongoing conflict in Gaza, and controversy over Eurovision 2025’s voting process.
Massive Attack, Brian Eno, IDLES, Primal Scream, Paloma Faith, Kneecap, Paul Weller, Hot Chip, Of Monsters and Men, Sigur Rós, Mogwai, Black Country New Road, Nadine Shah, Nemahsis and several previous Eurovision finalists are among the artists which signed today’s (21 April) open letter. In it, No Music For Genocide calls for the EBU to apply the same exclusions standards to Israel as have applied to Russia since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Russia has been banned from Eurovision since 2022.
NMFG’s campaign urges artists to geo-block their music from streaming platforms in Israel. Since September the movement has seen support from Kneecap, Massive Attack, Fontaines D.C., Primal Scream, Hayley Williams, Rina Sawayama and many more artists.
Today’s open letter also calls on “public broadcasters, performers, screening party organisers, crew, and fans to boycott Eurovision.” Last year’s Eurovision final drew in 166 million viewers worldwide, a staggering figure which rivals both the Super Bowl and the Grammys viewerships. NMFG cited this as a reason for their urgency in calling for the boycott in their Instagram post, found below.
The EBU said in a statement, “A large majority of Members agreed that there was no need for a further vote on participation and that the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 should proceed as planned, with the additional safeguards in place.”
Four countries dropped from the 2026 competition as a result of the December 4 vote from the EBU: Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Spain will not participate. Six days later, on December 10, Iceland withdrew from the contest. On the same day, 11 of Portugal’s 16 entrants said they will decline performing if they win. This threatens Portugal’s ability to participate in Eurovision 2026.
The open letter commends the aforementioned countries, saying NMFG “applaud[s] the principled withdrawals of the Spanish, Irish, Icelandic, Slovenian, and Dutch broadcasters, and the many national selection finalists committing to refuse to go to Eurovision. Just as artists stood against oppression in South Africa, we stand together now.”
Irish hip-hop trio, Kneecap spoke on the open letter: “We’ve paid a price for speaking out – lost gigs, court cases, visa bans – and we’d do it all again tomorrow. Silence is complicity. We stand with No Music for Genocide and every artist, fan and broadcaster who refuses to let the world’s biggest music event be used to whitewash genocide. No stage for genocide. Free Palestine.”
Fellow signees, Massive Attack, have also previously faced scrutiny for their support of these issues. Robert Del Naja was detained on 11 April at a protest connected to Palestinian Action. Just days later, the group released their first new music since 2020: the single ‘Boots on the Ground’ featuring Tom Waits and rife with political commentary.
The BBC will go on airing Eurovision 2026 from 14 May to 16 May, despite many British artists signing NMFG’s letter. In a statement after the December 4 vote, the BBC said it supports “the collective decision made by members of the EBU. This is about enforcing the rules of the EBU and being inclusive.”
In NFMG’s own statement regarding their open letter, organisers said they “[stand] with and [amplify] the incredible grassroots organising efforts across Europe to boycott Eurovision until Israel is banned. From PACBI to direct actionists, from Film Workers For Palestine in Hollywood to striking dockworkers in Italy and Morocco, people of conscience around the globe are fighting complicity in every industry for a free Palestine and a freer world.”
The entire open letter from No Music for Genocide is available to read here.
