Our women are strong, and they rise up, preserving their inner and outer beauty, seeking to share it with the world, despite the attempts at their degradation. Open letter.
Dear Eurovision Broadcasting Union,
Our relationship with the Eurovision song contest (ESC) dates back to 1973, when we became the first non-European country to compete in it. Our participation has produced some of the most iconic and beloved Israeli songs, like “A-Ba-Ni-Bi” (1978 winner) and “Hallelujah” (1979 winner).
For the first few decades of our involvement, we were given a dignified stage, embraced as an honorary member of the family of European nations. We felt that Europe, back then—about thirty years since the end of the Holocaust—appreciated our struggles as a fledgling nation, rebuilding our language, our culture, and our love for God in the land of our foremothers and forefathers, especially when our Arab neighbors scoffed at the blessings that our national revival brought to the region.
Now, 77 years since the founding of the State of Israel, we are a highly developed country contributing to the world the gift of our ingenuity in an array of fields: technology, medicine, religion, music and the arts. At the same time, we are facing a prolonged and vicious campaign against our very lives and dignity. Since October 7th, when barbaric Hamas terrorists invaded our land and murdered over 1200 of our own in cold blood, Jew-haters around the world, motivated by either religious ideology or sheer stupidity, have harassed us in every sphere–physically and spiritually.
Rather than protect us from the aftermath of this cruel massacre and kidnapping of our citizens, anti-Zionists have sought to portray us as an aggressor unworthy of life, let alone of participation in forums for international cultural exchange, like the ESC.
On October 7th, our women were brutally raped, but rather than receive sympathy, they have suffered denial of their suffering and pain even from human rights bodies. Yet, our women are strong, and they rise up, preserving their inner and outer beauty, seeking to share it with the world, despite the attempts at their degradation. Even after we were reeling from the horrors of October 7th, we continued to send our talented women to European cities to represent the great people of Israel.
Last year, Eden Golan arrived in Malmö with an unprecedented security detail. She had to face down an angry mob literally seeking to hunt her down. God knows what kind of horrors they would have inflicted upon her had she landed in their clutches. Barricaded in her hotel, she had to disguise herself when she wanted to leave!
Despite this abuse, we sent, this year, another beautiful talent, Yuval Raphael, a survivor of the Nova Festival massacre, to sing about a new day rising, of hope. She has exemplified the resilience of the people of Israel. She, too, was subjected to the vicious “Jew-hunt” by the irrational mobs. Two anti-Israel thugs even tried to charge the stage as she performed. Yet, she carried herself with grace and poise and made our nation proud. She even garnered the largest number of popular votes, showing that the Jew-haters in and around the ESC auditorium are just a loud minority.
We realize that, unfortunately, European cities hosting the contest have limited resources to control the Jew-hating mob, the kind that has plagued our people for centuries and which now plague your beautiful streets. It is unfortunate that our participation inadvertently creates undo hassle and security concerns for the contest organizers. Furthermore, our enemies manage to make us the center of attention, and we thereby, inadvertently, upstage other performers for more than just our talent.
Therefore, it is with both regret and relief, that we will bow out of the Eurovision song contest indefinitely, not only as a matter of security but personal dignity. The calls to boycott us, even by our fellow participants, have convinced us, on our own terms: Israel doesn’t belong in the Eurovision song contest.
While we share the best of European values stemming from our Biblical tradition, like that of individual freedom, human rights, and the rule of law, we are firmly set in the sands of the Middle East. As the Abraham Accords, God-willing, continue to expand, it would be wonderful to join a regional song contest with our Arab neighbors, whose language actually shares the same Semitic root as ours. As the Bible says, we are “a people that dwells alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations.” The ESC has helped us internalize this persistent truth.
We regret letting down our many fans in Europe who have empowered us with their votes, and we encourage them to visit and strengthen us and our performers on our own soil.
Wishing you peace and love through music,
The People of Israel
