“Silence is not an option,” reads a post on the official account of the Spanish public broadcaster’s president on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter. The message is accompanied by a video with a message in English and Spanish against a black background: “Silence is not an option in the face of human rights. Peace and justice for Palestine.”
This message was also broadcast by TVI shortly before the start of the 69th Eurovision Song Contest, held in Basel, Switzerland, with Israel among the competing countries.
The same message was also shared today on the official RTVE account on X, moments before the contest’s final started at 8:00 PM Lisbon time in St. Jakobshalle, Basel, with live broadcasts to countries worldwide.
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which organizes the Eurovision Song Contest, warned RTVE that it would be fined if the comments concerning deaths from the Israeli offensive in Gaza were repeated during today’s final broadcast.
In a letter addressed to the head of the Spanish delegation, Ana María Bordas, the EBU reminded RTVE that Eurovision rules “prohibit political statements that could compromise the contest’s neutrality.”
“The number of victims has no place in an apolitical entertainment program, whose motto ‘United by Music’ embodies our commitment to unity,” the letter reads, as accessed by the newspaper El Pais.
On Thursday, before the performance of the Israeli representative, Yuval Raphael, in the second semifinal, Spanish commentators Tony Aguilar and Julia Varela recalled, during the broadcast on channel La2, that RTVE had formally requested the festival’s organization to open a debate about the country’s continued participation amid the Israeli offensive in Palestine.
Additionally, they cited the “more than 50,000” Palestinian deaths — now over 53,000 — caused by the current offensive since its beginning in October 2023, including more than 15,000 children, according to the United Nations.
RTVE editorial boards expressed their concern over the EBU’s “threat,” in a statement published on X, defending the commentators’ right to work with “freedom and responsibility.”
“We condemn any attempt at interference and defend RTVE’s commitment to truthful information, especially in light of events of international significance,” the statement reads.
This edition of Eurovision has been marked by the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, similar to what happened in 2024.
Pro-Palestinian protesters and police clashed today in Basel during a demonstration that gathered several hundred people against Israel’s participation in the contest.
According to the Agence France Presse (AFP), the clashes began shortly before the Israeli representative, Yuval Raphael, performed at St. Jakobshalle.
Holding Palestinian flags, the protesters followed behind a large banner reading “United for Palestine” and featuring a play on words with Eurovision, “Free your vision,” with a heart symbol replacing the letter ‘v,’ as described by the AFP.
The protesters burned an Israeli flag and another belonging to the United States, and one of the many placards held by the protesters read “Singing while Gaza burns.”
On Wednesday, around 200 protesters held a silent march through the streets of Basel.
The following day, during the afternoon, hours before the second semifinal, during the official rehearsal, six people were expelled from St. Jakobshalle for interrupting the Israeli representative’s performance with boos and whistles.
According to the EFE agency, that night, the second semifinal took place without incidents, with some almost inaudible boos at the start of the Israeli representative’s performance.
Tonight, during the television broadcast, boos were audible at the start of Yuval Raphael’s performance.
Israel’s presence in the contest this year has been contested by artists who have previously participated in the contest and by the Spanish public television.
More than 70 musicians, including Salvador Sobral, António Calvário, Fernando Tordo, Lena D’Água, and Paulo de Carvalho, appealed to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) for Israel’s exclusion from participation.
In an open letter, the signatories justified the appeal on the grounds that the Israeli television KAN was “complicit in the genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.”
The letter, published jointly by the non-governmental organization Artists For Palestine and the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement (BDS), was signed by singers, composers, musicians, dancers, and choir members from various countries.
In Finland, petitions were launched at the end of March, calling on the Finnish public television Yle to pressure the EBU to exclude Israel from the 2025 edition, due to the war in Gaza.
The Gaza authorities have today raised the death toll from the Israeli military offensive against the enclave to nearly 53,300 since it began following the attacks carried out on October 7, 2023, by Hamas and other Palestinian groups, which resulted in about 1,200 deaths and nearly 250 kidnappings, according to the official tally provided by Israeli authorities.
