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Finland, Ireland Considering Boycott of Singing Contest due To Israeli Participation
Noa Kirel performing “Unicorn” for Israel at the first semifinal at the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest. Photo: Sarah Louise Bennett/EBU
The controversy around Israel’s inclusion in next year’s Eurovision Song Contest rages on as more countries are speaking out about Israel’s participation in the international competition due to its military campaign against Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip.
Uuden Musiikin Kilpailu (UMK), the Finnish singing competition that selects Finland’s representation for the Eurovision Song Contest — which will be held in Malmö, Sweden, in May — said last week that it remains unclear if Finland will participate in next year’s singing competition because of the Israel-Hamas war.
“The situation in the Middle East is worrying and serious, and it worries us as well. Finland’s pre-contest has become an important event that is held regardless of Finland’s participation in Eurovision,” UMK wrote in an Instagram Story, which is also saved on its Instagram highlights. “Regarding Eurovision, the management of the Finnish Public Broadcasting is receiving updates on the situation and discussing it with the European Broadcasting Union and other Nordic countries.”
The Finnish representative will be one of seven artists who will revealed on Jan. 10, while the UMK contest announcing the winner will be held on Feb. 10.
Ireland’s National broadcaster RTE has received hundreds of emails urging a boycott of the Eurovision if Israel participates because of the latter’s war in Gaza and an Irish Labour Party politician called for Ireland to pull out of the Eurovision because of Israel’s inclusion.
However, Ireland’s Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, and Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Micheal Martin said during a recent press briefing that they do not support boycotting the singing competition just because of Israel.
“For us to unilaterally boycott something – whether it’s Eurovision, whether it’s the Olympics, whether it’s boxing, whether it’s cycling – just because Israel is there, to me that’s biting off your nose to spite your face,” said Varadkar. “I don’t think a unilateral boycott by Ireland of any sporting event or any musical event or competition is the right way to go.”
Varadkar added that isolating Israel from the international community and banning the Jewish state from an international competition like the Eurovision could be detrimental to peace efforts in the Middle East. He said Israel includes liberals “who do not necessarily support their government, who would like to see a two-state solution, and the difficulty, I think, with boycotts is that you can end up ostracizing and alienating the people who we actually need to engage with.”
Meanwhile the singer Ruslana Stepanivna Lyzhychko, known simply as Ruslana, who won the Eurovision Song Contest in 2004 on behalf of Ukraine recently told the Israeli website Euromix that she stands in solidarity with Israel following the Hamas terrorist attacks that took place on Oct. 7 in the Jewish state. The singer, a former politician and activist, who was the first winner of the Eurovision contest for Ukraine, also drew parallels between the terrorism Israelis faced in October to what Ukrainians are experiencing following Russia’s invasion of their country.
“I dream of the day when no alarms will be sounded, of the day when no missiles will be launched and no weapons will be used,” she told the Israeli publication.
“I have performed many times in Israel, [but] I will never forget my 2005 performance at the Eurovision Song Contest [the national final],” she added. “I have a lot friends in Israel and I also cross my fingers about the situation in Israel. I was in Tel Aviv when you hosted the Eurovision [ in 2019]… it was an amazing moment.”
Other campaigns throughout European countries have pushed to limit Israel’s participation in Eurovision.
In Iceland, The Association of Composers and Lyricists of Iceland (FTT) released a statement on Dec. 11 that calls on the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service (RÚV) to refrain from participating in Eurovision unless Israel is disqualified from the competition because of its war in the Gaza Strip.
Eurovoix News, a popular Eurovision fan media outlet, announced in November that it will “substantially restrict” its coverage of Israel in the Eurovision competition, and invited other journalists and media outlets to follow suit.
The post Finland, Ireland Considering Boycott of Singing Contest due To Israeli Participation first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.