ESC dispute: Austria's winner JJ demands exclusion of Israel!
ESC dispute: Austria's winner JJ demands exclusion of Israel!
Wien, Österreich - The debate about Israel's participation in the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) has gained intensity in the past few days. Johannes Pietsch, the Austrian ESC winner, expressed his disappointment with Israel's participation in an interview with "El Pais" and wanted an ESC without Israel. These statements led to a political storm and diplomatic tensions, since Pietsch called Israel and Russia as "attackers", which met with sharp criticism in Austria. The Israeli ambassador in Vienna, David Roet, asked Pietsch to talk to the Situation after the singer apologized for potential misunderstandings.
political reactions from Austria were not long in coming. Wolfgang Sobotka from the ÖVP described Pietsch's statements as "unacceptable" and Alexander Pröll criticized the equation of Israel and Russia as "history of history". Johanna Mikl-Leitner praised Pietsch's musical talent, but warned of "politically dangerous" advice. Dominik Nepp from the FPÖ called Pietsch an anti -Semite, while Oskar German, President of the Israelite cultural community, expressed his disappointment about the singer's statements. There was also criticism from Ukraine about Pietsch's controversial opera singer Anna Netrebko.
reactions from the artist community
In the middle of these controversy, Israeli singer Yuval Raphael spoke up. She, who took part in the ESC and is the survivors of a terrorist attack by Hamas, expressed the wish that all hostages come home. She praised Pietsch for his voice and hard work. At the same time, however, Pietsch was required to disqualify Pietsch afterwards, since ESC participants are not allowed to use the competition for political propaganda. Media lawyer Ralf Höcker criticized the attitude of Pietsch and referred to a previous event in which the singer tried to bring an LGBTQ+flag into the final.The discussion about the event is not new. In an open letter, 72 former ESC participants have requested the exclusion of the Israeli National Send from ESC. In this letter, Kan is accused of being complicit at the "genocide at the Palestinians in Gaza". The signatories, including the winner of the past year, Nemo from Switzerland, criticize double -moralizing behavior and emphasize that music should not be used to "clean crimes against humanity". These protests also refer to the EBU decision to exclude Russia in 2022 due to the war against Ukraine.
A look at the competitive situation
Despite the political tensions of different influence, Israel's contribution received only 60 points from the international juries at the ESC, while the audience awarded high scores. ESC director Martin Green announced that extensive discussions about all aspects of the event will take place after the competition. The Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez also commented against Israel's participation and described the situation as a double morality. The ESC 2023 was described as the "most politicized, chaotic and most unpleasant competition in history", whereby in the previous year in Malmö, where there were numerous protests, the security situation was significantly more tense than the more relaxed atmosphere during the current event in Basel.
This situation makes it clear how strongly culture and politics are interwoven in the Eurovision Song Contest, and how important it is that future events offer not only a stage for musical talents, but also for discourse on human values and political morality.
| Details | |
|---|---|
| Ort | Wien, Österreich |
| Quellen | |
Kommentare (0)