By: Emma Bainbridge
On Canada Day, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) and the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) announced that Canada would become the newest member of the Eurovision Song Contest.
As someone who used to follow the contest religiously, I may have once been overjoyed at this news. These days, it’s hard to celebrate Canadian tax dollars being used to participate in an event that essentially gives Israel a platform to sanitize its reputation on a global stage.
Eurovision’s History with Israel
One of the world’s most-watched non-sporting events, the Eurovision Song Contest is an annual spectacle of musical acts representing different countries, with the winner selected by a panel of music experts and the viewers. Initially started after World War II as an initiative to bring war-torn countries of Europe together, the contest has expanded to include non-European countries such as Australia, and, most controversially, Israel.
Israel has participated in Eurovision since 1973, won four times, and hosted the contest three times, most recently in 2019. Many Arab countries have refused to take part in the competition or broadcast Israel’s performances in protest of the state’s treatment of Palestinians. Morocco participated once in 1980, when Israel was absent, but withdrew the following year and never returned.
Eurovision has long faced Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) protests over Israel’s involvement, but these have escalated in recent years.
Eurovision was targeted by the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) during the 2019 edition, when the competition was hosted in Tel Aviv. The final took place on Nakba Day, the anniversary of the 1948 expulsion of an estimated 750,000 Palestinians from their homeland to establish the state of Israel. It featured a performance by Madonna, and the Icelandic broadcaster was fined after their representatives, Hatari, unfurled Palestine scarves.
PACBI have drawn attention to how cultural events can serve as a platform for the Israeli state to expand its soft power and portray itself in a positive light on the global stage.
With Israel’s intensified genocide following October 7, 2023, the BDS campaign to boycott of the contest while the Zionist state participated gained more fervour. In 2024, thousands of protesters gathered outside of the arena in Malmö to protest the inclusion of Israel. Inside the arena, Swedish-Palestinian performer Eric Saade wore a keffiyeh on his arm, which a spokesperson from the EBU rebuked, saying that they “regret that Eric Saade chose to compromise the non-political nature of the event.”
In the run-up to the 2026 edition this May, things came to a head when the EBU finally promised a vote on whether KAN, the Israeli broadcaster, should be permitted to participate in the contest. Following an intensive lobbying process involving Israeli President Isaac Herzog, KAN was ultimately allowed to remain, without a direct vote on Israel’s inclusion taking place. As a result, five countries—Ireland, Iceland, Slovenia, Spain, and the Netherlands—announced that they would no longer participate or screen the contest.
The loss of five broadcasters was undoubtedly a blow to the competition’s finances, especially with Spain being one of the “Big Five” countries that make the largest financial contributions. It therefore makes sense that the EBU would want to bring in new countries, including Canada, to recover some of the lost participation fees.
Canada’s participation in Eurovision comes out of the taxpayer’s purse. The Fall 2025 Budget instructed CBC to explore participation in Eurovision as part of its $150 million budget. To date, CBC has not revealed the cost of participating in Eurovision; however, documents obtained by the Globe and Mail indicate that other member countries spent between $400,000 (Portugal) and $1.5 million (Israel) to participate in 2025.
Following the budget announcement, the Canadian BDS coalition put out a statement demanding that Canada not be “part of Eurovision’s arts-washing of genocide.”
Challenging Eurovision’s “non-political” nature
Despite Eurovision facing scrutiny like never before over Israel’s inclusion, Canada has chosen this moment to cross a global picket line and stand with an organisation platforming a genocidal state.
Russia was banned from the contest following the illegal invasion of Ukraine. Yet Israel, despite their renewed genocidal assault on Gaza, has not been held to the same standard.
On its rules website, the EBU claims that “The [Eurovision Song Contest] is an international entertainment event and is intended to remain strictly non-political” and “is not intended to be used as a platform or forum for political expression, activism, controversy or the promotion of external causes or agendas.”
However, campaigns such as PACBI have drawn attention to how cultural events can serve as a platform for the Israeli state to expand its soft power and portray itself in a positive light on the global stage.
In 2026, PACBI stated, “For broadcasters, contestants, presenters and others to still participate in Eurovision alongside a state perpetrating an ongoing, livestreamed genocide amounts to complicity in artwashing genocide.”
Furthermore, an October 2025 report from the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967 argued that “Israel has been sheltered from accountability in courts as well as in global forums, with institutions preventing its deserved expulsion both from sports […] and from cultural events (Eurovision, Venice Biennale).”
Senior figures in the Israeli government acknowledge how Eurovision serves as pro-Israel propaganda. Netanyahu has personally congratulated Israel’s Eurovision representatives, and praised them for performing despite the massive protests.
Herzog has also emphasized the importance, telling reporters that “I think it’s important for Israel to appear in Eurovision, and this is also a statement because there are haters who try to drive us off every stage.”
In 2022, Russia was banned from the contest following the illegal invasion of Ukraine. Yet Israel, despite their renewed genocidal assault on Gaza, has not been held to the same standard.
Despite protests from fans, artists, and even member broadcasters, the EBU has for three years refused to remove Israel from the contest. With this decision resulting in fan boycotts and broadcaster withdrawals, the EBU only has itself to blame for any financial loss or reputational damage from Israel’s continued participation.
Ultimately, Canadian taxpayers and the CBC should not be stepping in to rescue an event falling apart over its inability to hold Israel accountable. By agreeing to participate in Eurovision alongside Israel, the Canadian broadcaster is showing that, unlike their Dutch, Spanish, Icelandic, Irish, and Slovenian counterparts, they are willing to take part in an event which allows Israel to artswash genocide and war crimes.
Maybe one day, Canada can truly celebrate on the Eurovision stage. But as long as Israel participates, the Eurovision Song Contest will continue to be a platform for enabling genocide, apartheid, and occupation.
