Second group of RTÉ workers condemn Israel's involvement in Eurovision, claiming it is ‘whitewashing genocide'

Irish Independent

15-05-2025

Siptu members at the broadcaster called for the suspension of Israel from the song contest after NUJ members made the same demand.
RTÉ director-general Kevin Bakhurst met with the European Broadcasting Union last week to raise concerns about Israel's inclusion in the contest.
He had asked the EBU for a discussion on Israel's participation after the National Union of Journalists wrote to management in protest at Israel's inclusion.
However, he said RTÉ would not withdraw from the contest.
Greg Ennis, deputy general secretary of Siptu, said its members in RTÉ stand with their colleagues in the NUJ who called on the EBU to suspend Israel's participation in this year's contest.
'As Israel prepares to take to the Eurovision stage this evening, we wholeheartedly condemn the EBU's repeated refusal to take responsibility, to show moral leadership and to cease providing a global platform for Israeli advocacy,' he said.
He claimed that by doing so the EBU is 'normalising and whitewashing Israel's genocidal actions and war crimes in Gaza and the West Bank, which has turned Palestine into the greatest humanitarian crisis in generations'.
Mr Ennis said he welcomed the approach of Mr Bakhurst and RTÉ's Director of Video, Steve Carson, in pressing the issue with the EBU and raising RTÉ's concerns. He urged RTÉ to 'push the EBU to go further as they did in expelling Russia in 2022' and suspend the involvement of Israel in this year's contest.
Siptu divisional organiser, Adrian Kane, said Israel's government is refusing to allow a leading Palestinian intellectual to travel to take part in the Robert Tressell Festival in Dublin later this month.
He said this is happening 'while we are supposed to accept Israel's involvement in the Eurovision is merely a cultural matter'.
'While Israel wishes to present itself as a normal democracy it fails to even give a semblance of respect to international law and allow Omar Barghouti, a man accused of no crime, to travel freely to this festival of ideas taking place in Liberty Hall on May 24,' he said.
'It is about time the world accepts Israel is far from a normal country but one which is based on an apartheid system and a genocidal campaign against the Palestinian people which is being waged in all spheres including the cultural.
'We stand in solidarity with the people of Palestine, including the many media workers who have been killed and continue to be targeted deliberately by Israeli forces in Gaza. Israel must be held to account not allowed to hide its genocide behind a sick charade of normality.'
Eurovision Song Contest director, Martin Green said: 'We understand the concerns and deeply held views around the current conflict in the Middle East and remain in constant contact with those participating this year, including RTE, on all aspects of the contest.'
He said the EBU is not immune to global events but together its members its role is to ensure the contest remains at heart a universal event that promotes connections, diversity and inclusion through music.
"We all aspire to keep the Eurovision Song Contest positive and inclusive and aspire to show the world as it could be, rather than how it necessarily is,' he said. 'As a reminder, the EBU is an association of public service broadcasters, not governments, who are eligible to participate in the Eurovision Song Contest every year if they meet the necessary requirements.'
He said it is not the EBU's role to make comparisons between conflicts.
"As part of its mission to secure a sustainable future for public service media, the EBU is supporting its Israeli Member Kan against the threat of being privatized or shut down by the Israeli government,' he said.
He said the EBU remains aligned with other international organisations that have similarly 'maintained their inclusive stance towards Israeli participants in major competitions at this time'.