ESC Insight Presents…..Eurovision Wars: Malmö 2024 In Context

ESC Insight: Eurovision Song Contest Podcast

Content Warning

This podcast episode includes discussions of violence, including sexual violence.

This Is Eurovision Wars

Eurovision Wars is a series of podcasts exploring geopolitical themes as they emerged on the Eurovision Song Contest stage. You can listen to Seasons 1 and 2 in full on Spotify, covering such topics as the Russia-Ukraine War, and the long-running dispute between Azerbaijan and Armenia. For Season 3, the podcast moves to its new home at ESC Insight, and will focus on the many controversies of Eurovision 2024. In particular, hosts Phil Doré and Ana Oppenheim will attempt to contextualise the fierce rows over the Israeli entry.

For this first episode, we place the Eurovision Song Contest of 2024 in its geopolitical context, looking back at the difficult and complex history of the Gaza Strip, the history of Israel’s participation in the Song Contest, and the horrific events of October 7th.

In subsequent episodes, we’ll consider Eden Golan’s highly-politicised entry ‘Hurricane’, Bashar Murad’s attempt to bring a Palestinian viewpoint to the Contest, and how the controversy impacted other artists such as Ireland’s Bambie Thug and the United Kindom’s Olly Alexander. In the fifth and final monthly episode, we explore the other controversies of 2024, such as those involving Azerbaijan and Serbia.

Eurovision Art Installation in Malmo (Photo: Ewan Spence)

Our Principles Of Discussion

Discussion of Israel and Palestine is inevitably difficult and polarising, so in episode one we introduced three ground rules to frame our discussion for this season.

Be willing to keep more than one thought in your head.

It can be true that the founding of the state of Israel was in response to centuries of antisemitism and the horrors of the Holocaust, and also that its founding was marked by massacres and forced displacement of the local Arab population. Likewise, it can be true that Israelis have a right not to be victims of Hamas terrorism, and Palestinians have a right not to be bombed by Israeli warplanes. These are not contradictory.

Explanation is not justification.

When we say that decades of oppression against the Palestinians contributed to October 7th, that is not to justify the atrocities of that day. Likewise, in describing those atrocities, this does not render the mass destruction inflicted by Israel on Gaza acceptable.

If one side in a conflict commits a war crime, that doesn’t mean the other side gets a free war crime.

Because, unbelievably, that point still has to be made.

Eurovision stage concept for Malmo 2024 (EBU / SVT)

In the episode, we strongly and unreservedly condemn the atrocities of October 7th, but also do not shy away from labelling Israel’s subsequent actions as a genocide. There are those who dismiss such a label as premature, or an over-reaction. In response we cite the excellent Lions Led By Donkeys podcast. In their recent series on the Rwanda genocide, they point out that it is never too early to start talking about genocide. If you wait until there is nobody left, then it’s too late.

If we are to fully understand how the Eurovision Song Contest became so controversial in 2024, then this inevitably leads to difficult conversations. But these are conversations we absolutely need to have as a community.

You can find previous Eurovision Wars episodes on ESC Insight here.

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