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Swedish Artists Sign Open Letter Calling for Israel’s Exclusion From 2024 Eurovision Song Contest
The letter signed by Robyn and Fever Ray joins similar requests from Finland and Iceland objecting to Israel’s punishing response to Hamas’ brutal Oct. 7 attack.
Among the signers of the letter published on Monday (Jan. 29) are such acts as Robyn, Fever Ray and First Aid Kit and Malena Ernman, the opera singing mother of teen climate activist Greta Thunberg, as well as hundreds of other dancers, artists, DJs and choreographers. The letter notes that the now 115-day-old war has reportedly led to the deaths of more than 25,000 Palestinians — including 10,000 children — leading to the destruction of “civilian infrastructure, caused inhumane living conditions and forced 85 percent of the population to flee.” Israel, which has been participating in Eurovision since 1973, has won the competition four times, including in 1978 (Izhar Cohen and the Alphabeta, “A-Ba-Ni-Bi”), 1979 (Milk and Honey, “Hallelujah”), 1998 (Dana International, “Diva”) and 2018 (Netta Barzilai, “Toy”).
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