Three members of Yle’s supervisory board want Yle to withdraw from Eurovision due to the situation in Gaza.
Member of Parliament and members of Yle’s supervisory board Maria Ohisalo (green), Lee Andersson (left) and Elisa Gebhardt (sd) demand Yle to withdraw from the Eurovision Song Contest if the Israeli public broadcasting company KAN is allowed to participate.
Hamas attacked Israel in October last year, and since then there has been a bloody war in Gaza.
– Therefore, it would be justified for Yle and other European broadcasters to demand that the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) exclude Israel from the Games, as it did to Russia after the country attacked Ukraine in 2022. And if this does not happen, it would be justified for Yle itself to withdraw from the Games, to Yle the submitted petition states.
Finland is represented at Eurovision with Windows95man’s song No Rules. Matti Matikainen
The petition also states that it is not the task of MPs or Yle’s supervisory board to interfere with Yle’s program contents or other operational activities.
– The Supervisory Board can give instructions to the Board in matters that are far-reaching and fundamentally important. Therefore, we would hope that Yle’s board of directors would take the above into account.
Israel’s participation in Eurovision is not certain, because in its song October Rain there are known political lyrics that are banned in Eurovision.
Finland is represented at Eurovision in Malmö with Windows95man’s song No Rules. Windows95man, that is Teemu Keisteri has hoped that Israel will not participate in visas.