Yuval Raphael is Israel’s contestant for Eurovision 2025.
The comparison with Russia, the environment in the West, the blaming of victims. And “Because intellectuals are mistaken”.
Boycott of the Eurovision Song Contest 2026 and terrorist attack at a Jewish party in Australia. Two subjects that seem little or not related at all. But maybe they are.
Bruno Vieira do Amaral begins by warning that this boycott by several artists or countries, due to the presence of Israel, should not be devalued.
First, considers the commentator, a “strange and unfair” comparison with Russia – country that invaded a country that is in Eurovision, while Israel responded to a terrorist attack, “however much it may be considered a disproportionate attack”.
But it is an “expected comparison, just as the reaction of Portuguese musicians” who are not going to Austria, even if they win the RTP Song Festival, is expected.
“It’s strange that they say that and that they participate in a festival that aims to determine the Portuguese representative at Eurovision. But understandable. Because this kind of Positioning does not have any reputational cost for these people, even for culture in general”, analyzed Bruno, on the radio.
The commentator cited the book, which explains that intellectuals rarely pay the price for their convictions, they even benefit from these positions in their circle. These are “costless declarations, which only bring advantages”.
“It is the result of the cultural and political environment in the West regarding Israel” – and then yes, the comparison with: “It’s the same environment that causes terrorist attacks” like what happened in Australia.
“People who make comparisons between Israel and Russia are a product of the environment and responsible for that same environment.”
“That thing about saying that they are not anti-Semitic, that they are anti-zionists… Anti-Zionism is that anti-Semitism that knows how to use cutlery. This is a somewhat sophisticated, and somewhat hypocritical, attempt to establish a difference between the two things, when anti-Zionism is a denial of the State of Israel’s right to exist,” he considered.
Bruno Vieira do Amaral therefore warns of the language which causes, later, certain actos be viewed with some complacency. “Or they only remember to think about the seriousness of certain acts after they occur; they don’t think about the environment that is conducive to the practice of these acts”, he reinforced.
This rhetoric, “when talking about Israel and the Jewsis what allows these attacks to happen. It’s not the other way around”, he warned.
Bruno remembers that the Jewish community in Australia had warned that an attack like this could happen. “It was already expectable.”
And, returning to Eurovision, this boycott “should not be devalued because it is symptom of a culture in which victims are blamed and perpetrators are excused”.
