Image credits: © Yle/Nelli Kenttä Jesse Markin has been announced as one of the participants in UMK 2024, but even if he wins the Finnish selection, he will not to go to the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) if Israel participates.
The singer of the song Glow stated on social media: “Many have asked me about the participation of Israel in the Eurovision competition. […]. I’m not going to participate if Israel is allowed to take part. And this doesn’t mean that I don’t want to participate in the Eurovision, or that I’m not going to give 100% or 110% to UMK. But at this moment I feel like it’s more important to bring forth these human rights issues. And I also feel that whoever ends up representing Finland should represent Finland. […]. Let my words be a drop in that river, but anyway now at least there’s no miscommunication about anything . Nothing changes if nothing changes, so let’s just hope that EBU makes a decision on this issue with Israel so that we can get to Malmö with Finland”.
As of now, there is no expected sanction against Israel from the European Broadcasting Union (EBU). The current conflict in Gaza has led to various calls for the country to be excluded from the ESC due to its actions in the war.
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