LONDON: A Palestinian singer will compete in the preliminary stage of Iceland’s Eurovision Song Contest selection process.
Bashar Murad, a 30-year-old performer from Jerusalem, is known for addressing through his music themes related to the Israeli occupation and gender equality in the Middle East.
He will be one of 10 acts competing against each other for a place in the semi-finals of Songvakeppnin 2024, the national contest to select Iceland’s Eurovision song, Euronews reported on Thursday.
Murad has previously worked with Hatari, a punk-rock band that represented Iceland at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2019, finishing 10th. In the run-up to the competition, which was hosted by Israel that year, the band sparked controversy with their outspoken criticism of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories.
This year’s Songvakeppnin is due to take place in February and March but Icelandic broadcaster RUV is facing intense domestic pressure to call for Israel be banned from Eurovision 2024, which is scheduled for May, or to boycott the event.
The Icelandic Society of Authors and Composers, for example, strongly called for a boycott unless Israel is withdrawn from the contest. The sentiment was shared by nearly 10,000 Icelanders, about 2.5 percent of the country’s population, who signed a petition demanding Israel be disqualified.
More than 1,400 Finnish artists, musicians and music industry professionals similarly signed a petition demanding that Israel be excluded from Eurovision, citing as a reason the nation’s alleged war crimes in Gaza.
Should Israel be allowed to participate in the competition, which this year will be hosted by the Swedish city of Malmo, the petitioners called on the Finnish Broadcasting Company to boycott the event and refuse to submit an entry.
The petition stated: “It is not in accordance with our values that a country that commits war crimes and continues a military occupation is given a public stage to polish its image in the name of music.”
