After Boycotting It Over Israel's Participation, Slovenia Now Said It Will Not Air Eurovision And Will Play Palestinian Films Instead

After boycotting Eurovision over Israel’s participation, Slovenia has now said its state broadcaster (RTV) will not air the 2026 Eurovision Contest and will instead broadcast a series of Palestinian films.

The contest says it aims to keep pop music separate from geopolitics, but it banned Russia from the competition in 2022 following its full-scale invasion of Ukraine and allowed Israel to compete despite multiple petitions and threats of boycotts.

On Dec. 4, 2025, Slovenia, along with Ireland, the Netherlands and Spain, announced they are boycotting Eurovision 2026 after the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) confirmed that Israel would remain in the 2026 contest despite its genocide in Gaza.

Iceland later also announced it is boycotting Eurovision as well.

On April 23, RTV Slovenia announced it will not be broadcasting the Eurovision Song Contest and will broadcast instead” Voices of Palestine," a film series of Palestinian documentaries and feature films.

More than 1,000 artists, including Paul Weller, Kneecap, Massive Attack, and Paloma Faith, signed an open letter organized by No Music for Genocide and the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement calling for a fan boycott.

The letter, reported by The Independent, called on the EBU to ban Israel's public broadcaster KAN, stating the contest was being used to "whitewash and normalize Israel's genocide, siege and brutal military occupation against Palestinians."

Nemo, the Swiss singer who won Eurovision in 2024, said they are returning their trophy to protest Israel’s participation in the 2026 event.

Ireland and Spain also said they are not broadcasting the event.

This year's contest will have only 35 competing countries, the smallest number since 2003 and is scheduled to take place in Vienna from May 12 to May 16.

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