Israel Commentary: EBU Threatens Spain with Penalty
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) is threatening the Spanish state television RTVE with fines if its commentators mention the Gaza conflict again during today's final. This was reported on Saturday by the Spanish daily newspaper "El País".
Commentators referred to the 50,000 dead of the Gaza war
Recently, the two RTVE commentators mentioned in the second ESC semi-final on Thursday that Israel is sending Yuval Raphael, a survivor of the massacre committed by the Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas, into the race. The terrorist militia killed several hundred attendees of a music festival in the border area to Gaza on October 7, 2023. The massacre provoked an Israeli military offensive and siege of the Gaza Strip.
As the Spanish ESC commentators mentioned, the Israeli offensive has already claimed 50,000 civilian victims, of whom more than 15,000 are children according to United Nations data. They also recalled their broadcaster's request to open a public discussion about a possible exclusion of Israel.
Spain defends commentators
However, the European Broadcasting Union, which organizes the Eurovision Song Contest, reminded Spain that all commentators of public broadcasting stations must adhere to the guidelines that "prohibit political statements that could endanger the neutrality of the competition." Spain defended its commentators and its position and hinted at addressing Israel's military offensive in today's ESC final as well. RTVE also recalled that Russia has been excluded from the ESC competition since its war of aggression against Ukraine.
(APA/Red)
This article has been automatically translated, read the original article here.