BY EMMANUEL OGBONNA
Swiss artist Nemo, winner of the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest, announced Thursday that they are returning their winner’s trophy in protest after organizers confirmed Israel will be allowed to compete in the 2026 edition despite growing political turmoil and widespread objections from participating nations.
In an Instagram video, Nemo held the iconic microphone-shaped trophy and said they could no longer keep it “in good conscience.” The singer explained that the contest’s stated values of unity, inclusion, and dignity are incompatible with allowing Israel to remain in the competition while the war in Gaza continues.
“Today I no longer feel like this trophy belongs on my shelf,” Nemo said, addressing their followers before criticizing the European Broadcasting Union, the organization responsible for running Eurovision. “Eurovision says it stands for unity, for inclusion and dignity for all people, but Israel’s participation shows those ideals are at odds with the decisions being made.”
Nemo won the 2024 contest with “The Code,” a genre-blending pop-operatic performance that celebrated their nonbinary identity and captivated millions across Europe. Their victory was widely praised as a landmark moment in Eurovision history, but in recent months the singer has become an outspoken critic of the organization’s handling of the political pressures surrounding the war.
Five countries—Spain, the Netherlands, Ireland, Slovenia and Iceland—have announced they will boycott the 2026 contest after organizers refused to remove Israel from the lineup. Nemo referenced these withdrawals in the video, saying the growing international backlash signaled a deeper crisis within the competition.
“When entire countries withdraw, it should be clear that something is deeply wrong,” they said, placing the trophy into a cardboard box and stating it would be mailed to the EBU’s headquarters in Geneva.
The 2026 contest is set to take place in Vienna next May, following Austrian performer JJ’s victory in the 2025 event in Basel, Switzerland. According to Eurovision tradition, each year’s winner hosts the next edition, a custom intended to highlight national pride and musical celebration—although the atmosphere surrounding the contest has become increasingly fraught in recent years.
Organizers have introduced new security measures and changes to the voting system following allegations that the Israeli government attempted to influence aspects of the competition behind the scenes. Despite Eurovision’s long-standing rule against overt political messaging, the war in Gaza has dominated public discourse surrounding the event for the past two years, fueling protests, diplomatic disputes, and high-profile walkouts.
The conflict has had a major impact on public opinion across Europe. Opponents of Israel’s participation cite the high number of Palestinian deaths in Gaza—more than 70,000, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry—as reason enough for exclusion. While the ministry operates under the Hamas-run administration, its casualty data is generally regarded by much of the international community as broadly reliable.
Israel maintains that its actions are a direct response to the Hamas-led attack on Oct. 7, 2023, when militants killed around 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and abducted 251 others. Israeli officials have repeatedly defended the military campaign as necessary and proportionate, even as international scrutiny intensifies.
Several independent observers—including experts commissioned by a U.N. body—have argued that Israel’s offensive meets criteria for genocide under international law, a designation Israel strongly rejects, calling it politically motivated and factually incorrect.
Nemo’s decision to return the trophy adds to the mounting pressure on Eurovision organizers, who have long insisted that the event’s purpose is to bring people together through music rather than politics. As the contest approaches its 70th anniversary in 2026, it finds itself facing one of the most turbulent moments in its history, struggling to uphold its celebratory spirit while grappling with the geopolitical realities surrounding it.
Original article
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