Palestinian singer running to represent Iceland at Eurovision contest

Bashar Murad said he wants to use his song to ‘illustrate’ the difficulties Palestinians face in order to be heard.

Palestinian pop singer Bashar Murad is hoping to represent Iceland at the Eurovision Song Contest in May and bring “a Palestinian voice to the main stage”.

Iceland is expected to pick its contestant on Saturday for the annual song competition, which is being held in the Swedish city of Malmo.

Murad is competing in the national final with a song co-written by Einar Stefansson of the Icelandic band Hatari, known for raising a banner showing Palestinian flags during the 2019 Eurovision Contest.

While the competition bills itself as a non-political event and can disqualify those it considers to be in breach of the rule, the global political backdrop frequently weighs in on decisions.

In 2022, Russia was banned from participating in the contest after several countries called for its removal due to its invasion of Ukraine.

In light of the war in Gaza, some artists have called on the competition organisers to also exclude Israel from the competition.

The European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which organises the competition, said last week that they were scrutinising the lyrics of Israel’s song submission for possible references to the October 7 Hamas attack, which would go against the rules of the competition.

Israel has threatened to drop out of the competition if its song, Eden Golan’s, October Rain, is rejected.