Malta urged to boycott Eurovision 2025 over Israel row: ‘Our values or our party?’

**Malta should prepare to boycott Eurovision over Israeli participation – Zahra**

Malta’s Eurovision dream could be headed for an abrupt wake-up call. Independent candidate Mina Jack Zahra has urged the island to “seriously consider” boycotting next year’s song contest if Israel is allowed to compete while its military offensive in Gaza continues. The call, made during a fiery press conference outside Malta Public Broadcasting Services’ headquarters in Gwardamanġa, has reopened a fault-line that runs straight through Malta’s living rooms: can glitter, key-changes and national pride coexist with geopolitics?

For a country that treats Eurovision like a second Independence Day—complete with village festa-style watch-parties, betting pools in every każin and schoolchildren learning the Maltese entry by heart—the suggestion is tantamount to cancelling Christmas. “Eurovision is our Super Bowl,” says Etienne Galea, 29, who runs Eurovision trivia nights at a Valletta bar. “We spend months rooting for someone we’ve never heard of, wave flags we don’t own, and cry when we don’t make the final. Asking us to switch off feels personal.”

Yet Zahra insists the issue is bigger than Malta’s annual party. “We cannot clap along to ‘Celebrate Diversity’ while children are being bombed with weapons partly trans-shipped through our own freeport,” she told reporters, referencing investigations that traced arms components from Malta’s container terminals to Israeli ports. “If Malta stands for neutrality and peace—values written into our constitution—then PBS must petition the EBU to suspend Israel, or we walk.”

The timing is awkward. Malta’s entry for 2025, still under wraps, is rumoured to be a bilingual power-ballad recorded at Temple Studios with a six-figure budget footed by Tourism Malta and three betting companies. A boycott would torpedo that investment and, more painfully, snap a 56-year streak of uninterrupted participation that began when Joe Grech’s “Marija l-Maltija” kicked off the island’s love affair with the contest. “Pulling out would be like telling Malta we don’t exist on the European stage,” argues Maria Farrugia, secretary of the Malta Eurovision Fan Club. “We finally shook off the ‘nil points’ joke. Now we’re volunteering to be invisible?”

Public reaction is split along generational and political lines. Facebook groups such as “Malta Eurovision Family” have seen membership drop by 400 overnight after administrators banned posts supporting Zahra. Meanwhile, university students plan a “No Business As Usual” protest during next week’s semi-final broadcast in Floriana, demanding PBS hold a televised debate. The National Youth Council has circulated an online poll: 61 % of 16-25-year-olds back conditional participation, but only if the EBU allows Palestinian symbols alongside Israeli ones—something contest rules currently forbid.

Government officials are treading carefully. Culture Minister Owen Bonnici reiterated that “Malta believes in artistic freedom” but added that “all options remain on the table,” diplomatic code for “please stop asking.” PBS CEO Charles Dalli declined an on-camera interview, issuing a terse statement that Malta will “follow EBU consensus,” effectively deferring the decision to the European Broadcasting Union’s general assembly in June.

The economic ripple is already being felt. Merchandise vendors who usually stock Maltese flags and LED wands by April say wholesalers are delaying orders. “No one wants to be stuck with 5,000 tricolour capes if we’re not going,” explains Sliema kiosk owner Darren Azzopardi. Hotels in Rotterdam reporting Maltese bookings have seen a 30 % spike in cancellations since Zahra’s press conference, according to data from the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association.

Still, Zahra remains unmoved. “Every year we send a song about love and unity. If we can’t live those values when it hurts, then our chorus is just noise.” Whether Malta chooses harmony or boycott, one thing is certain: this year, the real drama won’t be on the Eurovision stage—it will be in the heated arguments echoing from Mellieħa townhouse balconies to Marsaxlokk fishing boats, as an island decides if the show can, or should, go on.