While the general trend in the European left these days is hatred and delegitimization of Israel at best, and blatant antisemitism at worst, at least one left-wing group appears to be taking a stand. Ahead of the Eurovision Song Contest taking place this week in Vienna, Austria's Grüne Jugend, or Young Greens, launched a campaign titled "Zero points for antisemitism," against antisemitism and boycotts of the contest due to Israel's participation.
A video published by the group opens with an activist pointing out a double standard in the Eurovision competition, which claims to be against discrimination, but is fine with it if it is against Jews or Israel. She recounts how, at last year's competition, the Israeli entry, Yuval Raphael, a survivor of the Nova Massacre, faced hate, abuse, and intimidation, just for being Jewish and Israeli.
The activist also notes that "the political climate is turning against Jews worldwide. Antisemitic ideologies are spreading, and attacks on Jewish life have increased dramatically."
The video continues with the activist declaring that ahead of the competition, "We, the Young Greens of Austria, are giving zero points to antisemitism. We cannot look away and need to combat antisemitism in all its forms."
She notes that while political criticism of what she calls "the far-right government, the war in Gaza, and settler violence" is justified, "boycott movements that exclude Jewish people from the arts and culture and make them the targets of hate and incitement need to be called what they are. Anti-Semitic."
"As European leftists, we see a role in strengthening progressive opposition forces in Israel and Palestine and criticizing right-wing extremists. Rejecting Israel's very existence and excluding Jewish artists has nothing to do with leftist criticism. So let's enjoy Eurovision and give zero points to antisemitism," the video concludes.
In a follow-up video, the Young Greens answer criticism of their calls against antisemitism, explaining the difference between valid criticism of Israeli policies and antisemitism.
The organization's activists suggest using what they call the "3-D test" to determine whether a statement is valid criticism or antisemitism. According to the activists in the video, if a statement delegitimizes Israel's existence, it demonizes the Jewish state as the "absolute evil that must be overcome," or sets double standards, it is no longer valid criticism.
In a third video on the topic, the organization explains the difference between Russia, which was disqualified from the competition.
According to the video, "While Russia seeks to conquer Ukraine based on a neo-imperialist ideology, Israel's history has been shaped by the struggle to defend itself against antisemitic forces that seek to destroy it."
It also highlights an important technical difference between Israel's public broadcaster and Russia's, which, according to the video, operates more like a state broadcaster than an independent, publicly funded one. Additionally, Russia's entries into the competition were continuously accused of having ties with the Kremlin.
The activist in the video notes that, as opposed to Russia, Israel's competitors are selected by the public and have no clear political affiliation.
In addition, she claims that Israel's public broadcaster, Kan, is critical of the current government and barring it from the contest would help silence a voice against Netanyahu. "This has nothing to do with protesting the right-wing government. Rather, it amounts to withdrawal of solidarity from the left-wing and progressive parts of the Israeli population, who make up the song contest's main audience and have been taking to the streets in Israel to protest their government for years."