Arab Reaction To Israeli Participation
In 1978, during the performance of the Israeli entry, the Jordanian broadcaster JRTV suspended the broadcast, and instead showed pictures of flowers. When it became apparent during the later stages of the voting sequence that Israel was going to win the contest, JRTV abruptly ended the transmission. Afterwards, the Jordanian news media refused to acknowledge the fact that Israel had won, and announced that the winner was Belgium (which had actually come in 2nd). By coincidence, Israel didn't broadcast the victory either, as the IBA did not buy enough broadcasting time. The victory was broadcast the next day.
Because of Israel's participation in the Eurovision Song Contest, many Arab states that are eligible to participate decided not to do so. Tunisia, Morocco, and Lebanon are cases in point. Tunisia was about to participate, but decided not to do so in the end; Lebanon was just about to participate in Eurovision Song Contest 2005 when it withdrew (incurring a fine) because Lebanese law does not allow recognition of Israel, and consequently Lebanese television would not transmit any Israeli material – which would have been a violation of EBU's (European Broadcasting Union) rules; and Morocco is so far the only African country that has participated, doing so in Eurovision Song Contest 1980 when Israel wasn't present.
Read more about this topic: Israel In The Eurovision Song Contest
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