Austria may withdraw from hosting Eurovision 2026 if Israel is excluded

The chancellor of Austria is pressuring its public broadcaster and the city of Vienna not to host next year’s Eurovision Song Contest if Israel is excluded. The potential withdrawal from hosting the competition comes as several countries, including Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Spain and Iceland, have announced they will not participate in next year’s competition […]

Continue Reading

László Krasznahorkai, grim Hungarian author whose family hid Jewish roots, wins literature Nobel

This year’s Nobel Prize for literature was awarded to a Hungarian writer whose work offers bleak visions of existence, and whose father hid his Jewish ancestry from him for much of his childhood. László Krasznahorkai, the 71-year-old novelist and screenwriter, achieved international acclaim for formally daring books like “Satantango” and “The Melancholy of Resistance,” as […]

Continue Reading

As Slovenia takes a hard line against Israel, its tiny Jewish community feels increasingly isolated

LJUBLJANA, Slovenia — In June 2024, Slovenia’s parliament voted to recognize a Palestinian state only one week after Spain, Ireland and Norway had taken that dramatic step. Half a year later, Slovenian public broadcaster RTV — citing the ongoing war in Gaza—became the first in Europe to demand Israel’s exclusion from the 2025 Eurovision Song […]

Continue Reading

In Saudi Arabia, Dave Chappelle jokes that ‘I stand with Israel’ would be his code for censorship

During his controversial set at the Riyadh Comedy Festival in Saudi Arabia, comedian Dave Chappelle joked that he would use the phrase “I stand with Israel” as a code to alert fans he was facing censorship. The state-sponsored show, which took place on Saturday and featured a host of top international comedians, was criticized by […]

Continue Reading