Every year, the country who won the last Eurovision Song Contest gets to host the big pan-European show. Last year, Sweden won the contest with the Loreen song “Tattoo,” which means this year’s Eurovision is set to happen in Malmö this spring. Yesterday, more than 1,000 members of the Swedish music community signed an open letter demanding that the European Broadcasting Union, Eurovision’s governing body, exclude Israel from this year’s contest in response to Israel’s ceaseless, brutal attacks on Gaza.

The open letter was published in the Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet, and the list of signatories includes Robyn, Fever Ray, Viagra Boys, Refused, First Aid Kit, DJ Seinfeld, El Perro Del Mar, Lust For Youth, Say Lou Lou, Ane Brun, Kleerup, the Knife’s Olof Dreijer, and many, many others. Some of the artists who signed the letter have represented Sweden in past Eurovision contests, including Malena Ernman, the opera-singer mother of Greta Thunberg.

The letter, written in Swedish, says, “We believe that by allowing Israel’s participation, the EBU is exhibiting a remarkable double standard that undermines the organization’s credibility… Allowing Israel’s participation undermines not only the spirit of the competition but the entire public service mission. It also sends the signal that governments can commit war crimes without consequences.”

As The Guardian reports, the EBU has already responded to similar petitions from Finnish and Icelandic musicians by saying that it will not exclude Israel. In recent years, the EBU has excluded Russia and Belarus from Eurovision — Russia for its invasion of Ukraine, Belarus for violating press freedom rules. Israel has competed in Eurovision since 1973, and the country has won Eurovision three times, most recently in 2018. Since last October, Israeli forces have killed more than 26,000 people in Gaza