Ultimately I think it's probably much less in the terrain of bullying if putting an event on alienates most of the rest of their regular performing roster to the point where they decide to look elsewhere...
I obviously don’t agree with the venue or the soon-to-be former owners being targeted in this way - if this is ultimately about Palestine then use that energy to do something that will actually help Palestinians. I do think there is a point in what Penny says above though. Ultimately, there are a group of regular performers that thought the RVT as a venue shared their values, the RVT had shown them otherwise, and that has implications for their future relationship to that venue and therefore their career and income. They are probably also thinking about the fact that they themselves could come under fire in future if they continue to perform in the venue.
I sort of empathise with that in the sense that during my more melodramatic moments last weekend, I felt betrayed by the EBU’s decision to keep Israel in the contest this year, including selfishly in terms of how that reflects on the fans. I saw a quite a few people on social media talk in very negatively about Eurovision as a result of this year’s situation - but more often than not these people are usually casual “watch-the-final-each-year-and-then-forget-about-it” types who can hardly be described as making much of a sacrifice by boycotting.
The particular challenge for me is that this cohort represents quite a lot of my wider social circle - at least in terms of that i’ve seen people say online. There is no real recognition that fans like myself are probably the ones who were the most disappointed by it all and standing to lose the most from it. Eurovision is not just one of the things that keeps me going from year to year, but is also a massive source of community for me. To boycott Eurovision, especially if the expectation is to do that in the longer term, is to ask me to make my world a much lonelier place. Although I didn’t watch this year, I made a point of making clear to all of my superfan friends that this was a personal choice and I didn’t judge anyone who was watching or who had travelled to Malmö.
Unfortunately I think the ire and stigma directed towards Eurovision will remain, at least in the near future, and certainly as long as Israel are still competing... and it is hard because to be honest I agree with them in the sense I too want Israel out of the contest and honestly blame their government, broadcasters and the EBU for putting Eurovision fans in this position, but I think it is unfair to to stigmatise fans over something they have no control over (I’ve never judged Harry Potter fans, for example, because it isn’t their fault Joanne is a cunt). I also think the messages Kala describes getting are absolutely ludicrous - fans should always be able to organise things to enjoy and celebrate something they love. Surely they credit you with enough sense to not be dropping a pills and poppers mix of Hurricane!
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I assume that Bulgarian Twitter account will tweet some veiled comment shortly so we can move on to the next phase of this part of the season