GAZA, Thursday, May 09, 2019 (WAFA) – Palestinian artists called on international contestants and singers participating in the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest to boycott Israel, the country hosting the event next week, said the Palestinian Artists Association.
The Gaza-based association said during a sit-in protest outside the European Union‘s office in Gaza that Israel is using the event to "perpetuate oppression, promote injustice or whitewash a brutal apartheid regime," citing the killing of 60 Palestinians during Gaza border protests on May 14 of last year, which is also the same day Israeli singer Netta won the Eurovision contest.
Shortly after US pop singer Madonna announced that she will be performing at the 2019 Eurovision in Israel, pro-Palestinian groups and organizations such as Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) and Jewish Voice For Peace called on the 60-year-old artist to cancel her performance, stressing that her star-power will help cover up Israel‘s abuses against the Palestinians.
Similarly, musician Roger Waters, one of the founding members of the progressive rock band Pink Floyd, urged Madonna in an open letter published in The Guardian to read the Declaration of Human Rights, attempting to convince her to cancel her performance.
The 64th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest for the year 2019 will be held in Tel Aviv from May 14 through 18, the same time when Palestinians mark the Nakba (catastrophe) Day marking the 71st anniversary for their dispersion following Israel’s creation on their usurped homeland.
K.T./M.K.
