We, the undersigned residents of Europe and beyond, call on members of the European Broadcasting Union – our public broadcasters – to withdraw from the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest hosted by Israel, to avoid being complicit in Israel’s ongoing violations of Palestinian human rights.
We support the many prominent artists, including former contestants, who have endorsed the appeal of Palestinian artists and journalists to turn their backs on Eurovision 2019.
We urge songwriters and performers to boycott the 2019 contest hosted by Israel just as they once boycotted the apartheid regime in South Africa.
Background
Just days after Israel’s Eurovision win, Israeli forces massacred 62 Palestinians in Gaza, including six children, as they demonstrated for freedom and refugee rights. Since the Great Return March protests began on March 30th 2018, at least 205 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in the besieged Gaza Strip. More than 18,000 others have been injured, including thousands shot with live fire.
Israeli lawmakers recently formalised apartheid in Israel’s basic laws, with the “Jewish nation state law” giving the system of racial discrimination against Palestinians a constitutional mandate. Meanwhile, Israel’s apartheid regime works to present Israel’s “prettier face” by art-washing its decades-old oppression and dispossession of Palestinians.