Eurovision Artwashing Apartheid : Israel 2019

Israel is expected to host the Eurovision Song Contest in May 2019, following Netta Barzilai’s win at the 2018 edition. Israel is shamelessly using Eurovision as part of its official Brand Israel Strategy which presents  “Israel’s prettier face” to whitewash and distract attention from its war crimes against Palestinians.

Israel massacred 62 Palestinians in Gaza, including six children just two days after its 2018 Eurovision win. That same evening, Netta Barzilai performed a celebratory concert in Tel Aviv, hosted by the mayor, and said, “We have a reason to be happy.”

And Shortly after her win, Barzilai said she looked forward to the world seeing “the Israeli carnival” when Jerusalem hosts the contest next year. People will see “how wonderful we are, what a vibe we have. Best people… the best place in the world.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has called Barzilai “the best ambassador of Israel,” underlining his far-right government’s art-washing agenda.

Inspired by conscientious artists who shunned Sun City in apartheid South Africa in the 1980s, Palestinian artists and cultural organizations have called for nonviolent pressure in the form of boycotts on Israel until it complies with its obligations under international law.

Last year alone Israel killed 290 Palestinians and injured more than 20,000, including thousads shot with live sniper fire. Most of these fatalites and injuries took place in the Gaza Strip, where Palestinians have been demonstratng for the end of Israel's criminal siege and for the right to return to the homes that they have been expelled from since 1947.

Israel effectively declared itself an apartheid state by adopting the "Jewish Nation-State Law." last year, Palestinian citizens are now constitutionally denied equal rights, further enshrining racist discrimination aginst Palestinians with Israeli citizenship. Against this backdrop of escalating brutality and entrenched apartheid. Israel is desperate for new ways to whitewash its violations of Palestinian human rights.  

Straight out of apartheid South Africa’s propaganda playbook, Israel uses the arts to explicitly deflect growing condemnations of its violations of Palestinian human rights. Israel is using Eurovision to art-wash its egregious crimes against the Palestinian people..

Watched by 186  million people last  year Eurovision is a hugely popular televised event. But already, hundreds of prominent artists including former finalists and one winner, legendary artists, trade unions and political parties. have supported the Palestinians call to boycott the contest, if hosted by Israel regardless of its location.
In September, about 140 artists, including musicians, writers, actors, directors, novelists, and poets,  including six Israeli artists, signed a letter calling for the boycott of the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest
.https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2018/sep/07/boycott-eurovision-song-contest-hosted-by-israel
The letter  demanded the song contest should be boycotted if it is “hosted by Israel while it continues its grave, decades-old violations of Palestinian human rights.”
“Until Palestinians can enjoy freedom, justice and equal rights, there should be no business-as-usual with the state that is denying them their basic rights," the letter said.
And tens of thousands of people have signed petitions urging  broadcasters and participants to refuse to go.

 The European Broadcasting Union has since written to the Israeli prime minister requesting that "visitors to Israel be allowed to travel anywhere without restrictions regardless of their political opinions or sexual orientation, and that [Israeli public broadcaster] Kan have complete freedom in editing the broadcast".

However, some have dubbed this a pointless demand given that it is a request that concerns itself only with the contest, and not on lifting the systematic repression placed upon Palestinians and vocal supporters of their liberation all year round.

Even if Netanyahu agrees, the contest would be taking place in a country that continues to colonise Palestinians through an illegal occupation, regular house demolitions, discriminatory laws, and its deadly blockade.

How can an event like the Eurovision Song Contest, despite its slogan of “Dare to Dream,” not be deemed complicit with the subjugation of Palestine by allowing Israel to play host?
This year will be the fifty-second year of the occupation of Palestine, and is unlikely to be the last. Let us do more than just dare to dream of a free Palestine but work towards it and support it in whatever way we can. The normalisation of Israeli Apartheid is part of a broader structure of erasure and violence.. We must refuse to be complicit. Until Palestine is free.
Join more than 35,000 people and sign the petition to boycott Eurovision hosted by Israel!
In Solidarity.

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.