As Israel's Eurovision winner, Barzilai represents the state and participates in the Israeli government's rebranding efforts to perpetuate a false sense of normalcy, while whitewashing its violations of Palestinian human rights and international law.
Israel overtly uses culture as a form of propaganda to whitewash, justify or distract from its regime of occupation, settler-colonialism and apartheid over the Palestinian people.
PACBI's call for a cultural boycott of Israel is strictly institutional, meaning it targets Israeli institutions for their complicity in Israel's oppression of Palestinians. Anchored in precepts of international law and universal human rights, the BDS movement, including PACBI, rejects on principle boycotts of individuals based on their identity (such as citizenship, race, gender, or religion) or opinion.
If, however, an individual is representing the state of Israel or a complicit Israeli institution, or is commissioned/recruited to participate in Israel’s efforts to 'rebrand' itself, then her/his activities are subject to the institutional boycott called for by the BDS movement. Cultural ambassadors are not simply individuals; they are official representatives of Israel’s regime of occupation and apartheid.
As Eurovision winner for Israel, Netta Barzilai is a representative of Israel and a cultural ambassador of its regime of occupation and apartheid. She has clearly been recruited to participate in Israel’s rebranding efforts. Both these conditions make her events boycottable, as they are part of Israel’s efforts to perpetuate a false sense of normalcy, while whitewashing its violations of Palestinian human rights and international law...