A group of Palestinian artists have published a letter in the Irish Times urging all finalists to withdraw from Eurovision 2019 of this year's Eurovision Song Content, due to be held in Tel Aviv. They write:
The Tel Aviv convention centre hosting Eurovision is built atop the ethnically cleansed Palestinian village of al-Shaykh Muwannis. “Eurovision Village”, where fans will celebrate, is located in a park built on top of Manshiya, another of the more than 500 Palestinian localities destroyed and emptied of Palestinians to make way for apartheid Israel.
Just along the coast from Tel Aviv is the besieged Gaza Strip, where Israel has caged two million of us. Most in Gaza are refugees from previous Israeli aggression, and most are children.
Almost no-one and nothing can enter or leave. Israeli snipers, tanks and aircraft killed more than 200 Palestinians here last year, including children, and maimed thousands more.
As Palestinian artists – brutalised, besieged, occupied and exiled – we cannot offer the glitz and glamour of Eurovision. We can offer something much bigger: a place in the history books.
Read the full letter on irishtimes.com.