Petition With 6,000 Signatures Calls For Irish Eurovision Entry To Boycott Competition

Campaigners have asked the Irish entry to reconsider performing at the music contest.

Sarah McTernan has been asked by campaigners to boycott the Eurovision Song Contest due to the oppression of Palestine by Israel. The competition is due to be held in Tel Aviv from May 14 to May 18. https://www.instagram.com/p/BxH69WnheuI/ The letter attached to the petition addresses McTernan and reads:

"We call on you not to perform in the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest in Israel. It is a great honour and testament to your talent to be selected to represent Ireland, yet we must ask you to listen to the call from Palestinian artists, journalists and civil society organisations for people of conscience to refuse to take part in the Eurovision Song Contest in Israel due to that state’s oppression of the Palestinian people. We support that call, as do thousands of people in Ireland and internationally, and are respectfully asking that you decline to take part in this year’s Eurovision. While Israel - a state which has repeatedly been accused of war crimes by the United Nations and human rights organisations, and openly boasts of how it uses art and culture to whitewash its crimes - continues its oppression of the Palestinian people, no artist of conscience should participate in this ‘culturewashing’ event. Performing at the Eurovision in Israel is a deeply political act; you will be expected to sing for 500 members of the Israeli military who have had seats reserved by the state. We sincerely hope that you will not countenance performing for a military which just last week was found by a UN Commission of Inquiry to likely have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity by killing deliberately targeting and killing civilians, including children, medics, journalists and disabled people in its attacks on unarmed Palestinian protesters in Gaza."

They added:

"These attacks are ongoing on a daily basis, and it should be unconscionable for any artist representing Ireland to be entertaining members of this military just a few miles down the road. Ireland has a proud tradition of standing with the oppressed and against injustice and we sincerely hope you will take this opportunity to stand on the right side of history by refraining from crossing the Palestinian picket line. It would be a principled stand for freedom, justice, equality and a show of solidarity and empathy with the oppressed."

The petition at time of writing has 6,000 signatures and can be found here.