The anti-Israel boycott movement has set its sights on the 2019 Eurovision pop song competition, which is scheduled to take place in Jerusalem, after Israeli singer Netta Barzilai won this year's event in Lisbon.
On Friday, over 100 artists signed an open letter that ran in Britain's Guardian newspaper and called to boycott the event if it took place in Israel as planned. Some of the better-known signatories to the letter include former Pink Floyd frontman Roger Waters – a prominent pro-Palestinian activist; directors Mike Lee and Ken Loach; and musician Brian Eno.
Most of the artists were from Europe, but six Israeli artists also put their names to the letter: musicians Aviad Albert, Michal Sapir, Ohal Greitzer, Yonatan Shapira, Danielle Ravitzki and visual artist David Opp.
"We, the undersigned artists from Europe and beyond, support the heartfelt appeal from Palestinian artists to boycott the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 hosted by Israel. 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 read.
"Eurovision 2019 should be boycotted if it is hosted by Israel. … We understand that the European Broadcasting Union is demanding that Israel finds a 'non-divisive' location for the 2019 Eurovision. It should cancel Israel's hosting of the contest altogether," the letter read.
Meanwhile, despite the Eurovision tradition that the competition takes place in the capital city of the country that produced the previous year's winner, it appears increasingly likely that the 2019 contest will be held in Tel Aviv rather than in Jerusalem.
