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Saturday, July 7, 2018
Irish artists and activists have launched a campaign to boycott the Eurovision Song Contest next year, to be held in Israel.
Celebrities from the world of arts join forces Human rights activists are calling on Ireland not to send an entry to the song contest.
Organized by the Irish Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC), the campaign was launched at Dublin's famous HaPenny Bridge
. Boycott support was signed by nearly 3,500 people. The Union of Musicians of Ireland and Irish Equity, the syndicate of actors, also supports this call.
Among the protesters, the Irish artist and Riverdance scenographer, Robert Ballagh, said: "I have always supported the rights of the Palestinian people and I am very concerned about the fact that I 'm still in trouble. Israeli state will use the possibility of organizing Eurovision in Jerusalem as an exercise in propaganda and that I become uncomfortable when a state will start using culture as a propaganda tool.
[19659006] "I want to ask RTE not to send an Irish song to the contest."
Irish Senator David Norris said that it was "inappropriate" to hold an entertainment contest in Israel.
: "The Dum-dum bullets, which spread in the wound and create appalling wounds, are used against children in Gaza."
"I think it's very inappropriate to have an entertainment there when all that happens in couple of miles away. I think people will be careful if Ireland withdraws because it has such a story in the song contest.
"He is loved by many people around the world but many people would be sensitive to it."
"This is nothing against the woman who won the contest but it's against having it in this country that behaves"
The Irish artist Felim Egan, who was involved in sending aid flotillas to Gaza, said that he was detained for nine days in an Israeli prison when he tried to get into the country several years ago 19659006] "I have heard stories about the daily lives of people in Gaza and their resilience is remarkable given the conditions in which they live," he said. No water, no sanitation and these are all deliberate actions on the part of the Israelis. "
" The further we will be behind the campaign, the better. We should not let it go. "
The former Eurovision host, Carrie Crowley, said she wanted to help sensitize the people of Gaza.
Crowley, who co-hosted the show in Dublin in 1997, said: the resonance with the situation in Palestine for the Irish people because in our past we were deprived of their rights and supported by a higher power. "We understand what it is that d & # 39; 39 to be expelled from the houses, to lose our land and our possessions and to be oppressed by a higher power. I want to educate Palestinians about the situation.
Photo: Celebrities and public figures launch the Irish boycott campaign of Eurovision 2019 to be held in Israel at Ha'Penny Bridge in Dublin. (Niall Carson / PA)
Tags: activists, union actors, artists, boycott, campaign, Carrie Crowley, contest, David Norris, Dublin, entertainment, Eurovision, Eurovision host, Eurovision Song Contest, Felim Egan, Gaza, Ha # 39; penny Bridge, host, IPSC, Ireland, Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Irish, Irish Equity, Irish Senator, Israel, Jerusalem, Union of Musicians of Ireland, Palestine, Palestinian, petition, prison, propaganda, Riverdance, Robert Ballagh, RTE, scenographer, song, song contest
Nick Benson
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