‘Not The Eurovision’ gig for Palestinians to feature Wolf Alice

Mercury Prize-winners Wolf Alice and rapper Mic Righteous are among the acts taking part in the upcoming Not The Eurovision gig in support of Palestinian rights.

Faithless guitarist Dave Randall is also on the bill for Not The Eurovision: Party For Palestine, with other acts set to be announced.

Organised by Palestine Solidarity Campaign, the concert will take place in London on May 18 – the day of the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest in Tel Aviv, Israel.

The organisers have said it is a bid to highlight and protest human rights violations experienced by Palestinians, arguing that Israel is deploying “artwashing” tactics by using Eurovision as a way to mask what they describe as its regime of apartheid and occupation, and put forward a “progressive” image to the world.

The concert is one element of the campaign to boycott the singing competition, led by the global Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) Movement and supported by other organisations including the Palestine Solidarity Campaign in the UK.

As part of the campaign, nearly 40,000 people have signed a petition calling on public broadcasters to withdraw from Eurovision and endorsing the call from artists to boycott the event.

In the wake of BDS calls, We Believe in Israel launched a petition opposing boycotts, addressed to the BBC. It says the undersigned  “welcome and celebrate the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest being held in Tel Aviv, Israel”, and that “Boycotting a cultural event that celebrates international harmony is grotesque.  

Thousands also signed an online petition calling for the European Broadcasting Union to support the planned Eurovision Song Contest.

Huda Ammori, campaigns officer at Palestine Solidarity Campaign, said: “Israel cannot hide military occupation and apartheid behind the glitz and glitter of Eurovision.

“We are organising this gig to show solidarity with the people of Palestine who are having their rights restricted and denied every single day by the Israeli state.

“We are using our voices to amplify their story, and we call on all those who believe in freedom, justice and equality to join us.”

Alia Malak of the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI), said: “The campaign to boycott Eurovision 2019 is growing every day.

“Hundreds of artists and tens of thousands of people across the world have endorsed the call for public broadcasters and artists to withdraw from the event in support of Palestinian rights and against Israel’s blatant artwashing and pinkwashing of apartheid.

“In 2005 Palestinian civil society called on the international community to use non-violent Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions tactics against Israel’s regime of oppression until it ends its illegal occupation and realises the fundamental rights of the Palestinian people – this campaign is one crucial strand of that movement.”