While the Eurovision Song Contest isn’t appealing to everyone, Israel undoubtedly put on an impressive show for an estimated global audience of 200 million.
In the year since Israel was confirmed as the 2019 host on the back of winning the competition, the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) campaign has run a coordinated effort in multiple countries to intimidate national broadcasters, competing artists and spectators alike to boycott the competition.
They failed.
However, with the eyes of the world on Tel Aviv, some media, particularly in the UK, took this an invitation to give platforms to some of the most vicious and hateful anti-Israel invective.
The narrative created by BDS was picked up by the media which attempted to normalize the view that holding the Eurovision in Tel Aviv was “controversial.” The real controversy was created by the media themselves, particularly the British media.
The Guardian
In the weeks leading up to Eurovision, The Guardian was the place to go for those musicians promoting BDS. Prime among these was Roger Waters, now an icon for Israel haters.
No surprises from Waters who had this to say on April 17 while attacking Madonna’s decision to perform at the Eurovision:
In the context of the current conversation about the location of the Eurovision finals and the participation of Madonna and the other performers, the brothers and sisters in question are the people of Palestine who live under a deeply repressive apartheid regime of occupation and do not enjoy the right to life, liberty and self-determination.
. . .
Some of my fellow musicians who have recently performed in Israel say they are doing it to build bridges and further the cause of peace. Bullshit. To perform in Israel is a lucrative gig but to do so serves to normalise the occupation, the apartheid, the ethnic cleansing, the incarceration of children, the slaughter of unarmed protesters … all that bad stuff.
Fellow musician Brian Eno had already got in on the act on February 18:
What happens when a powerful state uses art as propaganda, to distract from its immoral and illegal behaviour? Everybody involved in the Eurovision song contest this year should understand that this is what is happening.
European broadcasters, including the BBC, are pushing ahead with plans to hold the contest in Tel Aviv this May, as if broadcasting a hugely expensive entertainment spectacle from an actively repressive apartheid-like state is no problem at all.
Later The Guardian treated us to a whiny May 8 opinion piece by Arwa Mahdawi who claims:
One of the most frustrating things about being Palestinian (I’m half-Palestinian myself) is that there seems to be no acceptable way to defend your humanity or protest against your oppression. Calls to boycott Eurovision, for example, have been decried as divisive.
And the icing on the cake for the week of Eurovision itself from Elias Jahshan on May 16:
Incredibly, from the comfort of London where he is based, Jahshan has the gall to claim that Israel discriminates against gay Palestinians:
This year’s Eurovision, often nicknamed the “gay Olympics”, is being held just weeks before Tel Aviv Pride – an annual event where Israel presents itself as a haven for LGBTI expression even though queer Palestinian citizens of Israel do not enjoy the same rights as their Jewish counterparts. In a deep irony for an event supposedly about inclusion, Palestinians from the blockaded West Bank and Gaza, including queer Palestinians, are effectively banned from attending Eurovision.
Palestinian gays are not being prevented from doing anything by Israel on account of their sexual identity and Jahshan is invited to find out just how welcoming and inclusive the Hamas government is towards the Palestinian gay community.
The Independent
The Independent is consistently hostile towards Israel and a look at the comments sections of its Israel coverage and opinion pieces gives an indication as to the rancid readership it tries to appeal to.
The “pinkwashing” theme was also taken up by Haneen Maikey and Hilary Aked in The Independent on March 3:
Hilary Aked was given the platform again on April 10:
Having exhausted the LGBT+ angle, Ohal Grietzer in a particularly hateful piece on May 18 turns to accusing Israel of mistreating Palestinian women:
Israel’s systematic mistreatment of Palestinian women affects them harshly in almost every sphere. When Palestinian women give birth they are regarded as a “demographic threat”. Palestinian women are deprived of their right to family reunification, and are constantly subjected to humiliation and harassment at military checkpoints, where some have been forced to give birth without any medical attention.
The Independent’s Jerusalem correspondent Bel Trew took time out of her busy schedule to spend quality time with the highly politicized Breaking the Silence organization and BDS activists:
The BBC
The Eurovision award for the biggest hypocrites goes to the BBC. The UK’s national broadcaster is also a stalwart of the Eurovision Song Contest with responsibility for the UK’s participation.
So it was also the target of the BDS campaign that called on it not to take part in this year’s event due to its location in Israel. While the BBC didn’t cave in, perhaps some employees felt the need to “balance” the situation. After all, why would one of the BBC’s flagship news programs, Newsnight, feel the urgency to broadcast the rantings of an unknown member of a not very well-known rock band as Primal Scream’s Bobby Gillespie accuses Madonna of being a “total prostitute” for performing in Tel Aviv:
“Madonna would do anything for money"
– Primal Scream's Bobby Gillespie on Madonna performing in Tel Aviv at Eurovision.
Madonna has said she will “never stop playing music to suit someone’s political agenda" https://t.co/dIXMXIzVwU
MORE TONIGHT 22:30#newsnight #Eurovision pic.twitter.com/iRnpJk2TFE
— BBC Newsnight (@BBCNewsnight) May 17, 2019
According to Gillespie:
I think the whole thing is set up to normalize the State of Israel and its disgraceful treatment of the Palestinian people. By going to perform in Israel I think what you do is you normalize that. Madonna would do anything for money.
Normalizing hate
What UK media outlets such as The Independent and The Guardian have done is to normalize hate. While this is arguably nothing new, it is clear that the the BDS campaign against the Eurovision found an easy platform to spread vicious anti-Israel propaganda while at the same time accusing Israel of using the Eurovision to propagandize on its own behalf.
BBC News also couldn’t resist the opportunity to malign Israel even when its own organization was broadcasting Eurovision to millions of British viewers.
Perhaps it’s karma that ultimately, the biggest loser from Eurovision Song Content was the British entry that came in the final position.
