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London: No to Netta’s Artwashing – Boycott Eurovision in Apartheid Israel!

21 November 2018 @ 6:30 pm - 7:30 pm

Wednesday, 21 November
6:30 pm
Heaven
17 Villiers St
London, UK
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/events/328089024441082/

Queers & Allies Against Pinkwashing: No to Netta’s Artwashing! Boycott Eurovision in Apartheid Israel!

Netta Barzilai won the Eurovision contest in 2018 as a representative of the Israeli state. She continues to act as a cultural ambassador for Israel’s regime of occupation and apartheid and is actively promoting the Eurovision competition, which is to be held in Israel next year.

As queers and allies, we say no to the pinkwashing and artwashing of Israel’s crimes, no to Netta’s whitewashing of Israel’s crimes, and no to Eurovision in apartheid Israel.

We’ll be holding a creative protest outside the concert at Heaven nightclub on Wednesday 21 November featuring music, dabke and Palestine solidarity versions of your favourite gay anthems. Come through! Bring flags, placards and energy. #DontToyWithApartheid #BoycottEurovision2019

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Why are we protesting Netta Barzilai’s concert?

Israel systematically denies Palestinians their basic rights. It has done so since its establishment as a Jewish-majority state in 1948, which was only made possible by the premeditated ethnic cleansing (the Nakba) of indigenous Palestinians, who were expelled from their homes and land. This racist violence, dispossession and displacement is ongoing today.

Palestinians have struggled for liberation for more than seven decades, whether living in Israel as second-class citizens, in occupied Gaza and the West Bank (including East Jerusalem) or in the diaspora as refugees.

In 2005, the absolute majority of Palestinian civil society issued a call urging people to support their nonviolent resistance to settler-colonialism, occupation and apartheid. Through the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, we can put pressure on Israel to respect international law and human rights as was done during the international campaign against the apartheid regime in South Africa, led by the Black majority.

The cultural boycott of Israel is strictly institutional, targeting complicity in Israel’s human rights abuses against Palestinians. The BDS movement rejects boycotts of individuals based on their identity or opinion. However, if an individual is representing the state of Israel or recruited for Israel’s rebranding efforts, then their activities are subject to the institutional boycott called for by Palestinians.

Netta Barzilai meets both conditions, making her shows boycottable. More on this here: https://bdsmovement.net/news/netta-barzilai-cultural-ambassador-israels-regime-occupation-and-apartheid

Through its official “Brand Israel” project, the Israeli government uses culture to distract from its serious and consistent violations of international law. Israel also intentionally diverts attention away from its human rights abuses by shamelessly portraying the state as a progressive, gay-friendly tourist destination. This despite Israel’s brutal occupation and apartheid regime subjecting queer Palestinians to the same systematic oppression as all Palestinians. As queers and allies, we say no to efforts to pinkwash and artwash Israeli crimes.

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Who We Are

London Palestine Action acts in solidarity with Palestinians, views the Palestinian liberation struggle as fundamentally an anti-colonial struggle, and supports the BDS movement. It is a core part of LPA’s work to challenge oppression in all its forms. We all have the responsibility to call out oppression–whether Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, or any other form of racism, sexism, homo-/transphobia, ableism, etc.

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More on the Eurovision Campaign

The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israeli (PACBI)’s statement on Netta Barzilai’s cultural ambassadorship: https://bdsmovement.net/news/netta-barzilai-cultural-ambassador-israels-regime-occupation-and-apartheid

Sign and share the Eurovision global petition: https://secure.everyaction.com/p/N3q5tyBFYEqYpvJgTyR8wQ2

To learn more about the Eurovision campaign, go to: https://bdsmovement.net/boycott-eurovision-2019

Details

Date:
21 November 2018
Time:
6:30 pm - 7:30 pm
Event Category:
Website:
https://www.facebook.com/events/328089024441082/

Venue

Heaven
17 Villiers St
London, United Kingdom
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