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Protesters gathered outside RTÉ headquarters in Donnybrook, calling for a boycott of this year’s Eurovision Song Contest.
Singers, musicians, artists and activists took part in the protest organised by the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign (IPSC).
It featured a “die-in” by health workers in scrubs depicting the Eurovision as a contest which it said was actively “art-washing” Israel’s war crimes.
Spokesperson Bronagh O’Brien said there was still time for RTÉ to pull out of the competition, to be held in the Swedish city of Malmo next week, saying Israel’s participation made it unacceptable for Ireland take part.
“In 2022, Russia and Belarus were banned,” she said.
“The Eurovision Song Contest explained they had values of democracy, solidarity and unity and we are hoping that they would apply those same principles to the people of Palestine and ban Israel from the 2024 Eurovision.
“Our concern is the art-washing. Israel is an apartheid state, committing genocide upon the Palestinian people in Gaza, by them taking part in the Eurovision Song Contest it normalises what they’re doing on a global stage- that’s not acceptable.”
Actor Stephen Rea read the poem ‘If I Must Die’ by Palestinian poet Refaat Alareer and singers Mary Coughlan and Hothouse Flowers frontman Liam Ó Maonlaí were among those who performed at the event.
In a statement, Irish Boycott Eurovision 2024 Coalition spokesperson and IPSC chair, Zoe Lawlor said: “Israel’s President Yitzhak Herzog has stated ‘it’s important for Israel to appear in Eurovision’.
“We say the opposite. It’s vital to exclude the genocidal apartheid state of Israel from this global cultural platform.
“Ireland has shown the way in the 1980s in exposing the crimes of apartheid South Africa.
“It can do the same now, by withdrawing its participation, and standing on the side of humanity, equality and human rights.”
The IPSC has written to RTÉ Director General Kevin Bakhurst and the RTÉ Board, asking them to respect the boycott request.
The European Broadcasting Union allowed Eden Golan to represent Israel with her song “Hurricane”, a rewritten version of another song that was considered too political for its references to the 7 October Hamas attack on Israel.
The Eurovision semi-finals take place in Malmo next Tuesday and Thursday, 7 and 9 May, with the final on Saturday week, 9 May.
Israel issues travel warning for Malmo
Israel has urged citizens to avoid travelling to Malmo ahead of the Eurovision Song Contest, citing “credible concerns” of attacks.
The travel advisory said that amid “anti-Israel protests” and “calls to harm Jews and Israelis”, there are concerns “that terrorist factions will take advantage of the demonstrations and the anti-Israel atmosphere to execute attacks on Israelis coming to Sweden for the Eurovision”.
Israel’s National Security Council advised citizens planning to travel to Malmo during the contest to reconsider their plans.
The security council raised the travel alert for the city from level 2 (potential threat) to level 3 (moderate threat) without changing alert levels for the rest of Sweden.
Authorities in Malmo have promised heightened security for this year’s song contest, where at least half a dozen applications have been filed for demonstration permits to protest against the Israeli presence at the competition.
Israeli media reported that Shin Bet, the country’s internal security service, advised its act, Eden Golan, a 20-year-old Russian-Israeli, to stay in her room for the duration of her stay in the city.
Additional reporting AFP
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