Roger Waters insta a los artistas a boicotear el Festival de Eurovisión en Israel

Roger Waters, ex líder de Pink Floyd y uno de los defensores más vocales del boicot cultural contra Israel, ha pedido a los artistas que participan en la Eurovisión 2019 en Tel Aviv que boicoteen el evento por el trato que Israel da a los palestinos.

Israel ganó el derecho a organizar el evento luego de que la canción “Toy” de Netta Barzilai saliera victoriosa durante la competencia del año pasado. La final de la competencia se llevará a cabo el 18 de mayo en Expo Tel Aviv.

En una carta abierta, dirigida a los 41 finalistas del prestigioso concurso de canciones, que se publicó el lunes en la cuenta de Instagram de Waters, el músico de 75 años escribió que Israel es un régimen de “apartheid”, responsable de la “limpieza étnica” de las comunidades palestinas.

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ARE YOU THE ONE? AN OPEN LETTER TO CONAN OSIRIS AND THE OTHER 41 FINALISTS FOR THE EUROVISION SONG CONTEST. A few days ago, I wrote a private letter to a young talented Portuguese singer, Conan Osiris. He had just won the right to represent Portugal in the @eurovision song contest final, and was reported as saying he wasn’t sure if he would go to Tel Aviv or not. I listened to his song, and then got a translation of the lyrics it was about using his cell phone to ask questions about life and death and love. It was quite deep. I was told by friends that Conan Osiris might join the vast network of artists who are heeding the Palestinian call to boycott Eurovision in apartheid Tel Aviv. So I wrote and suggested to him that here he had an opportunity to speak up for life over death and also for human rights over human wrongs. How? By standing shoulder to shoulder, with his oppressed brothers and sisters in Palestine. He could show solidarity with the 189 un-armed protestors shot to death by Israel’s snipers in Gaza last year alone, including at least 35 children. But how could our brother Conan stand up? By refusing to join the cultural whitewash of what a recent UN report calls Israel’s war crimes and possible crimes against humanity, by refraining from providing his art to art-wash Israel’s systematic ethnic cleansing of the indigenous Palestinian communities to expand and maintain its apartheid state. Conan can refuse to perform in front of the segregated audience in Tel Aviv at the Eurovision song contest finals this coming May. In my letter I explained that Eurovision could be a tipping point, I appealed to Conan to stand up and be counted. Sadly, until now, there is no reply from Conan. There is news though, reliable sources tell me that young Conan has been personally approached and persuaded to go to the finals by an organization called Creative Community for Peace (CCfP). Ahhhh! For anyone who doesn’t know, CCfP has been exposed as an offshoot of the far-right Israeli government backed propaganda organizations “Stand With Us” and “The Israel Emergency Fund”. Read more at http://facebook.com/rogerwaters

A post shared by Roger Waters (@rogerwaters) on Mar 16, 2019 at 12:52pm PDT

Waters es un crítico del Estado judío desde hace mucho tiempo, y como activista del movimiento Boicot, Desinversión y Sanciones (BDS), con frecuencia ha pedido a los artistas que se abstengan de venir a Tierra Santa.

En septiembre pasado, el ex cantante de Pink Floyd fue uno de los más de 100 artistas de todo el mundo que llamó a boicotear la Eurovisión en Israel.

En una carta publicada por el periódico británico The Guardian, docenas de músicos, actores, cineastas y directores dijeron que apoyaban el boicot de los artistas palestinos contra el concurso, ya que Israel “viola los derechos humanos de los palestinos“.

“Hasta que los palestinos puedan disfrutar de la libertad, la justicia y la igualdad de derechos, no debería haber una relación habitual con el Estado que les está negando sus derechos básicos”, se lee en la carta.

“Eurovisión 2019 debería ser boicoteada si es recibida por Israel mientras continúa con sus graves y antiguas violaciones de los derechos humanos de los palestinos“, continúa la carta.