"In a letter to Ireland’s Eurovision entrant Bambie Thug over 400 artists note the singer’s statement that “my heart has and always will be with the oppressed”. But, they say, “by participating in Eurovision you will be standing with the oppressor”. Palestinians have asked performers to boycott the contest and the artists are asking the Bambie Thug to stand “on the right side of history.”
The letter adds its voice to the more than 16,500 members of the Irish public who have petitioned RTE’s Director General, Kevin Bakhurst, to withdraw Ireland’s participation, in protest at the EBU’s failure to exclude Israel as it perpetrates genocide in Gaza.
The artists’ letter highlights the importance of global events such as Eurovision to Israel’s propaganda efforts, as a vehicle to ‘artwash’ its genocidal crimes against the Palestinians in Gaza which have killed at least 33,000 people, more than 13,500 of them children. ..."
It looks like #Israel is deliberately escalating the whole situation. I mean, striking Iranian targets (with a lot of Syrian 'collateral' damage) in #Damascus and #Aleppo is asking for escalation. It wouldn't surprise me if they do this as a distraction for their crimes in #Gaza, now that multiple Western allies hesitantly start asking questions.
Al Jazeera: Israel’s war on Gaza live: Troops denied leave as Iran threatens revenge
"The Israeli military halts leave for all combat units, calls up reservists, and blocks GPS coordinates in the country as Iran threatens retaliation for deadly strikes on its consulate in Damascus, Syria."
"The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI), a founding member of the #BDS movement, calls for the boycott of #Eurovision 2024.
We urge all participating broadcasters, national competitors, finalists, production crews, and viewers to boycott the contest following the refusal of the organisers, the European Broadcasting Union (#EBU), to ban genocidal #Israel.
Palestinians call on supporters to launch creative, strategic initiatives that can pressure broadcasters to withdraw, and appeal to all participants to refuse to be complicit in the EBU’s whitewash of #apartheid Israel’s genocide against 2.3 million #Palestinians in #Gaza.
Venues and events organisers planning Eurovision screening parties should refuse to do so, and instead hold Apartheid-Free or #Genocide-Free alternative Eurovision events, including teach-ins/workshops/panels about Israel’s cynical #pinkwashing and #artwashing. ..."
And it just continues, if nothing happened yesterday. I didn't suspect otherwise. 😡
Al Jazeera (Maziar Motamedi, Linah Alsaafin): Israel’s war on Gaza live: Israeli army kills 174 amid ICJ ruling
Gaza’s Health Ministry says 174 Palestinians were killed and 310 wounded in the enclave in 24 hours.
Israel intensifies bombings in Gaza, even as the International Court of Justice ordered it to take steps to prevent acts of genocide.
In its highly anticipated interim decision, the court also said it has jurisdiction to rule in South Africa’s genocide case against Israel but did not call for an immediate ceasefire.
Attacks on healthcare facilities continue in southern Gaza, with Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis completely losing power; in Rafah, three people were killed in an attack on a residential home.
At least 26,257 people have been killed and 64,797 wounded in Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7. The death toll in Israel from the October 7 Hamas attacks stands at 1,139.
Tonight Amsterdam rises up in combined support of Palestine and against the fascist Wilders' PVV, which became the largest party in yesterday's general election in the Netherlands
Here's a bit from the march starting at Central station to Dam square, with people chanting:
"From oppression to liberation
We will end the occupation!"
For anybody who wants to silence Palestinian liberation, freedom and equality for all, with misconceptions about "from the river to the sea," here's B'Tselem's about page: https://www.btselem.org/about_btselem
31 Israeli human rights organisations give out an emergency call to the international community - stop the forcible transfer in the West Bank
"We, the undersigned human rights and civil society NGOs in Israel, call on the international community to act urgently to stop the state-backed wave of settler violence which has led, and is leading to, the forcible transfer of Palestinian communities in the West Bank."
"If that weren’t enough, Palestinian slaughter is too often presented ahistorically, untethered to reality: It is not attributed to real steel and missiles, to occupation, to policy. To earn compassion for their dead, Palestinians must first prove their innocence. The real problem with condemnation is the quiet, sly tenor of the questions that accompany it: Palestinians are presumed violent — and deserving of violence — until proved otherwise. Their deaths are presumed defensible until proved otherwise. What is the word of a Palestinian against a machinery that investigates itself, that absolves itself of accused crimes? What is it against a government whose representatives have referred to Palestinians as “human animals” and “wild beasts?” When a well-suited man can say brazenly and unflinchingly that there is no such thing as a Palestinian people?"