The Australian public television network SBS said on Friday it will broadcast the Eurovision Song Contest from Israel next year despite an online petition calling on the broadcaster to boycott the event, The Australian Jewish News reports.
Israel won the right to host Eurovision in 2019 after Netta Barzilai’s victory in this year’s edition of the song contest. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) recently announced that the 2019 contest will take place in Tel Aviv.
There have already been several calls to boycott of next year’s contest due to the fact that Israel will host it. One such call came from Dublin Mayor Micheal Mac Donncha, who said Ireland should boycott the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest in order to show solidarity with the “horrific ordeal of the Palestinian people.”
Another such call came from the Palestinian Authority (PA) “culture minister”, who said that holding the Eurovision in Israel “whitewashes the Israeli occupation” and its violations against the Palestinian people.
In addition, a group of more than 100 artists, including former Pink Floyd member Roger Waters and British composer Brian Eno, published an open letter in the British Guardian newspaper in which they called for a boycott of the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 if it is held in Israel.
However, a spokesperson from SBS told AJN that “SBS will continue to be the exclusive broadcaster of the Eurovision Song Contest in 2019.
“SBS has been the home of Eurovision for 35 years because of the way the contest celebrates diversity and brings different cultures together, united in a common passion for music,” added the spokesperson.
The Australian broadcaster’s announcement came after the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) said that it will participate as planned in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2019, despite the call by many artists to boycott the event.