I’m a huge Eurovision fan.
I discovered it through my husband in 2014 – when I was amazed that a bearded drag queen like Conchita Wurst could win – and have been obsessed with the camp, the spectacle and the music ever since.
Each year, we normally host a viewing party at home and we even travelled to Stockholm in 2016 to watch the show live – the year Ukraine’s Jamala won with 1944, a song which alluded to the Russian annexation of Crimea.
But sadly, I have decided I won’t be able to watch the contest this year.
My decision came about after the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) – a founding member of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement – urged broadcasters, national competitors, finalists, production crews, and viewers in March to boycott the contest due to Israel’s inclusion.
With over 34,000 people killed in Gaza – majority of them women and children – in the last seven months, I couldn’t agree more with this path of action.
Grassroots movements across Europe applied significant pressure to the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) to drop Israel from the competition – both before the country announced its act, Eden Golan, and after.
Coalitions of thousands of artists in Finland, the Netherlands, Iceland, Portugal, Norway, Ireland, Belgium, Sweden, the UK, and elsewhere joined the call.
Unfortunately, it seems to have been ignored, with the EBU claiming in February that Eurovision is ‘non-political’.
But how can they claim that when Russia was swiftly – and justifiably – barred from the competition in 2022 after its invasion of Ukraine? Russia has not been back in the competition since, which is clear to me to be a decision informed by politics.
And yet Israel has been allowed to remain in the competition, despite carrying out what leading experts – like Francesca Albanese, the United Nations’ Special Rapporteur on human rights in the Occupied Territories – call a ‘crime of genocide’.
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And so, because the EBU will not remove Israel, I have decided to join in calls for the boycott.
I was planning to host a big ticketed screening party in Dalston – with around 800 people in an auditorium screaming and cheering along – but I have since cancelled it.
I’m very sad to be missing one of my favourite events of the year – and also feeling the effects financially by missing the work it would have provided – but it feels much more important and urgent to stand in solidarity with the people of Gaza.
In my opinion, Israel’s inclusion in the competition is pinkwashing at its finest.
If you’re unfamiliar with the term, pinkwashing is a propaganda strategy that cynically exploits LGBTQ+ rights to project a progressive image, while concealing less popular actions.
As reported in The New York Times in 2011, Aeyal Gross – a professor of law at Tel Aviv University – argued that ‘gay rights have essentially become a public-relations tool’. It came after revelations that the tourism board of Tel Aviv had reportedly begun a campaign of around $90million (£71.5million) to brand the city as ‘an international gay vacation destination’.
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As an event with a huge gay audience, Eurovision fits perfectly into this campaign.
Israel seems to understand the cultural power of pinkwashing and the opportunity this competition represents to polish their international reputation with a sparkly pop performance. They even won the competition in 2018 with Netta’s song, Toy.
I believe Israel knows Eurovision can help to restore its image, which is why the country’s president Isaac Herzog said in February: ‘It is important for Israel to appear in Eurovision’.
This is why a boycott is more important than ever.
Earlier this year, I co-signed an open letter, along with hundreds of other queer artists, encouraging Olly Alexander – the UK’s entrant this year – to join us in boycotting. Olly is someone I really respect and who I’ve typically agreed with on political issues, but he’s completely missed the mark in this case.
He posted a letter signed by eight of this year’s other acts saying they ‘stand in solidarity with the oppressed’ and ‘believe in the unifying power of music’ and so have decided to remain in the competition. I feel this is a completely anaemic statement that says nothing.
Imagine the impact it would have made (and the solidarity shown) if all these artists had withdrawn instead.
I empathise with his predicament – I have no idea about Olly’s contract with the EBU, what repercussions he might have faced had he pulled out, and it’s not fair that this amazing career opportunity is being tarnished by things outside of his control. That said, I’m also very disappointed in his completely milquetoast statement, and would argue that doing the right thing when it’s hard is much more important than doing it when it’s easy.
That’s why I would urge Olly to reconsider – it’s not too late to make a huge statement and use his platform for real good.
Some people have argued that boycotting Eurovision has no real impact on the plight of Palestinians. This ignores that it is a group of Palestinian academics and leaders itself that has led calls for boycott the contest and therefore denies their agency.
It is also one of the key ways we can make our voices heard.
The power of boycotting was proven in South Africa, where it was one of the key levers that helped end apartheid. From being barred from sporting events, to musicians refusing to play in the country, to UK businesses refusing to import South African goods.
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And so, a concerted effort to exert pressure on Israel – financially, culturally and politically – is the best chance we have as everyday people of making a difference.
Eurovision is one small part of this movement, but represents an important opportunity to highlight the war, the hypocrisy of Israel’s inclusionand to maintain pressure on western governments.
As queer people, we should not allow our dearest cultural institutions to be used to provide cover for Israel’s actions, which have been met with allegations of genocide.
I believe that the Palestinian people have a right to life, autonomy and self-determination. Until those rights are recognised, we should do everything we can to protest.
So please consider joining the boycott of the Eurovision Song Contest.
And if you need to fill the Eurovision-shaped hole, you could copy my bootleg version.
I’ll be at home playing a selection of previous year’s songs with a group of friends, offering our own Graham Norton-esque commentary, and orchestrating our own ‘live’ vote.
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Follow Metro’s Eurovision 2024 live blog as the final gets underway
Do you have a story you’d like to share? Get in touch by emailing jess.austin@metro.co.uk.
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