Irish TV host Mike Murphy and former Eurovision winner Charlie McGettigan have joined politicians in calling for Ireland to boycott next year’s song contest in Israel.
Broadcaster Murphy claimed Ireland needs to make a stand in support of the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement, the Irish Mirror reports.
He added: “I think this is an opportunity now where boycott comes right into it, and this is where we need to stand up and be counted and say, ‘We’re not competing’.”
Eurovision winner Charlie McGettigan has also called for Ireland to boycott the 2019 edition, due to be staged in the capital Jerusalem.
He told Joe Duffy on RTE Radio One: “It was dreadful seeing [Israel prime minister] Netanyahu and the Trumps celebrating while people are dead.
“It’s a chance for the whole of Europe who are involved in Eurovision to say, ‘Look, we don’t agree with this’.”
McGettigan’s call was welcomed by pro-Palestinian activists:
Two European Parliament lawmakers from Ireland have also expressed support for boycotting Israel after Netta Barzilai’s sensational win.
Lynn Boylan of Ireland’s far-left Sinn Féin party wrote on Twitter: “Israel wins Eurovision so let’s make BDS more successful than ever in 2019,” wrote Boylan on Twitter, adding an image of a clenched fist.
Nessa Childers, another Irish lawmaker for the Party of European Socialists, retweeted Boylan’s message, adding the word: “This!” She later wrote: “Jerusalem? The mind boggles. I thought Tel Aviv.”
Elsewhere, the Iceland-Palestine organisation has urged voters to head to an online petition urging the country to boycott Eurovision 2019.
The petiton currently has just over 23,000 supporters.
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