Madonna is slated to perform during the finals of the Eurovision song competition next month.
By ILANIT CHERNICKFILE PHOTO: British rock star Roger Waters walks along the Israeli barrier in the West Bank city of Bethlehem(photo credit: REUTERS/AHMAD MEZHIR/FILE PHOTO)
Musician and Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions activist Roger Waters has implored Madonna not to perform in Tel Aviv. Madonna is slated to perform during the finals of the Eurovision song competition next month.In an article published in The Guardian, Waters told Madonna that "if you believe in human rights...don’t play Tel Aviv.""Madonna’s acceptance of an invitation to perform in Tel Aviv at the Eurovision song contest finals in May raises, yet again, fundamentally important ethical and political questions for each and every one of us to contemplate," he wrote."In the context of the current conversation about the location of the Eurovision finals and the participation of Madonna and the other performers, the brothers and sisters in question are the people of Palestine who live under a deeply repressive apartheid regime of occupation and do not enjoy the right to life, liberty and self-determination," Waters continued.. "Some of my fellow musicians who have recently performed in Israel say they are doing it to build bridges and further the cause of peace. Bulls***.""To perform in Israel is a lucrative gig but to do so serves to normalise the occupation, the apartheid, the ethnic cleansing, the incarceration of children, the slaughter of unarmed protesters...all that bad stuff," he added.Waters also acknowledged that he "because I support human rights and criticise the Israeli government for its violations," he is routinely accused of being antisemitic."That accusation can be used as a smokescreen to divert attention and discredit those who shine a light on Israel’s crimes against humanity," he noted.He called on all the Eurovision participants, "young contestants – in fact all young people, in fact all people young and old alike, so that includes Madonna" to read the UN Declaration of Human Rights."It’s been translated into 500 languages so anyone can apprise themselves of its 30 articles. If we all abided by them we might yet save our beautiful planet from its imminent destruction," Waters concluded.
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