Reuters reports that Israel has launched a PR campaign to counter calls for a boycott of the upcoming Eurovision Song Contest final in Tel Aviv, using Google ads which refer to the boycott but lead to a glossy website praising Israel.
The international Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement dismissed the tactic as “crude propaganda”.
BDS has called on artists, music fans and broadcasters to avoid the 2019 contest, arguing that it amounts to “whitewashing” Israel’s policies towards Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza. Israel calls international boycotts discriminatory and anti-Semitic.
Internet advertisements on Google featuring the words “boycott” and “Eurovision” encourage searchers to click on a link that, in fact, leads them to a pro-Israel website which – in a play on the BDS initials – extols Israel as “Beautiful, Diverse, Sensational”.
The advertisement makes no obvious mention of the Israeli government. But Israel’s Ministry of Strategic Affairs and Public Diplomacy – which runs the government’s anti-BDS taskforce – confirmed to Reuters that it was behind the campaign “to promote the positive aspects” of Israel.
The website https://boycotteurovision.net went live a fortnight before the Eurovision finals, which are to be staged in Tel Aviv from May 14 to 18.
The row flared up as music fans begin to trickle in to Tel Aviv, and workers put the finishing touches to the music and public venues.
The Eurovision finals – broadcast to around 50 countries – attracted 189 million viewers last year. The event is organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) together with the host broadcaster.
Security was tight during preparations amid fears that activists may seek to disrupt the competition.
Fears were heightened last weekend by a surge of deadly violence between Palestinian militants and Israel, which saw hundreds of rockets fired from Gaza into Israeli towns south of Tel Aviv, and Israel launching air strikes on militant sites.
Israel, like Australia, is one of the non-European nations to take part in Eurovision. It is hosting because Israeli singer Netta Barzilai won in 2018. Malta will be participating with Michela and her song ‘Chameleon’.
Via Reuters
