Kate Miller-Heidke has reaffirmed she stands by her decision to perform at the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest as a dozen pro-Palestinian activists attempted to block the entrance to the opening ceremony in Tel Aviv on Sunday.
Protesters have been calling on the 41 artists competing at the world’s biggest singing competition to boycott this year’s event since Israel won the right to host the event after Netta Barzilai’s win last year in Lisbon.
Musicians including Miller-Heidke have been targeted by a social media campaign led by Pink Floyd’s Roger Waters in the months leading up to this week’s contests.
Most of the artists have wrestled with the complexities of performing at an entertainment event initiated in 1956 to bring harmony to a divided Europe as the intractable tensions between Israel and Palestine continue to rage.
“It is difficult. I thought deeply about the decision to come here and I stand by that decision now,” Miller-Heidke said on the orange carpet at the opening ceremony in Tel Aviv this morning (AEST).
“I think Eurovision was created in a spirit of togetherness, the spirit of breaking down barriers between people and using the power of music and art to come together and be open to it and I’m glad I’m here.”
Read the article by Kathy McCabe, National Music Writer in PerthNow.