Hi everyone,
I am writing to ask you all to submit a brief, polite email to RTÉ stating your support for Israel’s hosting of Eurovision 2019 and Ireland’s participation in the competition. If you wish, add your reasons for opposing a boycott (Eurovision is a non-political event, singling out Israel as a target of cultural boycotts will not further peace between Israel and Palestine, etc.)
Israel will host Eurovision 2019 from 14-18 May
Background
As you all know, since Israel won the 2018 Eurovision with Netta’s “Toy”, there has been pressure on Eurovision organisers to withdraw hosting rights from Israel for the 2019 Eurovision. When that failed, boycotters targetted national broadcasters, attempting to convince them not to participate in the 2019 event.
At the time of writing, an Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign petition to RTÉ for a boycott of Eurovision 2019 has gathered some 10,700 signatures. The IPSC continues to solicit its members to write to RTÉ calling for a boycott.
Their latest complaints relate to the allocation by KAN, the Israeli broadcaster, of 500 rehearsal tickets to IDF soldiers, and expectations that the traditional ‘visual postcards’ broadcast during the show will include images from the Golan Heights and the Old City of Jerusalem.
Email details
You should send your emails to the following addresses, which include members of the Executive Board of RTÉ and general contact addresses:
dee.forbes@rte.ie
frances.abeton@rte.ie
eimear.cusack@rte.ie
jim.jennings@rte.ie
adrian.lynch@rte.ie
breda.okeeffe@rte.ie
richard.waghorn@rte.ie
jon.williams@rte.ie
complaints@rte.ie
newsonline@rte.ie
info@rte.ie
entertainmentonline@rte.ie
It is really important to counter the negative message that RTÉ is receiving from the boycott campaigners and demonstrate that Irish citizens support sending an Ireland representative to Tel Aviv in May for Eurovision 2019.
Thanking you in advance for your efforts,
Jackie Goodall
