Former member of the rock group Pink Floyd, Roger Waters, appealed to all participants of this year's Eurovision Song Contest, which will be held in May in Tel Aviv, to boycott it.
The rock star, singer, guitarist, bassist, songwriter and composer and supporter of the boycott, divestment and sanctions movement against Israel called on the contestants to "stand side by side with the Palestinians", Israeli media reported.
In an open letter to Portuguese competitor Conan Osiris "who was told he was unsure whether or not he would go to Tel Aviv", Waters wrote that he "had the opportunity to speak about life beyond death and also about human rights versus human errors" and called him to "refuse to join the cultural cover-up of what a recent UN report called Israel's war crimes and possible crimes against humanity."
"He can show solidarity with the 189 unarmed protesters who were killed by Israeli snipers last year alone, including 35 children," Waters said, alluding to data released in February by the United Nations Independent Commission of Inquiry into protests on the Gaza border last year.
The UN Human Rights Council Commission stated that most of the Palestinian protesters killed by Israeli forces, 154 of them, were unarmed. The report was dismissed by several Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Waters wrote that the Portuguese could refuse to compete and said Israel was oppressing the Palestinians, accusing the country of systematic ethnic cleansing.
In January, he appealed to the BBC not to broadcast the Eurovision Song Contest in Tel Aviv.
Waters appealed to the BBC to insist that the competition be held elsewhere because of "Israel's systematic violation of Palestinian human rights".
Bonus video:
