Eurovision 2019: Gazavision song contest a stark contrast to glitz in Israel Not far from the kitschy glitz of Eurovision, Palestinian musicians are holding rival song contests on the rubble-strewn streets of Gaza. A series of protest events, one of them dubbed Gazavision, offer a stark contrast — comparing life inside the Gaza blockade to the glittery euro-centric stage just 70 kilometres away in Tel Aviv. Since it was announced Israel would host this year's competition, Palestinians and the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Australia (BDS Australia) movement have called on musicians and broadcasters to shun the event. Madonna faced calls to withdraw from her Eurovision performance, as did Australia's entrant, Kate Miller-Heidke. "I'm pretty sure all the artists have been experiencing the same pressures, the same kind of twitter extremism," she told SBS News in Tel Aviv. External Link: Gazavision was set up as an alternative to Eurovision, hosted in Israel. Gazavision was set up by the Palestinian youth group We Are Not Numbers as an alternative to celebrate emerging musical talent in Gaza. The event showcases six Palestinian artists and asks people to cast their vote for their favourite in a show of defiance against what the group characterises as Israel's "campaign to whitewash and distract attention from its war crimes against Palestinians". External Link: Tweet: Ghada Shoman, 24, has been singing for #Palestine since 2012. She has performed in over a hundred events and once anchored a show of her own, where she was the main singer on stage. One of the artists, 24-year-old Ghada Shoman, explained how her performances had been live-streamed into Jerusalem in the past. "My family is originally from Jerusalem, a home I've never been to," she told We Are Not Numbers. Another competing event, Globalvision, will be broadcast online at the same time as Eurovision, using the motto "Dare to Dream Together". On Tuesday, Palestinian musicians performed at the site of Israeli airstrikes. Hilmi Dabbagh, a Palestinian refugee and co-founder of BDS Australia, described the rival performances as an effort "to raise awareness about the injustice of our cause". In the case of Gazavision, he said, the point was to "look at the asymmetry" of the competing events. "They are singing on rubble in contrast to the fancy modern complex [in Tel Aviv]," he said. He told the ABC he had strong feelings about maintaining Palestinian culture. "The theft is happening on all fronts and that's definitely painful, no-one can take that lightly," he said. Song contest controversy The song contest comes at a sensitive time for the region, with Israel celebrating its independence and Palestinians remembering "Nabka" — or the "catastrophe" that expelled and displaced them in 1948. This time last year 60 people were killed by Israeli forces, and in the past fortnight fighting in Gaza escalated, with the Israeli Prime Minister vowing "massive strik
Eurovision 2019: Gazavision song contest a stark contrast to glitz in Israel Not far from the kitschy glitz of Eurovision, Palestinian musicians are holding rival song contests on the rubble-strewn streets of Gaza. A series of protest events, one of them dubbed Gazavision, offer a stark contrast — comparing life inside the Gaza blockade to the glittery euro-centric stage just 70 kilometres away in Tel Aviv. Since it was announced Israel would host this year's competition, Palestinians and the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions Australia (BDS Australia) movement have called on musicians and broadcasters to shun the event. Madonna faced calls to withdraw from her Eurovision performance, as did Australia's entrant, Kate Miller-Heidke. "I'm pretty sure all the artists have been experiencing the same pressures, the same kind of twitter extremism," she told SBS News in Tel Aviv. External Link: Gazavision was set up as an alternative to Eurovision, hosted in Israel. Gazavision was set up by the Palestinian youth group We Are Not Numbers as an alternative to celebrate emerging musical talent in Gaza. The event showcases six Palestinian artists and asks people to cast their vote for their favourite in a show of defiance against what the group characterises as Israel's "campaign to whitewash and distract attention from its war crimes against Palestinians". External Link: Tweet: Ghada Shoman, 24, has been singing for #Palestine since 2012. She has performed in over a hundred events and once anchored a show of her own, where she was the main singer on stage. One of the artists, 24-year-old Ghada Shoman, explained how her performances had been live-streamed into Jerusalem in the past. "My family is originally from Jerusalem, a home I've never been to," she told We Are Not Numbers. Another competing event, Globalvision, will be broadcast online at the same time as Eurovision, using the motto "Dare to Dream Together". On Tuesday, Palestinian musicians performed at the site of Israeli airstrikes. Hilmi Dabbagh, a Palestinian refugee and co-founder of BDS Australia, described the rival performances as an effort "to raise awareness about the injustice of our cause". In the case of Gazavision, he said, the point was to "look at the asymmetry" of the competing events. "They are singing on rubble in contrast to the fancy modern complex [in Tel Aviv]," he said. He told the ABC he had strong feelings about maintaining Palestinian culture. "The theft is happening on all fronts and that's definitely painful, no-one can take that lightly," he said. Song contest controversy The song contest comes at a sensitive time for the region, with Israel celebrating its independence and Palestinians remembering "Nabka" — or the "catastrophe" that expelled and displaced them in 1948. This time last year 60 people were killed by Israeli forces, and in the past fortnight fighting in Gaza escalated, with the Israeli Prime Minister vowing "massive strik
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