O Comité Palestina deu ontem a conhecer esta carta de Roger Waters a Conan Osíris.
O SOS Racismo apoia activamente quer a Campanha internacional, quer a nacional (Comité Palestina), pelo que distribuiu a carta e o vídeo que publicamos na integra.
ARE YOU THE ONE?
AN OPEN LETTER TO CONAN OSIRIS AND THE OTHER 41 FINALISTS FOR THE EUROVISION SONG CONTEST.
ARE YOU THE ONE?ARE YOU THE ONE? AN OPEN LETTER TO CONAN OSIRIS AND THE OTHER 41 FINALISTS FOR THE EUROVISION SONG CONTEST. Be the one, Conan. Just do it. Love, Roger
Publicado por Roger Waters em Sábado, 16 de março de 2019
A few days ago, I wrote a private letter to a young talented Portuguese singer, Conan Osiris. He had just won the right to represent Portugal in the Eurovision song contest final, and was reported as saying he wasn’t sure if he would go to Tel Aviv or not. I listened to his song, and then got a translation of the lyrics it was about using his cell phone to ask questions about life and death and love. It was quite deep.
I was told by friends that Conan Osiris might join the vast network of artists who are heeding the Palestinian call to boycott Eurovision in apartheid Tel Aviv. So I wrote and suggested to him that here he had an opportunity to speak up for life over death and also for human rights over human wrongs. How? By standing shoulder to shoulder, with his oppressed brothers and sisters in Palestine. He could show solidarity with the 189 un-armed protestors shot to death by Israel’s snipers in Gaza last year alone, including at least 35 children.
But how could our brother Conan stand up? By refusing to join the cultural whitewash of what a recent UN report calls Israel’s war crimes and possible crimes against humanity, by refraining from providing his art to art-wash Israel’s systematic ethnic cleansing of the indigenous Palestinian communities to expand and maintain its apartheid state.
Conan can refuse to perform in front of the segregated audience in Tel Aviv at the Eurovision song contest finals this coming May.
In my letter I explained that Eurovision could be a tipping point, I appealed to Conan to stand up and be counted. Sadly, until now, there is no reply from Conan.
There is news though, reliable sources tell me that young Conan has been personally approached and persuaded to go to the finals by an organization called Creative Community for Peace (CCfP).
Ahhhh! For anyone who doesn’t know, CCfP has been exposed as an offshoot of the far-right Israeli government backed propaganda organizations “Stand With Us” and “The Israel Emergency Fund”. It has nothing to do with creativity, community or peace. It’s a front for Israeli apartheid and military occupation. See this link from Jewish Voice for Peace, a fast-growing, creative organization that really does promote community and peace based on human rights and justice for all.
The Eurovision finals are two months away. Conan, I know how “persuasive” CCfP and the rest of the Israeli lobby machine can be. They know exactly how to employ a mix of bullying, threats and promises to reach their goals. Good luck brother, you are not alone. There are 42 finalists, among them we will find the one. The one who has enough love in their heart to stand up and be counted. To say, “I believe in universal human and civil rights and protection under the law for all my brothers and sisters all over the world irrespective of ethnicity, nationality or religion”. “I will not cross the Palestinian picket line to perform in apartheid Tel Aviv until all my brothers and sisters from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea have equal rights under the law.” The one who will be remembered for standing on the right side of history, standing for love, true peace and justice.
When I was young my mother always used to say to me, “There is always a right thing to do, just do it.”
Be the one, Conan. Just do it.
Love,
Roger
Comité de Solidariedade com a Palestina (palestinavence.blogs.sapo.pt)
