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BBC Rejects Calls for Israel Eurovision Boycott
(Jewish News-UK) Mathilde Frot - The BBC on Wednesday rejected calls by British cultural figures to relocate the 2019 Eurovision song contest from Israel, saying the May 18 competition "is not a political event and does not endorse any political message or campaign." "The competition has always supported the values of friendship, inclusion, tolerance and diversity and we do not believe it would be appropriate to use the BBC's participation for political reasons. Because of this, we will be taking part in this year's event. The host country is determined by the rules of the competition, not the BBC." Responding to the boycott call, a spokesperson for the Board of Deputies of British Jews said: "This tired old group of anti-Israel activists are at it again - this time claiming that the world's only Jewish state and the only liberal democracy in the Middle East is (uniquely among Eurovision contestants) unfit to hold this year's contest. Perhaps they also protested when Russia, Serbia and Turkey hosted Eurovision in recent years, but if so, we are unable to find these letters."