The BBC has been petitioned to withdraw Eurovision 2024 contestant Olly Alexander after he allegedly supported a statement blaming Israel of genocide in Gaza.
The Years & Years singer, who was revealed as the UK’s entry for the Strictly Come Dancing singing competition, looks to be one of more than 1,400 signatories on the open letter criticising the nation as having a ‘apartheid system’ that ‘acts to ethnically cleanse the land.’
The letter, released on October 20 by the LGBTQIA+ nonprofit Voices4London, accuses “Israeli military and Israeli settlers of terrorising Palestinian people.”
Some have called for the BBC, who worked with Lana Del Rey’s management TaP on the Eurovision 2024 entrant selection process, to remove Alexander, 33, from the contest.
A representative for the volunteer-led Jewish charity The Campaign Against Antisemitism told The Telegraph that the channel ‘may and must’ break connections with the It’s A Sin performer.
They said: ‘The rhetoric in this letter, which is seemingly endorsed by Olly Alexander, is extreme. It is appalling in particular that it condemns “unthinking philosemitism.”
‘At a time when nearly seven in ten British Jews feel afraid to express their identity in public, this must not be the person to represent our country at the Eurovision Song Contest. The BBC can and must right this wrong’.
On X, this year’s UK Eurovision entry Mae Muller, 26, who finished in twenty-fifth place with 24 points, came to Alexander’s defence and wrote: ‘Here they go 🤡🤡🤡 @alexander_olly we love u x.’
The Voices4London letter includes the following: ‘We are watching a genocide take place in real-time. Death overflows from our phone screens and into our hearts. And, as a queer community, we cannot sit idly by while the Israeli Government continues to wipe out entire lineages of Palestinian families.
‘We cannot untangle these recent tragedies from a violent history of occupation. Current events simply are an escalation of the state of Israel’s apartheid regime, which acts to ethnically cleanse the land.
‘Since the violent creation of the state 75 years ago, the Israeli military and Israeli settlers have continued to terrorise Palestinian people – expelling families, destroying their ancestral olive trees, pouring concrete in their wells, and detaining, torturing, and killing men, women and children.’
Former UK Prime Minister and now Foreign Secretary David Cameron’s second journey to the Middle East, where he would argue for a long-term truce, is one of the most recent events in the war.
Officials added that during his visit, he will strive to further efforts to secure the release of all Hamas hostages, increase supplies to Gaza, and put a halt to Palestinian terrorists firing rockets into Israel.
Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has recently been pressing for a’sustainable truce,’ a move that appears to highlight the West’s hardening stance towards Tel Aviv’s actions in the conflict.
US President Joe Biden has warned that Israel is losing international support because to its ‘indiscriminate bombardment,’ with over 20,000 Palestinians dead in the battle, according to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry.
Following the Palestinian terrorist group’s horrific attacks on October 7, which murdered 1,200 people and took over 240 hostages, Israel and Hamas have been at odds for more than two months.
A week-long respite in the battle resulted in the release of 100 hostages in an agreement negotiated by Qatar, but an estimated 129 others are still being held captive.
Many celebrities have spoken out against the conflict since it began.
Celebrities like as Gal Gadot, Jamie Lee Curtis, and Amy Schumer, for example, have sent words of solidarity for Israel and spoken out against violence after witnessing gruesome photos.
Meanwhile, model Bella Hadid urged followers for ‘forgiveness’ after first maintaining silent about the issue.
The half-Palestinian runway sensation subsequently told about the anguish she endured after publishing a statement, receiving threats after her phone number was exposed.
Stranger Things star Noah Schnapp, on the other hand, provoked outrage when he posted about the battle on Instagram, claiming that he was’scared’ by the turmoil.
The Netflix actress has recently come under fire for giggling at inappropriate stickers.