A brief history lesson. After the genocide of the Jewish people during WW2 by the Nazis, the Jewish community all over Europe, who had been suffering from anti-Semitism for centuries, decided that it was time to leave Europe and return back to their Holy Land provided to them by God. Palestine.

In the beginning of the first century, after Christ, the Romans made it their goal to take over Israel to form it a part of its empire, which led them to persecuting the Jews. In return, the Jews slowly started to flee Israel to nearby empires. The Jewish people have always been a strong community over the centuries and have always intended to someday return to their Holy Land.

However, in 1945, Palestine was not an empty span of land. There were Muslim people living in Palestine who had been living there for centuries. Palestinians. The Jews started buying land in Palestine and little by little, were gaining more territory.

At this time, Palestine was a British mandate (a fancy word for colony since the term colony was now archaic and had negative connotations). The British struck a deal with the Jewish community to help them return back to their Holy Land yet at the same time, the British agreed with the Palestinians to help them not allow Jews to arrive to Palestine. The result was terrorist attacks in Palestine against the British. Keep in mind that this was taking place in 1945, just after the war, and Britain was suffering from a lot of instability.

1945 UN Partition – USA and USSR declared Israel a state. The Jews got more fertile land than the Palestinians. The result was Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan and Syria waging war on Israel. Israel ended up gaining more territory from the Palestinian’s territory as well as from Lebanon.

Ever since then, the Palestinians have been under Israeli occupation. Literally, these people cannot leave their towns, they have limited water and electricity supply, and the Israeli army is constantly terrorizing the Palestinians. Imagine East Berlin under USSR military occupation from 1945 to 1989. What surprises me though is that the Palestinians are still going through this and it is 2019. We are supposedly more advanced, aren’t we?

This is why you should boycott Eurovision this year because it is going to be held in Tel Aviv in Israel. The problem is not the Jewish community. There are many Jews in Israel, as well as all over the world, who sympathize with the Palestinians and are angry at how their Israeli government is treating the Palestinians.

It is not an issue of “the Jews stole the Palestinians’ land” anymore. That happened in 1945 and even though it was not so long ago, decades have passed and most Jewish families are now settled in Israel. Even though the Palestinians probably want to kick the Jews out, and with reason since the Israeli government has caused them to suffer, the Israeli government does not represent all Jews’ views.

This is why I do not believe in the UN. The UN is supposedly an organization created in 1945 to “keep the peace” and “protect human rights”. The UN, in my opinion, has not done enough for the Palestinians. The Palestinians have been suffering for over 60 years. They are not given basic human rights. They cannot vote. Their houses are bombed. They are not given proper education. There is famine. Where is the UN in all of this?

What angers me even more is that my country has part to do with this. I do not blame Muslim people for hating the United States of America. If I were Muslim, I would hate USA too. As much as Obama was a president who brought hope and kept the peace, he still allowed military weapons to be sold to the Israeli government against the rebelling Palestinians.

Let’s not bring excuses! Some condemn the Palestinians because of “terrorist attacks”. The Palestinians attack Israel to rebel, to show Israel that they exist and that they want freedom, freedom that everyone deserves. We are all human. You would do the same if you were under occupation. That is what countries such as Poland, Hungary and Czechoslovakia did when they were under USSR from 1945 to 1989. The same with East Germany and East Berlin. The same with Americans when they were a British colony. Rebelling can easily be framed as “terrorist attacks”. If the one in power won’t listen to reason, then what other option is there but to attack?

The Eurovision Song Contest represents peace and solidarity. It is a huge hypocrisy that such a contest is being held in Israel, when the Israeli government does not want peace and solidarity with the Palestinians, but to cause them more suffering. By boycotting the Eurovision this year, you are giving the message to the Israeli government that they need to put an end to the Palestinians’ suffering. Make your voice heard.

Furthermore, the logo for this year’s Eurovision is “dare to dream”. Well, the Palestinians dream to someday be free, just like how Martin Luther King Jr. once had a dream. We should all dare to dream, some more than others.