Kate Miller-Heidke takes time out for local culture

Australian Eurovision entrant Kate Miller-Heidke has spent time visiting the Arab-Israeli city of Jaljulia ahead of next week’s song contest.

Her visit comes at a time when other performers and activists have called on artists to boycott the event, arguing that holding it in Tel Aviv amounts to “artwashing – whitewashing through arts” Israel’s policies towards Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza.

On Instagram she said, “Spent time yesterday in the Arab-Israeli city of Jaljulia meeting with locals and learning about their culture and what it means to be Palestinian. Lots to think about. More to come on that later. In the meantime, thankyou to Raed Aburaya of Shared Paths for this illuminating tour of the local mosque which is one of the most beautiful and serene buildings I have ever visited.”

Miller-Heidke was joined on her tour by some of the SBS Publicity team.

Meanwhile Israel has said it will block activists who plan to disrupt the contest from entering the country, as anxiety mounts that the event will become a focus for protests.

“This is going to be a huge party in which thousands of people will participate but we will remain extremely vigilant in order to make sure that no one comes here in order to disturb and destroy,” said a foreign ministry spokesman, Emmanuel Nahshon.

“We don’t want to prohibit the entry to the state of Israel for people. But on the other hand, if we know for certain that we will be facing people who are anti-Israel activists and whose sole purpose is to disturb the event then we will use the legal instruments that we have regarding the entry to Israel.”

Israel has twice hosted Eurovision before. None none of the 42 acts taking part has pulled out.

Source: The Guardian