GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — As pro-Palestinian advocates stepped up their requests for a boycott of the Eurovision Song Contest 2019 scheduled to take place in Israel, Palestinian Minister of Culture Ehab Bseiso called on all cultural promoters in Europe and elsewhere to use culture as “a tool for justice, not oppression.”

Speaking at a press conference in Ramallah Sept. 17, Bseiso accused Israel of regularly violating Palestinian rights in the occupied territories, particularly for artists, by either restricting their movement, arresting them for their works of art and closing cultural institutions.

“We look at Eurovision as a contest to promote culture and art,” he was quoted by the local news agencies as saying. “Therefore any cultural event that is not in line with international legitimacy would be a recognition of the occupation’s policy.”

He praised the European artists who signed a petition calling on Eurovision not to hold its event in Israel. “The statement that was published and signed by an elite of male and female intellectuals — particularly from Europe — is for us an important message that Palestine is not alone," he said.