Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1541988
6 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 27 MARCH 2022 OPINION 2 maltatoday EXECUTIVE EDITOR KURT SANSONE ksansone@mediatoday.com.mt Letters to the Editor, MaltaToday, Vjal ir-Rihan, San Gwann SGN 9016 E-mail: dailynews@mediatoday.com.mt Letters must be concise, no pen names accepted, include full name and address maltatoday | SUNDAY • 14 DECEMBER 2025 Why Malta should boycott the Eurovision Editorial PALESTINIANS in Gaza continue to face untold hardship despite the conflict dropping down the news ladder ever since a ceasefire agreement was reached. Families live in cramped tents with no priva- cy, on streets bathed in sewage from cesspools overflowing with rainwater. Hunger is still a re- ality for most. Hundreds of thousands remain displaced from their towns, where whole neigh- bourhoods have been reduced to rubble. The Israeli guns may have been silenced. The Israeli bombs may have stopped raining down. The Israeli tanks may have stopped rolling. But the suffering of ordinary Palestinians has not stopped—it has just taken a backseat in the in- ternational news. Today's relative calm does not absolve Isra- el from the atrocities it committed in Gaza. It does not absolve Israel from responsibility for the thousands of Palestinian children that were killed, maimed and scarred for life. It does not absolve Israel from shouldering responsibility for inflicting untold humiliation on a nation it would rather see wiped out from the region. What happened in Gaza was not simply an act of self-defence in retaliation for the horrible crimes perpetrated by Hamas militants. The war waged in Gaza may have started for these rea- sons but it quickly transformed into a systematic campaign to punish a whole nation; humiliate it and rob it of its dignity. The use of hunger as a weapon of war earlier this year was the apex of this genocidal campaign. It is within this context that Israel should have been banned from participating in next year's Eurovision Song Contest. The country should not be allowed to whitewash its sins through a cultural event intended to bring people together. Of course, Israeli artists are not to blame for the actions of their government. But in circumstanc- es where Israel acted with complete impunity, artists will have to shoulder the consequences of the murderous choices made by the country they represent, especially in a contest that celebrates countries as much as their artists. Unfortunately, Israel was not banned from the contest after members of the European Broad- casting Union last month, voted against such a move. Consequently, Spain, Iceland, Ireland, Slo- venia, and the Netherlands opted to boycott the 2026 Eurovision contest over Israel's participa- tion. In its statement confirming Ireland's withdraw- al from the contest, national broadcaster RTÉ said participation would be "unconscionable" given the appalling loss of lives in Gaza and the humanitarian crisis there. RTÉ also said it re- mained deeply concerned by the "targeted killing of journalists in Gaza during the conflict" and the continued denial of access to international jour- nalists. Malta, on the other hand, has opted to stay in the competition with Culture Minister Ow- en Bonnici insisting that "peace is achieved by keeping lines of communication open, and cul- ture contributes greatly to this". The question is: Should Israel be allowed an international stage to put a sheen on its image? There is merit in the argument that the princi- pled stand taken by the five countries to boycott the Eurovision has no impact given that Israel will still be present on the stage in Vienna next May. Nonetheless, there is relevance in boycotting a contest in which the aggressor gets to bask in glory under the guise of culture that "brings peo- ple together", while the suffering party has very limited access to the world stage. Given Malta's long-held support for the Pales- tinian cause, we would have expected the Public Broadcasting Service to at least argue for Israel to be banned from the Eurovision. Unfortunate- ly, we heard nothing of the sort. Consequently, whether Malta should have withdrawn its participation or not if Israel was not axed by the EBU would have been a separate debate. Arguing for Israel to be banned and boy- cotting the contest are two separate issues. But it appears PBS and the culture minister were comfortable remaining non-committal on Israel's participation and clearly against a boy- cott. Malta will be participating in the Eurovision with no ifs or buts, which is a disappointment. We believe Malta should have pressed the point for Israel's exclusion from the Eurovision and subsequently withdrawn its participation after the EBU vote to retain Israel. It would have been a principled stand against Israel's abuses in Gaza but more importantly a show of solidarity with the long-suffering Palestinian people. Quote of the Week "The character of a UCA is not just the façade… Leaving a shell and building a monster behind it is blatant overdevelopment." – Labour Party Żejtun Committee President Brian Scicluna, lamenting the "relentless greed" of developers as he warns of the increasing threat on historic urban centres MaltaToday 10 years ago Barts will eat into Mater Dei resources, PM told 13 December 2015 MALTA'S medical students and the dean of the University of Malta's Faculty of Medi- cine have raised serious concerns over a deal signed with Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) to launch its €175,000 medical degree course in Malta. The agreement will involve the "sharing" of teaching resources at the medical school between University of Malta students and student doctors following the Barts Med- ical School programme at Mater Dei Hospital. Questions have been raised about whether the government will increase the hospital's staff complement to accommodate the addi- tional students. Replies given to MaltaToday suggest that the government intends instead to remunerate existing staff for the extra time dedicated to teaching Barts students. Under the agreement, Barts students will pay €35,000 per year but will train at Ma- ter Dei Hospital, where consultants already tutor around 450–500 Maltese medical stu- dents. This has prompted warnings that clinical resources at Mater Dei will have to be allocated to Barts students, potentially af- fecting local trainees. The arrangement would require consultants at Mater Dei Hospital—already stretched by their teaching and clinical responsibilities— to share their time with up to 180 fee-paying Barts students. Concerns have been raised by both students and doctors about wheth- er there are enough consultants to meet this demand. [...] There is relevance in boycotting a contest in which the aggressor gets to bask in glory under the guise of culture that "brings people together", while the suffering party has very limited access to the world stage