The NUJ’s Dublin branch will support any member to ‘exercise a conscientious objection’ against working on this year’s Eurovision Song Contest in Tel Aviv, Israel in May

Via The National Uunion of Journalist’s Dublin Broadcasting Branch

At a meeting held earlier this week (Monday) the branch condemned Israel’s continued attacks on journalists and on freedom of expression, noting the fact that since April its forces have shot and killed two journalists reporting from Gaza’s border and injured with live rounds at least 20 more.

The union expressed its support for the stance taken by RTÉ, enunciated by Director General Dee Forbes last September, that RTÉ would not bring any ‘sanction’ against anyone working for the station who declined to travel to Israel to cover the contest on conscientious grounds.

The Dublin Broadcasting Branch serves hundreds of journalists working for RTÉ, as well as other commercial broadcast organisations across the capital.

Monday’s resolution follows a pledge last April by the NUJ as a whole to support any journalist who refused on ethical grounds to cover the Giro d’Italia cycling competition. Last year the competition started in Israel, as a result of Israeli financial sponsorship.

The committment was made at the union’s Delegate Meeting during which the NUJ also condemned “the systematic harassment, beatings and arbitrary arrests of journalists” by the IDF.

Yesterday: Meanwhile, In Israel