K-Pop World Festival under fire over Israeli participation, artwashing
4 Min Read
South Korea's BDS movement calls out KBS' ignorance, highlighting its inappropriateness to hold the festival during an ongoing genocide on occupied land.
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The audience cheers for a professional K-Pop band performing between rounds of amateurs, undated. (AFP)
"Israel's" participation in the annual K-Pop World Festival has fans around the world accusing Seoul's Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) of "artwashing genocide" and sparking a series of boycott calls of the music genre.
The hashtags #KpopFestivalOutWithZionism and #NoToArtwashingInKpop appeared on social media by angered K-pop fans following the South Korean embassy in "Israel's" promotion of the July auditions.
"The South Korean government & KBS is now complicit in the genocide in Gaza being art washed by allowing Israeli settlers from the settler colony to have a spot in the K-Pop World Festival," an X user wrote, adding, "Do not remain silent about this."
"Artwashing in the middle of a genocide is a new fucking low, even for KBS. Participants and guest performers will never wash off this stain," wrote another user.
Artwashing is the use of art and artists in a positive manner to distract or legitimize negative actions, events, or human rights violations. In the case of "Israel", the occupation is participating in the festival to distract attention from their ongoing genocide in Gaza.
South Korea's BDS (boycott, sanctions and divestments) movement X page called out KBS' ignorance, highlighting its inappropriateness to hold the festival during an ongoing genocide on occupied land. In addition, it urged its followers to file official complaints to the Korean embassy in "Israel" and the Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
"Palestinians are being burned alive and murdered in "Israel", and you want to watch the genocide in real time and enjoy a K-pop festival with Israelis?" the account asked on X, noting Palestinian K-pop fans have also been killed by "Israel".
X user ARMY4PALESTINE, an account managed by pro-Palestinian fans for the popular K-pop band BTS, wrote: "The settler colony is trying to artwash apartheid, genocide and their violations of Palestinian human rights again, as it is a big part of their propaganda strategy."
The festival is a global event organized by each participating country's Korean embassy, intended to promote both K-pop and South Korea on a global scale. The selected finalists will then attend the final festival in South Korea's southern city of Changwon in October.
'Israel's' artwashing continues...
The K-Pop World Festival is not the only event "Israel" showcased its artwashing skills to distract from their ongoing ten-month genocide in the Gaza Strip that has killed up to 186,000 Palestinians.
Despite not being a part of Europe, the occupation has participated in the European song contest Eurovision 45 times since 1973.
Thousands of demonstrators supporting the Palestinian cause and protesting the ongoing Israeli actions in Gaza congregated in the Swedish city of Malmo on May 8 to oppose "Israel's" participation in the Eurovision Song Contest.
The demonstration coincided with the city's hosting of the competition's second semi-final, during which Israeli representative, Eden Golan, performed.
During a rehearsal of her song "Hurricane" on May 8, Golan faced jeers from the audience.
Before Golan's performance, more than 12,000 pro-Palestinian demonstrators gathered on the streets, as per the Swedish police.
Climate activist Greta Thunberg was among the attendees at the pro-Palestinian demonstration, emphasizing, as quoted by BBC, the moral imperative to speak out and take action against Israeli aggression in Gaza.
"If we are tens of thousands of people flooding the streets of Malmo when Eurovision is taking place, saying we will not accept this to continue, then it's a very strong signal – and it does make a difference," Thunberg said.
