Eden Golan, a Eurovision contestant from Israel, endured a torrent of boos ahead of her singing performance at the semi-final in Malmo, Sweden, which has increasingly become a city brimming with intense antisemitism.
“There have been several campaigns to block Israel from taking part in this year’s contest following the outbreak of war in the Middle East, and thousands of people joined pro-Palestinian protests in the city on Thursday,” the BBC noted.
The European Broadcast Union (EBU) rebuked calls to ban Israel and allowed the country to compete with Eden Golan as its representative. The audience booed her.
“Speaking on Sunday, the deputy director general of the EBU, Jean Philip De Tender, said if you ‘exclude Kan (Israeli public broadcaster) outside of these competition rules, that would have been a political decision, as such, which we cannot take,’ because it considers itself as an apolitical organization,” added the BBC.
Demonstrators carry Palestinian flags protest against Israel’s participation in the Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö, Sweden, on May 9, 2024. Russian-Israeli singer Eden Golan representing Israel sang the song “Hurricane” in the second semi-final of the song competition. ( IDA MARIE ODGAARD/TT NEWS AGENCY/AFP via Getty)
Golan initial wanted to sing her original song, October Rain, but switched to the song Hurricane.
Eurovision’s 2023 winner Loreen told the BBC that she understood the protests but denounced those who booed Golan, calling it “not fair” and “unconstructive.”
“All of us are affected by what’s going on [but] we don’t know what to do, because it’s such a complex situation,” the Swedish singer said. “Some react with aggression, some cry, some shut down. We are different in that way, so I understand where it [the protesting] comes from.”
As Breitbart News reported, the city of Malmo has increasingly become a hotbed of antisemitism.
“The increasingly dwindling Jewish community of Malmö, Sweden – a city that has developed a reputation for being a hub of Islamist antisemitism in the past decade – fears targeted attacks this week as their home hosts the Eurovision Song Contest, attracting massive pro-Palestinian mobilizations,” noted the report.
“Jewish residents told the German newspaper Die Welt they feel they are ‘not welcome in [their] own city” and that many have chosen to simply leave town while the contest is going on,'” it added.
“There is a general feeling of uncertainty. You have the feeling that you are not welcome in your own city,” Daniel Janouch, chairman of the Jewish Youth Association, told the German newspaper. “I know several Jews who want to leave Malmö during the ESC.”
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