Thousands protest Israel’s Eurovision participation

MALMO: Eden Golan is set to perform in the semi-final despite anger over Israel’s inclusion in the Eurovision Song Contest held in Malmo, Sweden.

Some 5,000 people opposed to Israel’s participation in the Eurovision Song Contest demonstrated ahead of this year’s second semi-final, where Israeli contestant Eden Golan was set to perform her song “Hurricane” on Thursday in hopes of qualifying for Saturday’s final.

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Metal barricades and large concrete blocks have been put up around Malmo Arena in the Swedish city hosting the competition, and local police have received back up from Danish and Norwegian colleagues.

Though police said the march through the city was “quiet,” demonstrators set off smoke flares in the colors of the Palestinian flag during a noisy rally where participants chanted the contentious slogan, “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” as well as “Israel is a terrorist state” to criticize Israel and call for a cease-fire in Gaza.

A demonstration in support of Israel is expected to take place later this evening.

Organizers of the protests say they plan to march again before the Saturday final.
Israel warns citizens, as EBU claims event is apolitical

The Israeli government issued a clear warning to its citizens citing “tangible concern” that they could be targeted, and loud booing could be heard as Eden Golan performed during dress rehersal.

The European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which organises the pan-continental pop competition, ruled that Israel is allowed to compete, despite months of vocal opposition against the country’s participation in the midst of the Israel-Palestine war.

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Golan was forced to change the title and lyrics of her song before being allowed to compete, however. It had originally been titled, “October Rain,” in what seemed to be a reference to the October 7 Hamas attack on Israel that sparked the current war.

The EBU claims Eurovision is apolitical but critics have highlighted Russia’s exclusion from the competition over its 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Belarus was excluded a year earlier over its record on human rights and freedom of the press. This year’s competition also bans the display of Palestinian flags.