Thousands of people protested in Malmo, Sweden, against Israel’s participation in this evening’s Eurovision Song Contest. In particular, the Israeli singer Eden Golan is targeted. This is the first of two large pro-Gaza demonstrations organized by “Stop Israel”, a network of around 60 political groups, including the left-wing party which occupies some seats in the Swedish parliament, and Fridays for future, the climate movement led by Greta Thunberg, also present on the streets of the Swedish city. Eden Golan will perform the song «Hurricane» although the song was initially supposed to be titled «October Rain», but references to Hamas attacks on Israel led the Eurovision organization to ask for a change.
Some artists explicitly rejected Palestinian groups’ calls to boycott the music competition, saying they “firmly believe in the unifying power of music.” Eden Golan, who has been singing and dancing since she was a child, said she was proud to represent her country this year. Israel has been a strong Eurovision contender in recent years, last winning with Netta’s song «Toy» in 2018 (a total of four times) and qualifying for the final 12 times since 2003. The contested performance is scheduled towards the end of the evening and already during the rehearsals there were protests, including boos and slogans such as “Free Palestine” from some spectators present in the room.
There were extensive security measures with men from the Shin Bet, the Israeli secret service, who combed the room several times to avoid any possible risk of attacks or criminal infiltration.
In recent days, the head of the Shin Bet, Ronen Bar, also led a security visit to ensure the safety of the Israeli delegation to Eurovision and monitor the situation both internally and externally. MBas
