In the second semi-final, held on Thursday in Sweden’s third largest city, viewers in competing countries supported Israeli singer Eden Golan as one of the ten candidates to go through to the final.
Earlier in the day, thousands of people protested in Malmö city center against the decision to include Israel in the competition, while its military campaign in Gaza continued. For Saturday, more protests and an alternative concert are planned, called by the organizers as “a song contest without genocide”.
Israel was allowed to compete this year after agreeing to change the lyrics of its entry, a ballad widely understood to be a reference to the Hamas massacre on October 7. The original version of Hurricanetitled October Rainwas excluded by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) for violating political neutrality rules.
The 68th edition of Eurovision takes place seven months after the start of the Israeli bombing campaign in the Gaza Strip and just days after the Israel Defense Forces launched a major military offensive in Rafah, the southernmost city of Gaza. .
Golan, 20, born in Israel to Russian parents, was booed by audience members during dress rehearsals on Wednesday.
“I am very grateful to everyone who voted for us and supported us,” said the 20-year-old Israeli after reaching the final. “It is truly an honor to be here on stage, to perform and show our voice, to present ourselves with pride”, she highlighted.Israel has participated in Eurovision since 1973, having won for the fourth time in 2018. This Friday, the country is in second place, on betting sites, as the potential winner of Saturday’s final, behind Croatia and ahead of Switzerland.
Before the semi-final, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated that his country’s candidate “has already won”. “Not only are you participating in Eurovision in a proud and admirable way, but you are also successfully facing a horrible wave of anti-Semitism,” he said in a video message addressed to the singer.
Israel thus joins the group of 26 countries that will compete on Saturday to succeed Sweden as winners of this contest seen every year by tens of millions of viewers. Following Loreen’s triumph last year, hosts and record holder Sweden secured a place alongside the “big five”: France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the United Kingdom, which are the countries with the largest financial contributions. The remaining 20 countries qualified through the semi-finals on Tuesday and Thursday.
Enhanced security
Around 12,000 people demonstrated in the host city on Thursday against Israel’s participation, expressing their outrage at the war in Gaza. A new demonstration is planned for Saturday.
Among the crowd of protesters waving Palestinian flags in Malmö’s city square was Greta Thunberg. “It’s scandalous that Israel is allowed to participate,” said the environmental activist, wearing a keffiyeh black and white checkered on the shoulders. “We cannot remain silent during a genocide.”
Security was also reinforced, both at the Malmö Arena and in the rest of the southern Swedish city, home to the country’s largest community of Palestinian origin, where Palestinian flags are side by side with brightly colored pennants. The neutrality of the contest was called into question on Tuesday, during the first semi-final, by Swedish singer Eric Saade, who wore a keffiyeh Palestinian around his arm.
“The EBU is taking all necessary precautions to make this a safe and united place for everyone,” said Eden Golan, who has been the target of threats on social media, after the semi-final.
To ensure the safety of the contest, police reinforcements were sent from all over Sweden, as well as Denmark and Norway. Although the host country raised the alert level in 2023 after acts of desecration of the Koran, “there is no threat directed against Eurovision”, assured Jimmy Modin, police spokesman.
In Saturday’s final, Malmö is expected to welcome around 100,000 visitors. And some members of the Jewish community are planning to leave the city over the weekend.
two weights and two measures
Pro-Palestinian protesters accused the EBU of double standards. In 2022, Russia was disqualified from the Eurovision contest, after the EBU considered that the country’s inclusion “would bring the competition into disrepute”.
Two years later, the EBU defended its decision to allow Israel to participate, stressing that Eurovision is “a non-political musical event” and “not a competition between governments”.
This year, the conflict in Ukraine was overshadowed by the war in Gaza, which began on October 7, when Hamas commandos carried out an attack against Israel that left more than 1,170 dead, most of them civilians, according to an AFP report based on in official Israeli data.
w/ international agencies
