Eurovision 2024 hit by protests over Israel taking part amid Gaza war
Malmo, Sweden — Not everyone was welcoming the Eurovision Song Contest to the Swedish city of Malmo. Thousands of pro-Palestinian demonstrators protested in the Swedish port city Thursday against Israel’s participation in the pan-continental pop competition. Protesters waving green, white and red Palestinian flags packed the historic Stortorget square near Malmo’s 16th-century town hall before a planned march through the city for a rally in a park several miles from the Eurovision venue.
Chanting chanting and yelling slogans such as “Israel is a terror state,” the demonstrators set off smoke flares in the Palestinian colors during a noisy but peaceful rally to criticize Israel and call for a cease-fire in its war with Hamas.
JOHAN NILSSON/TT NEWS AGENCY/AFP/Getty
The first of those slogans chanted by the protesters is a highly controversial reference to the creation of a Palestinian state, defined by the Anti-Defamation League as an “antisemitic slogan commonly featured in anti-Israel campaigns and chanted at demonstrations.”
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They did tell Israel to change the lyrics of its entry, however, which was originally titled “October Rain,” in an apparent reference to Hamas’ cross-border Oct. 7 terrorist attack that killed some 1,200 Israelis and triggered the war. The song was renamed “Hurricane,” and Israeli singer Eden Golan was allowed to remain in the contest.
She was to compete in a semi-final Thursday evening. Some audience members attending a Wednesday dress rehearsal could be heard to boo during Golan’s performance.
Critics of the decision to let Israel compete point out that Russia was kicked out of Eurovision in 2022 after its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and Belarus was ejected a year earlier over its government’s crackdown on dissent.
“We’re supposed to be united by music but we’re not united, because Israel is participating,” said Malmo resident Anders Trolle-Schultz, who attended the protest.
“I think Malmo should have kept Eurovision, but we should have told Israel either ‘Stay away,’ or maybe even say, why don’t we invite a Palestinian music group to participate? That would be fair.”
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Source: cbsnews.com