BarcelonaIsrael makes its first appearance at Eurovision 2024 on Thursday in the second semi-final and the atmosphere is hot. The criticism directed at the organization intensified because it allowed the Hebrew delegation to participate in the midst of the attack on Gaza, and during training for the semi-finals, the Israeli representative was booed. Eden Golan appeared at the festival with the song tornado Today, he will play in the second semi-final to qualify for the final, which will be held on Saturday, May 11, in the Swedish city of Malmo.
According to the videos it varies com. eurofans It was published on the networks. During Golan training, the audience present at the Malmo Arena booed the singer and chanted the slogan “Free Palestine” [Palestina lliure]. But whistles mixed with applause from part of the audience. After the training, the director of the Israeli delegation to Eurovision, Yoav Zephyr, highlighted the importance of booing. “A small group booed, but there were a lot of people who supported him as well. It was a mixed bag.” For his part, Golan confirmed that he did not pay attention to the booing. “Representing our country and showing them our identity gives me more strength and pride. It is not everything easy, the whole country is going through a difficult time. It is not easy here either, but I take everything proportionately. “I am happy to be here and have the honor of representing us.” Israel will occupy Fourteenth place in the semi-finals on Thursday.
Tension over Israel’s participation in Eurovision also affects other delegations. The Irish representative denounced that the European Broadcasting Union, which organizes the festival, imposed censorship on her messages in support of the Palestinian cause and the ceasefire that she wanted to display during the first semi-final. After qualifying for the final, Irishman Bambi Thug, as seen in training, made it clear that her intention was to draw inscriptions in Ogham (an ancient Celtic language) with the messages “Ceasefire” and “Freedom for Palestine”. But in his semi-final performance, he was unable to do so because the organization did not allow him to do so.
Eric Saadeh, guest artist in the first semi-final, also denounced censorship. The singer performed a Palestinian hijab in his hand. UER decided not to share photos of its performance on the networks, and also shared the interventions of the other two special guests, Chanel and Eleni Fourera.
The controversy surrounding Israel’s participation put the host country, Sweden, on alert, and was forced to take extraordinary security measures. Additionally, Israel’s National Security Council advised against travel to Malmö, citing “well-founded concerns that terrorist elements will exploit protests and anti-Israel sentiment” to carry out attacks against Israelis attending the Eurovision contest.
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