Israeli Eurovision contestant Eden Golan faced boos, walkouts during dress rehearsal

Edan Golan was told to change the title and selected lyrics from her original entry, “October Rain,” which was an apparent reference to the Hamas massacre.

By Vered Weiss, World Israel News

Israeli Eurovision contestant Eden Golan faced boos and audience walk-outs outs on Wednesday’s dress rehearsal.

This year, Israel’s participation in the famed music contest held in Malmo, Sweden, has faced controversy. Several participants threatened to boycott Eurovision if Israel was allowed to compete.

Eden Golan was told to change the title and selected lyrics from her original entry, “October Rain,” which was an apparent reference to the Hamas massacre. The updated entry’s title is “Hurricane.”

Anti-Israel protesters are planning demonstrations on Thursday and Saturday, and Swedish police are on high alert with reinforcement from law enforcement officers from Denmark and Norway.

Ahead of Eurovision and the controversy surrounding it, Palestinian flags are seen hanging from many balconies in Malmo, which has one of the highest Arab populations in Europe.

Eurovision has been hailed as a kind of pop music Olympics, with the AP describing it “as a music festival, an awards show and a meeting of the United Nations Security Council.”

Although the contest’s motto is “united by music,” and it claims to avoid political conflict—as evidenced by the lyric and title change requirement to Golan’s original entry deemed “too political”—political and national rivalries often play out at Eurovision.

The 37 participants have been narrowed down to 26 through two semifinals. Those remaining will participate in Saturday’s televised event, which will be watched by an estimated 180 million worldwide.

Although Eden Golan’s participation in the event has been marked by controversy, Israel’s ambassador to Sweden, Ziv Nevo-Kulman, told the Israeli TV program “This Morning” that despite the forbidding atmosphere in Malmo, there are many who support Edan Golan and Israel in general.

“There are many immigrants from the Middle East [in Malmö], and indeed, the atmosphere that is shown to us on the screens looks very difficult,” he said.

“But it is important to know that we also have many friends in the city who hug  and embrace the delegation and the welcomed Jewish community that lives in the city.”