Eurovision fan describes ‘tense, uncomfortable’ atmosphere when Israel took to stage

A British Eurovision fan has described the 'tense, uncomfortable' atmosphere when Israel's entry was booed during her semi-final appearance, amid protests over the country's participation.

Eden Golan, 20, whose emotional Hurricane was reworked from a previous track called October Rain, which was thought to reference the Hamas attacks on Israel, performed at the second semi-finals on Thursday evening in Malmo Arena. In the months approaching the 68th Eurovision Song Contest, there have been calls for Israel to be removed from the competition, due to the ongoing conflict in Gaza.

Over 1000 musicians from Sweden, this year's host country, signed an open letter citing Russia's removal from Eurovision in 2022 following their invasion of Ukraine. And one Eurovision fan has told Yahoo News UK just how tense and uncomfortable the audience reaction has been when Golan took to the stage - with booing, shouts of 'free Palestine' and arguments in the audience.

On Wednesday evening, attention was on the Israeli entrant, who was booed by the crowd watching the second semi-final day rehearsals ahead of the live event on Thursday evening. AJ Mina, a 21-year-old student from Ipswich, told Yahoo News the atmosphere at the semi-finals rehearsals started off 'great'. Mina said: "The mood in the arena completely shifted, and it [was] so uncomfortable when Eden Golan was performing on stage."

He said the majority of the crowd were booing and shouting 'free Palestine' with very few people cheering for her. Mina said: "I could see people arguing in the standing section, and people were shouting at others that were booing to shut up."

Mina first attended the competition when it came to Liverpool. He said he stands with Palestine and attended this year as he already made plans to visit Malmö during Eurovision week.

He said: "The EBU (European Broadcasting Union) are trying to silence us with canned applause and their anti-booing technology during Israel's performance, but we need to make our voices heard somehow."

Rory Flynn, 27, from Kildare, told PA news his group was amongst those booing during Golan’s rehearsal. He said: “This song is a propaganda song. OK, it was originally called October Rain and now it’s called Hurricane, you can see there, it’s the same melody; the lyrics have been changed at the request of the EBU (European Broadcast Union), but it is the same song.

“And it is about justifying Israel’s genocide in Gaza, and I think that says it all really, you know, I think it’s quite appropriate to kind of boo that propaganda.”

The EBU requested Israel change the lyrics to their song, which was initially named 'October Rain,' which was considered to be political as it was a reference to Hamas's attack, which is against the competition rules. Israel revised the lyrics and changed the title to 'Hurricane.'

In January, the EBU released a statement defending Israel's participation, saying Eurovision is a 'non-political music event' and not a 'competition between governments' but between public service broadcasters.

The EBU Director General Noel Curran said: "We are aware of the many voices calling to exclude Israel from this year's competition in the same way as we excluded the Russian broadcaster in 2022 following the invasion of Ukraine.

"Comparisons between wars and conflicts are complex and difficult and, as a non-political media organization, not ours to make."

Thursday morning, protests in Malmö were met with a heavy police presence and stopped from marching down a road in the city centre. People have been chanting 'free Palestine' and 'from the river to the sea', and some demonstrators have images of injured Gaza civilians on their signs.

Hundreds of people have attended, calling for the disqualification of Israel and a ceasefire. Some people have set off smoke canisters in the colours of the Palestinian flag. Greta Thunberg, amongst the protest crowd wearing a keffiyeh, told Reuters: "It's not true that the Eurovision is not political. It has always been political, and it will always be."