Thousands of anti-Israel demonstrators filled the streets of a Swedish coastal city on Thursday — to protest the country’s participation in the Eurovision Song Contest, — which almost didn’t happen until Israel removed references to the Oct. 7 Hamas attack in its song entry.
Up to 12,000 people — including Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg — converged in Malmo’s historic Stortorget square near the city’s town hall before marching toward the Eurovision venue, where singers from more than 50 countries are battling.
The protesters waved Palestinian flags; wore keffiyeh scarves; deployed green, black and red smoke bombs to match the flag’s colors; and repeated the chants, “From river to sea, Palestine will be free” and “Israel is a terror state” as police officers watched from rooftops, the streets and even helicopters.
Eurovision organizers rejected calls to expel Israel from the competition — arguing they try to keep the competition nonpolitical.
But critics have noted Eurovision’s rejection of Russia in the 2022 competition after it invaded Ukraine.
“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,” Malmo resident and protester Anders Trolle-Schultz told the Associated Press.
In another effort to be nonpolitical, the organizers had barred Israel’s initial song submission for breaking its rules on political neutrality. The song was originally titled “October Rain” in reference to Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack that killed 1,200 Israelis and prompted Israel’s attack on Gaza.
But Israel’s President Isaac Herzog called on the songwriter to make changes so that the Jewish nation could compete, according to the BBC. The ballad is now called “Hurricane.”
Some of the lyrics that were changed include:
- “Writers of history stand with me” to “Writer of my symphony play with me”
- “Hours and hours and flowers/ Life is no game for the cowards” to “Hours and hours, empowers/ Life is no game but it’s ours”
- “We got nothing to hide/ Take me home and leave the world behind/ And I promise you that never again/ I’m still wet from this October rain/ October rain” to “I got nothing to hide/ Take it all and leave the world behind/ Baby promise me you’ll hold me again/ I’m still broken from this hurricane/ This hurricane”
- “There is no air to left to breathe/ There is no place/ I am gone day by day/ They are all good children, one by one” to “Don’t need big words, just prayers/ Even if it’s hard to see/ You always leave one single light” (both in Hebrew)
The “flowers” mentioned in the original lyrics represent war fatalities, according to Israel Hayom newspaper.
Eurovision organizers have banned politicalized songs in previous years. In 2009, they rejected Georgia’s entry “We Don’t Want to Put In” — a not-so-subtle reference to Russia’s Vladimir Putin — which led the country to withdraw from the competition.
Audience members were heard booing Israel’s Eden Golan’s performance of the song during a dress rehearsal on Wednesday.
But the 20-year-old Russian-Israeli singer placed in the 10 of 16 acts in Thursday’s semi-final, securing a spot in Saturday’s final competition.
Anti-Israel supporters are expected to take over the streets again during the final.
One of Thursday’s protesters, Saadallah Aoudi — who is a Swedish citizen but has a Palestinian background — said Israel should not be participating in Eurovision as it bombs the Gaza Strip.
“It’s about songs, and songs are about love. … They should be here when there is peace,” he said.
Israel’s retaliatory attack has killed nearly 35,000 Palestinians in Gaza — two-thirds of whom are innocent children and women, according to health officials in the Hamas-controlled territory.
Pro-Israel protesters held their own smaller demonstration Thursday in central Malmo as the country’s government warned its citizens that they could be targeted in the Swedish city while it hosted Eurovision.
“We’re supposed to be united by music but we’re not united, because Israel is participating,” Trolle-Schultz said.
With Post wires
