Greta Thunberg came to a protest for Israel's exclusion from Eurovision

The second Eurovision semi-final took place on Thursday in Malmo, Sweden. Ten singers qualified for the final on May 11, including those from Austria, Georgia, Armenia, Latvia, and Estonia. Among them is the representative of Israel, Eden Golan, who grew up in Russia.

At the same time, a protest of many thousands took place in the center of Malmo demanding that the Israeli woman be removed from the competition due to the events in Gaza. 21-year-old environmental activist Greta Thunberg took part in the rally. She wore an Arabic keffiyeh (“arafatka”) headscarf.

The demonstrators called for an “intifada,” that is, an armed struggle against Israel. According to the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronot, they also greeted Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar, demanded to “send the Jews back to Poland” and shouted “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free.” In Germany this slogan is prohibited by law.

Israel's Eurovision representative was expectedly booed during her performance, and the audience was also heard chanting “Free Palestine”.

Based on the results of her performance, the representative of Israel advanced to the finals. Previously, we wrote that Golan will most likely be made the winner, since this is necessary to support Israel, despite the fact that the Eurovision organizers previously classified the song October Rain by singer Eden Golan as political and therefore are considering the possibility of its disqualification.

According to Golan, she felt uncomfortable due to frequent manifestations of anti-Semitism. For example, her Russian friends didn’t want to call her Eden, so they called her “Natasha.” However, this did not prevent her from taking part in various music competitions and receiving money from the Russian authorities.

The artist lived in Russia for 13 years until she returned to her homeland in 2022. Her profile contains one photo from Moscow two years ago. Explaining the decision to leave, Golan recalled the war in Ukraine. They say that the family had previously considered moving to Israel, but after February 24, 2022, the decision was finally made.

Grandfather Golan Yuri once graduated from the Faculty of Journalism of Moscow State University and worked in the newspaper “Soviet Youth”. At Yuri Golan's Now openly pro-Ukrainian position, which can be concluded only by superficially looking at his page in Facebook. There is a Ukrainian flag on the wall, ridicule of “import substitution” and Putin, as well as warm words about the success of her granddaughter, but this did not help her.

Reportedthat the victory of Eden Golan in the Israeli selection for Eurovision caused a loud scandal in Ukraine. Publications in the country's leading media and on social networks express bewilderment as to how Israel can send a singer to the competition, “previously performed in occupied Crimea” and “did not condemn Russian aggression.”

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