When The Hatred Sings

Malmo decided to party like it's 1939 (full credit to the guy online who came up with that). What is supposed to be a cosmopolitan city in one of the most liberal countries on earth has simply disgraced itself this week to the point where a twenty year old woman needs to shelter in place at a hotel and be escorted as if she were Joe Biden just to perform. Why? A mob of hate-filled maniacs decided to camp outside of her hotel. The very real possibility of her being lynched if she ventures outside alone means the Swedish police have to be on close watch. Her crime? She's an Israeli Jew.

You would think that the European music community would rally around long-time EBU member and ESC participants Israel after the October 7th terror attack that left over 1,200 dead including around 300 at a music festival of all places. After all, they (rightfully) did so for Ukraine in the aftermath of Russia launching its war of conquest there. Both Russia and its accomplice Belarus are banned from the Eurovision Song Contest. There was no such thing for Israel though. Instead, we've seen calls to ban Israel for waging a defensive war against the Hamas terror group that they neither wanted nor started. Russia went to war to restore the old Russian empire and for Putin's ego. Israel went to war to ensure October 7th can never happen again and out of a moral obligation to return the hostages taken by Hamas. The two things are not the same.

To the EBU's credit, they did not heed such calls, and they have also ensured that the Israeli delegates have the right security arrangements. However, it must be said that they did force the Israelis to revise their song on multiple occasions on account of the long standing rule on political content in songs. I don't disagree necessarily with the rule itself but I always found the enforcement to be maddeningly inconsistent. Entries from Ukraine and Georgia that were more blatantly political were allowed to stand. And it must be said that Israel's 2007 entry Push The Button was far more obviously political and yet not sanctioned in any way. It almost feels like the EBU wanted October 7th out of sight and out of mind. Happily, a compromise was found and Israel is competing as it usually does and has since 1973, winning four times.

This leads me to the main point of this article. Sanity dictates that every performer from every country should be able to represent their national colors free of bullying and harassment. And no performer at Eurovision should ever have to deal with a lynch mob outside of their hotel room. That is shameful and disgusting, and yet that has been the story this year in Malmo. Though each singer represents their country at the contest, that does not equate to them being government officials of said country, not that it is appropriate to treat officials like this either. Israeli representative Eden Golan having to essentially be a prisoner in a hotel room is simply disgraceful, and the silence of the Swedish government on this file is simply unacceptable. We know they would not be silent if a Swedish representative were treated like this in any foreign country.

Even more pathetic is the behavior of some of the other artists in the competition. I came across a clip this morning of the Greek representative essentially pretending to doze off as the Israeli representative fielded questions at a presser after the second semi-final. The Dutch representative appears to have been sanctioned for an altercation with a Swedish journalist. His behavior during that very same presser was also decidedly unimpressive for a grown man. The most disgraceful incident of all though was a shocking question from a Polish reporter, essentially placing blame for endangering the safety of all competitors on the Israeli singer. He is a big boy based on the video I saw and more than capable of defending himself, or removing himself if he feels unsafe. To insinuate that Eden Golan is somehow to blame for a rabble of racists forcing stricter security measures for everyone else debases both the reporter in question and his profession. He deserves the stinging rebukes he's getting on social media and would do well to simply apologize and salvage some dignity. Obviously, he won’t.

In all of this, I must say Ms. Golan (Israel's representative at the 2024 ESC) has handled herself exceptionally well. By simply doing what she was sent to Malmo to do, she has served as an example of dignity and poise in the face of the most despicable behavior. While some of her fellow contestants have debased themselves and the countries they represent, she has represented Israel well both on stage (she qualified for the final) and off it. It turns out that when the voice of hate sings, she sings louder and better, drowning out the hate in a sea of well deserved irrelevance. After years of being completely turned off of Eurovision thanks to the declining quality of the songs, I have a rooting interest again. Now, I really hope Israel wins on Saturday night so this band of hapless, hateful losers with nothing better to do than harass someone they’ve never met over her nationality can really have their well deserved conniption. That would be wonderful.

The Eurovision Song Contest was born out of a desire to “unite Europe through music” as it rebuilt itself from the war years and has since grown to include Middle Eastern countries like Israel and Turkey as well Morocco (in 1980 only) and even Australia more recently with viewership all over the world. The contest should serve to bring out the best in all of us and have us all celebrate our shared creativity as well as our distinct cultures and languages. It should not ever be an event where anyone feels unwelcome because of their national identity or worse still unsafe. A place where music is made should be as safe and welcoming as it gets, irrespective of who you are or where you come from.