Pro-Palestinian Protests Outside Eurovision Competition Demand Removal Of Israeli Contestant

deadline.com:

A crowd of protesters estimated by authorities at up to 10,000 took to the streets of Malmö, Sweden on Saturday, calling for an end to Israel’s participation in the Eurovision Song Contest being held tonight in the city.

Swedish police held back the crowd, who demanded that Israeli Eurovision contestant Eden Golan be removed from the final. Golan is representing Israel with the song Hurricane.

It was originally titled October Rain in reference to the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel. Golan is reportedly under guard at her hotel by Israel’s Shin Bet security team.

She will be escorted to the event by Swedish police and her own team, according to reports. Israel’s ambassador to Sweden, Ziv Nevo Kulman, condemned the protests, telling Dagens Nyheter: “We have the world’s biggest music competition in Malmö and the focus in recent weeks has been on extremists because the pro-Palestinian groups demonstrating are among the most extreme of the extreme. “They were the same people who celebrated in the streets after October 7th.