Terror fears at the ESC:

Israel’s Eden Golan not to leave her hotel

Israel's Eden Golan is under massive threat because of her participation in the Song Contest.

(Bild: APA/AFP/GIL COHEN-MAGEN)

The Eurovision Song Contest is supposed to be a party for music fans. A happy party without politics. And this year's contest is more exciting and lively than ever before. But unfortunately there is also a threatening shadow over the cult event in Malmö. Israel's participant Eden Golan is being massively threatened and Islamists are threatening terror.

Eden Golan is said to have been asked by the Shin Bet secret service to leave her hotel room as little as possible for her own safety. She has her own bodyguards. 

Large-scale police operation
When she competes in the second semi-final on Thursday, in which our candidate Kaleen will also be singing for a place in the final, there are fears of riots between pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian demonstrators. An estimated 40,000 people have registered for demonstrations.

The police are preparing for a large-scale operation. Denmark and Norway are said to have promised reinforcements. Also because Islamist terrorists are said to have threatened attacks on the arena. Israel tightened its travel warning for the southern Swedish city on Thursday due to fears of attacks on Israelis.

Eden Golan during an interview with AFP before the Song Contest.

(Bild: APA/AFP/GIL COHEN-MAGEN)

Thousands of musicians around the world had called for Israel to be excluded from the ESC before the song contest because of its war against Hamas, as - according to the reasoning - Russia had also been banned from taking part in the competition after its invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

Song rewritten
"Hurricane" is the name of the song Golan is performing at the ESC. The original version, entitled "October Rain", was deemed too political by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which organizes the competition, and therefore in breach of the ESC rules. It had to be rewritten.

Many understood the lyrics as an allusion to the victims of the cruel attack on Israel by the Islamist Palestinian organization Hamas on 7 October, which triggered the war in the Gaza Strip. "I was a bit shocked when the European Broadcasting Union didn't approve the song," says Golan in her apartment in Tel Aviv in an AFP interview: "The song is about a girl going through her own problems and feelings, it has nothing to do with October 7."

Commentators see it differently. Lines such as "There's no air to breathe" or "They were all good kids, every single one of them" clearly refer to the victims of Hamas in their opinion. "Hurricane" has the same melody, but new lyrics.

This version also contains lines that can be understood as a reference to the collective trauma of the Israelis. "I'm still broken by this hurricane," it says, for example. The new text allows for different interpretations, says Golan. "Everyone who hears it can identify with the song on their own level."

"Get a lot of support"
The selection of participants in the Eurovision Song Contest is always controversial. In the past, entries have been admitted to the ESC despite making clear political statements, including the German winner "Ein bisschen Frieden" by singer Nicole in 1982 and the Ukrainian song "1944" by winner Jamala in 2016, which refers to the deportation of the Crimean Tatars.