Eurovision, the largest international music competition in which member
countries of the European Broadcasting Union participate, ended
yesterday. This year's competition received special attention from
around the world due to Israel's participation amid the ongoing genocide
in Gaza. Even before the competition began, there were calls to exclude
Israel, similar to Russia's exclusion in 2022 after its invasion of Ukraine.
Before participating, Israel changed its song at the request of the
organizers. The song was originally supposed to be called "October Rain"
and refer to the attack on October 7th. The final lyrics of the song
"Hurricane" still refer to the October events, but in a more veiled way.
In Malmo, where the competition was held, numerous protests took place -
more than ten thousand people demanded that Israel be removed from the
competition. A number of artists participating in the competition also
spoke out against Israel's participation. Eric Saade from Sweden, who
performed the opening number, came out with a keffiyeh (a symbol of
support for Palestine), which drew criticism from the organizers and led
to increased control over pro-Palestinian symbols. The Belgian trade
union bought an advertisement during the broadcast of the competition,
in which it criticized Israel's actions. During Israel's speech, the
audience's dissatisfaction could be heard in the hall.
At the end of the competition, Israel took fifth place thanks to
audience voting. Israel received 323 points based on the voting results,
rising from 12th place to fifth. A massive advertising campaign was
discovered on the Internet calling for people to vote for the Eden Golan
in different languages, without mentioning Israel. Artists who have
supported Palestinians continue to face various attacks from Israeli
supporters. Bambie Thug, representing Ireland, accused the Israeli
channel Kan of making threats during the broadcast. Representatives of
the Israeli delegation spread insults against other artists on their
social networks: ok. Transphobic and homophobic slurs against
Switzerland's Nemo winner have appeared on the Israeli Wikipedia page.
Some even accused the international jury of anti-Semitism due to the
small number of votes.
-----------------------------------------
This year's Eurovision Song Contest once again showed that the
world is ready to forgive Israel for genocide and numerous documented
crimes against humanity. However, Israeli society perceives this
completely differently. For the Israelis, this is the story of how they,
despite blatant "anti-Semitism" from all sides (including other
participants, organizers and the international jury), were able to take
fifth place and receive a huge number of audience votes. But this is not
enough for them - the Israelis are sure that they should have won the
competition this year, but only the anti-Semitic jury prevented them
from doing so. Bullying artist:ok in this context is taken for granted
by them and is encouraged by society. At the same time, it is impossible
to imagine any other country reacting in this way to a loss in the
competition - to the point of officials and leading influencers hurling
insults at other participants on their social networks. We will remember
this Eurovision for a long time, it will be remembered for the fact that
the regime that is committing genocide right now used the international
platform for legitimation, brazenly and with a grin on its face showing
everyone around that the only right here is the right of the strong.
- Alice's comment,
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
countries of the European Broadcasting Union participate, ended
yesterday. This year's competition received special attention from
around the world due to Israel's participation amid the ongoing genocide
in Gaza. Even before the competition began, there were calls to exclude
Israel, similar to Russia's exclusion in 2022 after its invasion of Ukraine.
Before participating, Israel changed its song at the request of the
organizers. The song was originally supposed to be called "October Rain"
and refer to the attack on October 7th. The final lyrics of the song
"Hurricane" still refer to the October events, but in a more veiled way.
In Malmo, where the competition was held, numerous protests took place -
more than ten thousand people demanded that Israel be removed from the
competition. A number of artists participating in the competition also
spoke out against Israel's participation. Eric Saade from Sweden, who
performed the opening number, came out with a keffiyeh (a symbol of
support for Palestine), which drew criticism from the organizers and led
to increased control over pro-Palestinian symbols. The Belgian trade
union bought an advertisement during the broadcast of the competition,
in which it criticized Israel's actions. During Israel's speech, the
audience's dissatisfaction could be heard in the hall.
At the end of the competition, Israel took fifth place thanks to
audience voting. Israel received 323 points based on the voting results,
rising from 12th place to fifth. A massive advertising campaign was
discovered on the Internet calling for people to vote for the Eden Golan
in different languages, without mentioning Israel. Artists who have
supported Palestinians continue to face various attacks from Israeli
supporters. Bambie Thug, representing Ireland, accused the Israeli
channel Kan of making threats during the broadcast. Representatives of
the Israeli delegation spread insults against other artists on their
social networks: ok. Transphobic and homophobic slurs against
Switzerland's Nemo winner have appeared on the Israeli Wikipedia page.
Some even accused the international jury of anti-Semitism due to the
small number of votes.
-----------------------------------------
This year's Eurovision Song Contest once again showed that the
world is ready to forgive Israel for genocide and numerous documented
crimes against humanity. However, Israeli society perceives this
completely differently. For the Israelis, this is the story of how they,
despite blatant "anti-Semitism" from all sides (including other
participants, organizers and the international jury), were able to take
fifth place and receive a huge number of audience votes. But this is not
enough for them - the Israelis are sure that they should have won the
competition this year, but only the anti-Semitic jury prevented them
from doing so. Bullying artist:ok in this context is taken for granted
by them and is encouraged by society. At the same time, it is impossible
to imagine any other country reacting in this way to a loss in the
competition - to the point of officials and leading influencers hurling
insults at other participants on their social networks. We will remember
this Eurovision for a long time, it will be remembered for the fact that
the regime that is committing genocide right now used the international
platform for legitimation, brazenly and with a grin on its face showing
everyone around that the only right here is the right of the strong.
- Alice's comment,
_________________________________________
A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C E
By, For, and About Anarchists
Send news reports to A-infos-en mailing list
A-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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