Israel agrees to review its Eurovision song
The Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation (KAN) announced yesterday, Sunday, that Israel has agreed to review the lyrics of the song that may participate in the Eurovision Song Contest.
The competition organizers objected to some words that seemed to refer to the attack by the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) on October 7.
This year’s Eurovision competition will be held from May 7 to 11 in the Swedish city of Malmo. Those organizing the competition say that it is a non-political event and contestants can be excluded if they violate this rule.
The Israeli Public Broadcasting Authority is responsible for choosing the song that will represent Israel in the competition.
The song “October Rain” by singer Eden Golan topped the list of nominations to represent Israel in the competition.
CAN said that it asked the authors of the song “October Rain” and the song “Dance Forever,” which came in second place on the nominations list, to review the lyrics of the two songs, with their right to freedom of artistic expression.
Kan indicated that they agreed to change some words at the request of Israeli President Isaac Herzog.
Cannes will later officially select the song to send to the Eurovision committee.
Rejected Israel
Thousands of singers, politicians, activists and government broadcasters across Europe reject the participation of the occupying state, and all demand its expulsion and ban, for the obvious reason that is its aggression against the Gaza Strip, which has become the subject of a case before the attention of the International Court.
In Finland, more than 1,400 musicians signed a petition demanding the expulsion of the occupation from Eurovision. In Spain, a Spanish party submitted a proposal to Parliament to expel it from the competition.
Even within the organizing country itself, Sweden, a thousand Swedish artists have called on the European Broadcasting Union to exclude the entity from the competition this year at least.
The artists wrote an open letter accusing the organizers of double standards, because they have not allowed any Russian musician to participate in the competition since Russia invaded Ukraine, while Israel treats them very preferentially.
The rejection of the occupation coincides with the increasing possibility of a Palestinian representing the state of Iceland in the 2024 edition of the competition, with the Palestinian, Bashar Murad, reaching the finals at the local level.
Bashar Murad has been known for addressing topics of the Israeli occupation and gender equality in the Middle East through his music.
(Reuters, Al-Arabi Al-Jadeed)
