The performance of the representative of Israel at “Eurovision” was received ambiguously: applause was mixed with whistling | Names

On Thursday, 16 countries competed for the last ten tickets to the Eurovision final, including Israel. At the end of the second semi-final, it became clear that the country was among the lucky ones who won a ticket to the final.

However, Israel’s participation in this year’s contest has been accompanied by outrage for several months, with calls and even petitions circulating on social media long before the event to ban the country from participating in the contest because of the war in the Gaza Strip. However, Eurovision organizers made a decision to allow Israel and its representative Eden Golan to participate in the competition.

Such a decision of the organizers of the contest was not favorably received by a considerable number of Eurovision fans. Even before the second semi-final, a protest started in the streets of Malmö, where about two thousand protesters gathered.

Carrying Palestinian flags, the protesters chanted “Free Palestine”, held placards with inscriptions – “EBU shows its racism”, “Don’t use Eurovision to justify Israeli brutality”. There were other chants of outrage.

The tension over Israel’s participation in the competition did not subside even after the start of the second semi-final. Although the performances of the representatives of almost all countries were greeted by thunderous applause from the audience, the representative of Israel, Eden Golan, was greeted a little differently on stage – the applause was mixed with the whistling of the outraged.

A similar situation happened on Thursday during the dress rehearsal – when Eden Golan performed his song, whistles and calls to get off the stage were heard in the audience.