Eurovision 2024

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

Israel’s participation in the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest in Malmö, Sweden, was marked by controversy. With growing anti-Israel sentiment, some countries threatened to boycott the competition if Israel was not banned from participating. Additionally, the organizers had issues with Israel’s original entry “October Rain” which referenced Hamas’ brutal October 7 attack and the ongoing war in Gaza. They deemed the lyrics to be politically-charged and, therefore, against the spirit of the contest. While the songwriters refused to submit another song or change the lyrics, Israel’s president Haim Herzog intervened and persuaded them that, “at this time in particular, when those who hate us seek to push aside and boycott the state of Israel from every stage, Israel must sound its voice with pride and its head high and raise its flag in every world forum, especially this year.” 1 The lyrics of the song were reworked, and its title “October Rain” became “Hurricane.”

Even though the lyrics were changed, the song still sends a message of vulnerability and brokenness. It is not political, but instead conveys a universal, human experience and evokes sympathy for shared tragedy.

Israel’s Eden Golan did advance to the final and finished in fifth place, but the outcry did not subside, and several thousand protesters gathered in central Malmö ahead of Saturday’s final, waving Palestinian flags and shouting, “Eurovision united by genocide”—a play on the contest’s official slogan, “United by music.”

However, Eden was not deterred by the protests or those in the audience who booed her during performances. She said: “After the first performance, I was a little overwhelmed. I didn’t understand how people get to such a level. But I said to myself, ‘It’s okay, it’s their choice.’ I chose to make it my strength. I think what upset them even more was the fact that I didn’t care anymore; it just didn’t affect me.” An apt response during complex times for Israel in the global arena.