THOUGHTFUL: Eden Golan is keen to bring home Israeli hostages in Hamas’ captivity. Photo: GIL COHEN-MAGEN / AFP / NTB
Eden Golan (20) is actively involved in bringing Israeli hostages home from Gaza. Norwegian opponents of Israel’s participation in the Eurovision Song Contest (ESC) react to the political nature of her message.
Monday 6 May at 13:41
On at least three occasions in the last month, Israeli Eden Golan (20) has appealed to his fellow Israelis to do everything in their power so that the hostages can be set free and come home to Israel.
According to the Jerusalem Post 133 Israelis are still held captive by Hamas after the terrorist attack on 7 October last year.
Eurovision candidate Eden Golan himself actively uses his social media to support the release of the hostages.
“We must do everything in our power,” she recently wrote on Instagram in a post in connection with the Jewish Passover, «pesach».
In the third picture in the post, she posts the photographs of 120 Israeli hostages who are still in captivity.
A week ago, just before leaving for Malmö to perform her contribution “Hurricane”, she repeated the message in a new Instagram post:
“I am honored and filled with so much pride to represent our country – this song represents us, all of us, including those who are home and are not – we are waiting for you,” she writes, among other things, translated into Norwegian from Hebrew via Instagram’s translation function.
– This is definitely political and a legitimization of what Israel is doing in Palestine, which is precisely why it is so important for Israel to participate in Eurovision, says the Norwegian artist Marthe Valle, one of the initiators of the Action Group for Palestine, which has fought against Israel’s participation in Eurovision all spring.
Eurovision is underway. On Sunday, Finland’s contribution appeared on the turquoise carpet with a slightly special outfit.
Marthe Valle believes Eden Golan’s statements border on political activism, which from the EBU’s side is undesirable in the context of Eurovision.
The action group has also for several months collected what they believe is evidence that the Israeli broadcaster Kan generally contributes to a news broadcast that is far from in line with the EBU’s regulations.
Also read: Norwegian artists sing against Israel’s participation in Eurovision
On Tuesday, VG sent two questions to the EBU regarding Eden Golan’s statements, where we ask whether the EBU considers these statements to be political, and whether they may have consequences for Israel’s participation in this year’s Eurovision.
The EBU has not yet responded to the inquiry.
Also read: Eurovision organizer against the internet: – Unacceptable
– I think a lot about how this will stand in the future, that the EBU allowed Israel to participate with flags, parties and fun at the same time that they are under investigation for an ongoing genocide, says Marthe Valle and refers to the ongoing investigation after South Africa complained submit Israel to the UN tribunal in The Hague for genocide.
Already early in April, during an annual event under the auspices of the official Israeli Eurovision Amateur ClubEden Golan reflected on the same theme.
The event opened with a moment of silence and was dedicated to all those still sitting as hostages in Gaza, write Jerusalem Post.
– It is incredible to see you standing here with this strength, and I really want to show this on stage and let our voice, as a country, be heard to show everyone that we are here and that we must get everyone home and no one can crush us, Golan said in a meeting with the fiancee of one of the hostages.
Sweden’s contribution Marcus and Martinus has been asked a few times so far:
This year there has been great tension surrounding Israel’s participation in Eurovision after Israel entered Gaza and started warfare against Hamas following the latter’s terrorist attack on 7 October last year.
The security measures in Malmö during Eurovision week, which starts on Sunday, are very strict, and a police presence of 1,000 people is expected.
In the last week alone, there has been more news about tightening and notified events: