Israeli representative at the Eurovision Song Contest Eden Golan says she faced anti-Semitism when she lived in russia
Eden Golan, a participant of the song contest from Israel, shared that while living in russia, she suffered from harassment related to her Jewish origin
This was reported by espreso.tv
20-year-old Israeli singer Eden Golan will represent her country at the Malmö Song Contest this year. The artist was born in Kfar Sava, central Israel, but moved to moscow with her parents at the age of 6.
While living in russia, she studied at a British international school. She had hoped that her interest in rhythmic gymnastics since the age of three would propel her to the Olympics, but that all changed during a family vacation in Thailand when she was nine. A group of musicians who were entertaining guests in the hotel lobby invited her to join them on stage and take the microphone. The following year, she represented russia at the Junior Eurovision Song Contest, where she came in fifth place.
But it was on the russian children's version of the reality TV show The Voice in 2018 that she caught the attention of russian producers, who invited Eden to join the female pop group The Cosmos Girls, where she worked for two years.
However, her time in russia has left her with mixed emotions. At the beginning of her music career in Moscow, she experienced anti-Semitism.
"I always felt like an outsider there, like I was never part of their world. Once they told me to change my Jewish name: "You won't get far with that name." Some of the kids in my school drew a poop emoji on the board next to the word 'Jews'", the singer recalled.
Eden's family always had the goal of returning to Israel one day, and russia's invasion of Ukraine was the catalyst. Israel is the only place where they truly felt at home.
"It's the warmth of the people. It's like the whole country is your family. I missed that feeling", she added.
Israeli-Palestinian conflict and Eurovision 2024
Pro-Palestinian activists who want Israel to not participate in the song contest have announced mass rallies in the center of Malmö, a few kilometers from the Malmö Arena. Despite the protests and official appeals to the European Broadcasting Union, Israel is participating in Eurovision.
The organizers emphasized that the situations in Ukraine and Gaza are different, as russia is carrying out unprovoked military aggression.
But the degree of tension in the city is high, so the Israeli National Security Council warned Israelis planning to visit Malmö not to reveal their identity, not to display Israeli symbols and not to speak Hebrew loudly. The Swedish police, in turn, have taken unprecedented measures.
For the first time, Eurovision will be guarded by c-UAS mobile missile systems to counter unmanned aerial systems that will close the sky over Malmö. There will also be so-called Scandinavian reinforcements - additional police officers from Denmark and Norway will arrive to guard everything from the arena to events, hotels and demonstrations.
At the same time, Malmö police assured that they will strengthen security measures.
The Eurovision Song Contest 2024 semifinals will be held at the Malmö Arena on May 7 and 9. The grand final will be held on May 11. Jerry Heil and Alyona Alyona will represent Ukraine at the song contest, they won the National Selection. The girl was told that she would suffer even before she went on the big stage, the Jerusalem Post wrote.
