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Israel’s Eden Golan Reveals She Was Forced to Conceal Identity, Wear Disguise in Sweden During Eurovision
Eden Golan, Israel’s representative at the Eurovision Song Contest, reacts during a press conference following the official unveiling of Israel’s song submission, in Tel Aviv, Israel, March 10, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Carlos Garcia Rawlins
Eden Golan, Israel’s representative in the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest, shared on social media on Thursday that she had to hide her identity outside her hotel during the song competition in Malmo, Sweden, earlier this year because her safety was being threatened by anti-Israel activists who were opposed to Israel’s participation in the contest.
“It’s been exactly two months since the Eurovision Song Contest, and as I was scrolling through my camera roll the other night, I came across this pic and really wanted to share it with you guys,” Golan wrote in the caption of a photo she posted on Instagram, which shows her wearing a wig to disguise herself while in Malmo.
“At the moment, I thought it was funny but didn’t realize how scary and dangerous it really was,” Golan added in the caption, written in both Hebrew and English. “Many people know that we were surrounded by the best security but didn’t know about those moments when I had to dress up for the little time we did spend outside the hotel.”
Golan came in fifth place in the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest with her song “Hurricane.” She made it to the top five after being booed on stage by anti-Israel protesters, facing death threats and having one of the competition’s jury members refusing to give her points because of his personal opposition to Israel’s military actions during the ongoing war targeting Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip.
“It’s sad that we have returned to a time where a Jewish Israeli woman has to hide parts of her identity to avoid being harmed,” Golan further wrote in the Instagram post on Thursday. “It’s definitely a moment I will never forget for the rest of my life. I know there are better days ahead of us.”
Thousands of anti-Israel activists and supporters of the boycott, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) movement against Israel protested in Malmo, including outside the singer’s hotel room, because they were opposed to the Jewish state’s involvement in the competition. Golan was also ordered by Israel’s national security agency Shin Bet to mostly stay in her hotel room during the anti-Israel demonstrations for her safety, except to attend performances, and the Israeli delegation repeatedly faced hostility from other participants.
For several months before the Eurovision finals took place in May, anti-Israel activists attempted, unsuccessfully, to convince artists to withdraw from the song contest because of Israel’s participation and to pressure the European Broadcasting Union to remove Israel from this year’s competition.
Golan’s song for the Eurovision Song Contest was originally titled “October Rain” and initially included lyrics that referenced the Oct. 7 Hamas massacre in Israel. However, that song was disqualified for being too political.
A number of Jewish organizations criticized the fact that Golan was forced to conceal her identity for her safety while competing in the Eurovision.
“It’s appalling that more than 80 years after the Holocaust, Jews must again hide their identity in Europe. Unchecked antisemitism is to blame,” said the American Jewish Committee.
The nonprofit entertainment industry organization Creative Community for Peace said it’s “sad that a Jewish singer needs to hide like this,” while the Combat Antisemitism Movement called it “tragic and wrong.”
The post Israel’s Eden Golan Reveals She Was Forced to Conceal Identity, Wear Disguise in Sweden During Eurovision first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israel Readies for a Nationwide Strike on Sunday
Demonstrators hold signs and pictures of hostages, as relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages kidnapped during the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas protest demanding the release of all hostages in Tel Aviv, Israel, Feb. 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Itai Ron
i24 News – The families of Israeli hostages held in Gaza are calling on for a general strike to be held on Sunday in an effort to compel the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to a deal with Hamas for the release of their loved ones and a ceasefire. According to Israeli officials, 50 hostages now remain in Gaza, of whom 20 are believed to be alive.
The October 7 Council and other groups representing bereaved families of hostages and soldiers who fell since the start of the war declared they were “shutting down the country to save the soldiers and the hostages.”
While many businesses said they would join the strike, Israel’s largest labor federation, the Histadrut, has declined to participate.
Some of the country’s top educational institutions, including the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv University, declared their support for the strike.
“We, the members of the university’s leadership, deans, and department heads, hereby announce that on Sunday, each and every one of us will participate in a personal strike as a profound expression of solidarity with the hostage families,” the Hebrew University’s deal wrote to students.
The day will begin at 6:29 AM, to commemorate the start of the October 7 attack, with the first installation at Tel Aviv’s Hostages Square in Tel Aviv. Further demonstrations are planned at dozens of traffic intersections.
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Netanyahu ‘Has Become a Problem,’Says Danish PM as She Calls for Russia-Style Sanctions Against Israel
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks to the press on Capitol Hill, Washington, DC, July 8, 2025. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein
i24 News – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has become a “problem,” his Danish counterpart Mette Frederiksen said Saturday, adding she would try to put pressure on Israel over the Gaza war.
“Netanyahu is now a problem in himself,” Frederiksen told Danish media, adding that the Israeli government is going “too far” and lashing out at the “absolutely appalling and catastrophic” humanitarian situation in Gaza and announced new homes in the West Bank.
“We are one of the countries that wants to increase pressure on Israel, but we have not yet obtained the support of EU members,” she said, specifying she referred to “political pressure, sanctions, whether against settlers, ministers, or even Israel as a whole.”
“We are not ruling anything out in advance. Just as with Russia, we are designing the sanctions to target where we believe they will have the greatest effect.”
The devastating war in Gaza began almost two years ago, with an incursion into Israel of thousands of Palestinian armed jihadists, who perpetrated the deadliest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust.
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As Alaska Summit Ends With No Apparent Progress, Zelensky to Meet Trump on Monday
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky speaks at the press conference after the opening session of Crimea Platform conference in Kyiv, Ukraine, 23 August 2023. The Crimea Platform – is an international consultation and coordination format initiated by Ukraine. OLEG PETRASYUK/Pool via REUTERS
i24 News – After US President Donald Trump hailed the “great progress” made during a meeting with Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday, Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky announced that he was set to meet Trump on Monday at the White House.
“There were many, many points that we agreed on, most of them, I would say, a couple of big ones that we haven’t quite gotten there, but we’ve made some headway,” Trump told reporters during a joint press conference after the meeting.
Many observers noted, however, that the subsequent press conference was a relatively muted affair compared to the pomp and circumstance of the red carpet welcome, and the summit produced no tangible progress.
Trump and Putin spoke briefly, with neither taking questions, and offered general statements about an “understanding” and “progress.”
Putin, who spoke first, agreed with Trump’s long-repeated assertion that Russia never would have invaded Ukraine in 2022 had Trump been president instead of Democrat Joe Biden.
Trump said “many points were agreed to” and that “just a very few” issues were left to resolve, offering no specifics and making no reference to the ceasefire he’s been seeking.