Israel agrees to revise Eurovision song lyrics that evoked Hamas attack

Source: Reuters

Israel agrees to revise Eurovision song lyrics that evoked Hamas attack

Reuters
March 3, 2024 12:40 PM EST Updated 6 hours ago

JERUSALEM, March 3 (Reuters) - Israel has agreed to revise the lyrics of its potential submission to the Eurovision Song Contest after the contest organizers took issue with verses that appeared to reference Hamas' Oct. 7 attack, Israel's national broadcaster Kan said on Sunday.

Eurovision, which this year will take place on May 7-11 in the Swedish city of Malmo, bills itself as a non-political event and can disqualify contestants deemed to have breached that rule. Broadcaster Kan is tasked with choosing Israel's entry.

The leading Israeli submission is "October Rain", a ballad sung by female soloist Eden Golan.

According to lyrics leaked to the media, and later confirmed by Kan, it includes lines such as "There's no air left to breathe" and "They were all good children, each one of them" - apparent allusions to people who holed up in shelters as Hamas gunmen carried out a killing and kidnapping spree at an outdoor music festival and other sites which sparked the war in Gaza.

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Read more: https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israel-agrees-revise-eurovision-song-lyrics-that-evoked-hamas-attack-2024-03-03/

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