Finland’s Eurovision singer who was filmed dancing with Israel’s Eden Golan has demanded the video be removed and distanced himself from her after he received a backlash from supporters of Palestine.
Jere Mikael Pöyhönen – known by his stage name Käärijä, who came second performing for his country at the 2023 Eurovision Song Contest – was filmed in the brief ten second clip headbanging with Golan in a corridor.
The 20-year-old Israeli singer is seen counting the pair in before singing a line from Käärijä’s ‘Cha Cha Cha’ together, which became a cult hit last year. They are then seen laughing and clasping hands before the video ends.
The seemingly innocuous clip was posted online by various sources including Kan – the Israeli Public Broadcasting Corporation, Golan herself and the the official Eurovision X account, along with the message: ‘Eden Golan & Käärijä in new video!’.
However, it was shared amid growing anger over Golan and Israel’s involvement in this year’s song contest due to the country’s on-going military action in Gaza.
Hours later after the video was shared, Käärijä took to Instagram to distance himself from the clip, saying it was posted without his permission.
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He also emphasised that it was not a political endorsement amid the on-going conflict in the Middle East, sparked by Hamas’s October 7 terror attack on Israel.
‘I happened to meet Israel’s Eurovision representative today, and a video was filmed of us,’ Käärijä wrote in an Instagram story.
‘It was then posted on social media without my permission. Despite my requests for its removal, it has not been taken down. I would like to clarify and emphasise that the video is not a political statement or an endorsement of any kind.’
Käärijä’s post in-turn prompted further backlash from supporters of Golan and Israel, with Israeli author Hen Mazzig among those who took to X to criticise the Fin.
’20 years-old Israeli singer, Eden Golan, was dancing with Finish singer Käärijä today, the video got thousands of hateful comments to the point that the Finish singer had to apologize for being seen with this Israeli girl,’ Mazzig wrote.
‘Can you think of any other country which an artist will have to apologize for being seen with another artist from that nation?’ he asked his followers, before listing hypothetical equivalents – such as ‘Dancing with this British singer isn’t an endorsement of Rishi Sunak’.
‘No, you can’t,’ Mazzig wrote, ‘because no other country and no other people have been dehumanized this way. This isn’t about peace, it’s not even about love for Palestinians. It’s just about your hate to the only Jewish state.’
‘This is f***ing antisemitism,’ another X user wrote. ‘Käärijä dances with Eden Golan and then he has to apologize for it. I’m getting tired of this cr*p now, it’s not a hatred of Israel, it’s a hatred of Jews and it has to stop!’
As of Friday morning, the video remained up on the Eurovision X account.
A spokesperson for Kan told The Times of Israel that the video was removed from Golan’s social media pages, and would also be removed from Kan’s page.
Despite the outcry from Palestinian supporters over Golan’s inclusion in the competition, oddsmakers are now listing Israel as one of the favourites to win the Eurovision song contest – the final of which will be held in Sweden on Saturday.
Golan performed her song ‘Hurricane’ in Thursday’s second semi-final in front of 9,000 spectators at the host city’s eponymous Malmo Arena, defying thousands of demonstrators outside marching over the Gaza war.
She took to the stage having spent the whole day locked down in her hotel room by her country’s Shin Bet security agency after receiving death threats and amid terror-attack fears.
Thousands of protesters clamoured in the streets of Malmo calling for her expulsion from the competition ahead of the event – and 50 more made it to the front of the arena ahead of her performance and had to be dispersed by police officers.
But despite boos from the pro-Palestinian contingent in the crowd, Golan booked her place in the final thanks to viewers’ votes.
Now British bookies Ladbrokes and PaddyPower both have Israel among the favourites to win the whole competition, with the latter putting Eden Golan as second favourite at 3/1 odds behind Croatia at the time of writing.
This year, Israel’s participation and the choice of song has seen the contest swept up in the wave of pro-Palestinian protests that have brought thousands to the streets of cities in the United States, Europe and beyond.
Golan’s song is an adaptation of an earlier version named ‘October Rain ‘, which she modified after contest organisers deemed it too political because of its apparent allusions to Hamas’s unprecedented attack on Israel on October 7.
As she prepared for her performance yesterday, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu wished Golan good luck and said she had ‘already won’ by enduring the protests that he called a ‘horrible wave of anti-Semitism’.
In Malmo, more than 10,000 people including climate activist Greta Thunberg gathered in the main square before marching through the city’s central pedestrian shopping street, according to police estimates.
Malmo is home to a large immigrant population, including many of Palestinian and other Middle Eastern origins.
‘I am a Eurovision fan and it breaks my heart, but I’m boycotting,’ 30-year-old protester Hilda, who did not want to provide her surname, told AFP.
‘I can’t have fun knowing that Israel is there participating when all those kids are dying. I think it’s just wrong.’
Protesters also held up banners that read ‘Liberate Palestine’ and ‘EUR legitimises genocide’.
Protesters also entered the Eurovision Village, set up to allow spectators to watch the show on large screens.
Elsewhere in Malmo, about 100 counter-protesters gathered under police protection to express their support for Israel.
Several petitions this year have demanded Israel’s exclusion from the 68th edition of the annual music competition.
At the end of March, contestants from nine countries, including Swiss favourite Nemo, called for a lasting ceasefire.
It is not the first time Eurovision has been swept up by divisions over a conflict.
Russia last participated in Eurovision in 2021 ahead of its invasion of Ukraine.
In 2022, its state broadcaster was excluded from the European Broadcasting Union, which oversees Eurovision.
In Malmo, one protester said he wanted Israel to be excluded too.
‘I feel like if they can remove Russia why can they not do it to Israel?’ said protester Marwo Mustafa.
Emily Foster is a globe-trotting journalist based in the UK. Her articles offer readers a global perspective on international events, exploring complex geopolitical issues and providing a nuanced view of the world’s most pressing challenges.