Euromania mostly good for Israel

PAULA SLIER

That dream came true last year for Israeli singer Netta Barzilai, who won the event in Portugal. Following a tradition in which the winner’s country hosts the competition the following year, Eurovision was brought to Israel for the third time in the competition’s history.

For Israel, Eurovision 2019 was the largest international cultural event the country has ever staged. While about 7 000 fans attended the live concerts, it was watched by an estimated 200 million viewers around the world.

The Expo Tel Aviv was outfitted with state-of-the-art props, lighting, and cameras that managed to create the impression of contestants singing in what seemed to be on-stage showers or standing on massive stilts.

The line-up boasted past winners, and Madonna, the “queen of pop”, whose participation was uncertain until the last moment.

Many organisers, international broadcasters, fans and Israelis applauded it as the best Eurovision show in living memory.

Except for one thing. It didn’t bring in the expected tourist numbers. In the run-up, hotels in Tel Aviv dramatically increased their prices with the result that many rooms remained empty. Tickets to the performances were expensive, and many simply couldn’t afford to attend. This was the reason numbers were down, not calls by the Boycott Divestment Sanctions (BDS) movement to stay away.

Not to gloss over the efforts of Israel haters. On arrival, as visitors travelled from Ben Gurion Airport to the host city, Tel Aviv, they were greeted by a massive billboard declaring, “Dare to dream… of freedom.” This was alongside a photograph of Israel’s security barrier and the Palestinian city of Hebron. Sponsored by the organisation Breaking the Silence, a group of former Israeli combat soldiers who oppose Israel’s occupation of the West Bank, it advertised daily tours to Hebron to see the “full picture”.

Participants and artists were urged to boycott in support of Palestinian rights. As an alternative to Eurovision, Palestinian, Israeli, and international artists put on a series of concerts in the West Bank, Haifa, London, and Dublin. Coming together under the banner of “Globalvision” these anti-Eurovision parties were streamed live around the world during Saturday night’s finale.

Madonna, too, was under pressure not to attend. She signed the contract with Eurovision only three days before her performance. The delay was reportedly caused by the politicised content of her songs and copyright concerns. But Madonna defended her decision to participate, saying that she would always speak up to defend human rights, and that she hoped to see “a new path towards peace”.

It came as a surprise to many then, when, at the end of her performance, the last two dancers to leave the stage were wearing Israeli and Palestinian flags on their backs. The words “Wake Up” flashed on the screen.

The show’s organisers insist they didn’t authorise this. Israeli Culture Minister Miri Regev was furious, insisting that, “Politics should not be involved in a cultural event, and such things should not happen, with all due respect to Madonna.”

It’s possible that at the last moment, Madonna tried to pacify those who criticised her for coming to Israel. Or maybe, as some of her fans point out, her message was a call for harmony rather than a protest. Madonna tweeted that she was “grateful for the opportunity to spread the message of peace and unity with the world”.

Still, the singer might be wondering if it was all worth it. In spite of being paid more than $1 million (R14.4 million) for her performance – the bill was footed by Israeli-Canadian billionaire Sylvan Adams – she has been criticised extensively for a poor performance and for singing out of tune.

But she was not the only one to inject controversy into the contest. Members of the Icelandic band Hatari waved scarves bearing the Palestinian flag as the score for their performance was announced. Cameras were quick to pan away, and security confiscated the scarves, but not before the protest had been seen worldwide.

It wasn’t a surprise. In the lead-up to the concert, the group expressed its displeasure about the Israeli government and its policies. Social media was abuzz, while Palestinian supporters praised the gesture. The Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel, a founding member of the Palestinian BDS movement, said, “The most meaningful expression of solidarity is to cancel performances in apartheid Israel.”

Israeli fans pointed out that the revealing and provocative clothes this somewhat nutty group from Iceland wore, and the fact that they are gay, would have resulted in them being thrown off roofs in Gaza by the very people they support. Eurovision organisers have since said that Iceland’s entry could be “punished”.

The only other hiccup – if one can call it that – is that rehearsals for Saturday night’s finals were held on Shabbat. It prompted the country’s Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi David Lau to call for the Sabbath to be extended by 20 minutes in response to the “desecration” of the holy day.

He asked observers to refrain from doing work 10 minutes before the start of Shabbat and 10 minutes after it finished, as a way to “beg G-d to protect us”.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is locked in coalition talks with the religious parties, asserted that Eurovision was an international event, and that the Israeli government had no control over it. Some observers pointed out, though, that Israel could perhaps have insisted that the finale not be held on a Saturday night.

In retrospect, was hosting the event a victory for Israel’s public-relations efforts? Most agree it was. During the shows, 40-second clips introduced performers, showcasing the country’s fun spirit with the dance theme. Israel’s biggest Hollywood Star, Gal Gadot, who plays Wonder Woman, starred in a three-minute video about the beauty of the country. There were no security mishaps in spite of a flare up in violence with Gaza in the run-up to the event. And just to be on the safe side, the army deployed Iron Dome anti-missile batteries throughout central Israel.

Eurovision is supposed to be all about the music, but for a country like Israel, politics is never far behind. For a few short days, media coverage focused on something other than the often depressing pictures that come out of this corner of the world. That in itself is a success.