Until today, I wouldn't have been able to tell you what the Eurovision Song Contest was or where it was held, but it seems that the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest is well underway in Malmo, Sweden. Around 100,000 people are attending, making it a pretty big deal, and one of the scheduled performers is an Israeli singer.
That, of course, is drawing some protesters. Among them? The Doom Pixie, Greta Thunberg.
Eurovision fans dressed in quirky outfits, sequins and their national colours arrived for the event, while around a hundred protesters chanted "boycott Israel" and "shame on you" outside the venue before being ushered away by police.
Climate activist Greta Thunberg earlier in the day joined more than 10,000 pro-Palestinian demonstrators in the centre of Malmo who object to Israel's participation in the musical contest.
Police said protests were largely calm. Nine people had been taken into custody and one person was arrested on suspicion of a serious crime against the Knife Act.
If the protests were calm, fine. Miss Pippi Longschpieling has not, we must admit, engaged in any event where there was violence, only trespassing and blocking traffic, which are crimes but at least not violent crimes. But as we've seen from American college campuses in the last few weeks, that's a narrow line that is easy to step across.
Miss Thunberg, it should be noted, showed up at the protest sporting a Yassir Arafat-styled keffiyeh to give visual confirmation of her antisemitism. This is (as so often seems to be the case) a great irony, given the nature of the people she is protesting in favor of. In Gaza - or Iran, or Syria - she would not only not be allowed to speak her mind as she does so freely in Europe, but she would not be allowed to show her face or hair in public, or to leave her lodgings unless accompanied by a male relative. And let's not even get into the environmental calamity that is most of the Middle East.
Speaking of useful idiots:
Protester Eric Goran said in the past he would usually watch Eurovision, which is organised by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and has been held since 1956.
"This year I lost all respect for the EBU," he said. "It's clear that they can't take a standpoint against what's going on. I think the only right thing to do is to boycott Israel."
Swedish authorities have heightened security, bracing for possible unrest.
Previously on RedState: WATCH: Craziness Erupts as Man Tries to Stop Greta Thunberg Turning Climate Demo Into Anti-Israel Rally
WATCH: Greta Thunberg Takes the Mask Off Fully, as She Chants to 'Crush Zionism' at Disturbing Rally
The Israeli singer, Eden Golan, will be performing the song "Hurricane." Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has openly praised Miss Golan for participating in the Eurovision competition, but her experience in Malmo has been less than enjoyable; she has been unable to leave her hotel room for fear of attack.
Eden Golan, our fellow artist, cannot leave her hotel room in fear for her life because she is Jewish. This is 2024. I call on every artist to join me in condemning publicly this despicable act of hate. This is a time for choosing. Your silence is complicit. @Eurovision… pic.twitter.com/Qi2lrAtGIv
— John Ondrasik (@johnondrasik) May 9, 2024
Thunberg's protesting the Eurovision Song Contest is a clear illustration of the weakness of the Doom Pixie's thought processes. It's highly probable that, if asked, she could not describe the history of Israel, from Roman times to date, the etymology of the term "Palestinian," or the religious and ethnic origins of the people living in what was once Judea and is now Israel.
But then, those on the left have never been likely to let facts get in the way of a good protest.
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