An Israeli comedian has claimed that he was escorted away from the Eurovision Village in Malmo, Sweden after waving the Israeli flag.
Controverial comic Guy Hochman - who has served as an Israeli soldier and was slammed last year for making jokes about the killings of Palestinians in Gaza - has posted a video of himself being led away from the village by Swedish police. Wearing a black hoodie, jeanes and backwards baseball cap, he is seen walking in between two officers at the event.
He later stops and is spotted talking to one of the cops as he gestures wildly before filming himself walking again with the cop at his side. Sharing the clip on Instagram, he appeared to refer to himself waving an Israeli flag earlier as others waved Palestinian flags and suggested that he received unfair treatment.
Hochman wrote in Hebrew: "Europe 2024. A Jew with one flag and one egg is escorted out so that the supporters of Palestine who are waving a flag in violation of Eurovision rules, stop cursing and spitting. Not giving up, they won't take my head off." He then concerningly added in an odd ramble: "May their name be erased. One day Rosengard, this Islamic neighborhood in Malmö, will explode in their faces... And they will cry, oh how they will cry for having surrendered to evil... That they collaborated with him. And the message we should take from it... Let them hate us no matter our opinions... And we must stand together. With one."
It has not been confirmed whether he was escorted away from the Eurovision Village for simply waving the Israeli flag or if there was an additional reason. The Mirror has reached out to Eurovision for comment.
This year's Eurovision has already been swamped in controversy following the decision to allow Israel to participate amid Israel's military campaign against Hamas in Gaza, which is now in its seventh month. The war in Gaza has driven around 80% of the territory's population of 2.3million from their homes and caused vast destruction to apartments, hospitals, mosques and schools across several cities. The death toll in Gaza has soared to more than 34,500 people, according to local health officials.
The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) has also this week been accused of being "morally corrupt" and "hypocritical" after expressing their "regret" in a statement regarding Eric Saade's performance on Tuesday night. Bosses accused the former Swedish Eurovision contestant of comprising the alleged "non-political nature" of the event after Saade took to the stage in Sweden to open the competition's semi-final, with the singer displaying a keffiyeh print scarf wrapped around his left wrist as he performed his 2011 entry Popular.
Ahead of the event at Malmo Arena, those attending were warned not to bring Palestinian flags, symbols or bags and were told that there will be "vigorous security checks". Palestine are not competing in this year's competition but Israel - located in the Middle East - are.
It comes after Eurovision banned Russia from taking part in 2022 after their invasion of Ukraine. Last week, Israel raised its travel warnings for the duration of the Eurovision Song Contest in Sweden this year due to planned protests. The Israeli National Security Agency said it plans to raise the threat level from two to three amid heightened tensions over the war in Gaza. Widespread protests are expected to cast a shadow over the event.
The NISA advisory said: "Malmo is recognized as a hub for anti-Israel protests, given its high concentration of immigrants from Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, and Iran. These protests are a weekly occurrence and often involve demonstrations, calls for harm against Jews and Israelis, and the burning of Israeli flags, among other actions. Notably, on October 7 (the day of Hamas' attack on Israel), anti-Israeli elements in Malmo openly celebrated the tragic events that occurred in Israel.
"Furthermore, alongside the protests in Malmo, there has been a recent surge in calls from global jihadist groups and radical Islamists to carry out attacks against Western targets. This includes specific threats against Israelis and Jews worldwide, with a particular focus on events garnering significant media attention. In light of this, it's worth mentioning that just recently (on March 19), two ISIS activists were apprehended for plotting an attack on the Swedish parliament."
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