OPINION: Europe’s lack of vision in not seeing Israel’s Eden Golan as a person

Eden Golan, Israel’s 2024 entry to the Eurovision contest, is a person. 

Mazal Tazazo and Millet Ben Haim, who both visited Parliament this week as survivors of the Nova music festival, are people.

The women raped, tortured, kidnapped, murdered, are all individual people.

Their families, who have lost loved ones, or desperately clinging on to hope that their children/brothers/sisters/parents will be returned, are all persons.

At some point since 7th October, and one can argue on 7th October, groups of people stopped seeing Israelis and Jews as individual people, but rather a group of people, separate from humanity, who deserved to be attacked.

People are suffering on both sides of the border, and Jews are suffering worldwide with a staggering rise in antisemitism. When one stops seeing people as individuals, there is no hope for humanity and peace. People excuse their acts of racism and violence through dehumanisation which is dangerous and destructive.

Eden Golan is 20 years old. A young person with dreams and aspirations like all of us. As the Eurovision Song Contest takes place in Malmo, Sweden – where contestants don’t take themselves seriously, and it is one great party of freedom and self-expression – Eden’s security team are taking things seriously.

Eden has been met with countless protests and has been told to stay in her hotel room as a security measure, missing fan events that her fellow contenders are able to attend without fear.

Eden was taken by police convoy with a helicopter overhead to the semi-finals where she was booed on stage, with the Greek contestant faking sleep when Eden spoke.

The Finnish contestant was forced to come out with a statement after a video appeared of him dancing with Eden backstage.

Eden is 20. She is a person. This protest is not an attack against Israel but against her, and it is racist.

Would you find it acceptable for people to protest your daughter when she is singing, for people to deny the sexual abuse and torture she endured, for people to call for Israel to put down its weapons without calling for the release of hostages still held in Gaza or for Hamas to disarm?

None of it is acceptable. These protests have become violent and nasty, dehumanising a whole nation, a whole religion.

Peace can only come about when people co-exist, when people are able to see each individual person, who in turn makes up a nation.

Attacking Eden will not bring about a ceasefire or a future two-state solution. The only thing it achieves is stoking more hostility.

Maybe if people start seeing Eden as a 20 year old person, and hostages as people with families, friends and hobbies, then maybe we may just accomplish a better future.

Dehumanising only shows your inhumanity.

Good luck Eden!

• Rachel Blain, Public Affairs Director, Conservative Friends of Israel