I am guessing that Eden Golan is not a name widely recognized in this part of the world. I am also guessing that not many of us are aware of Eurovision, an international song competition sponsored annually by the European Broadcasting Company. In Europe, it is a huge event, with competitions held throughout the year in several countries. This year, the grand final of the 68th Eurovision Song Contest was held just a day or two ago in Malmo, Sweden.
Eden Golan is a singer and composer. She is Jewish, of Russian-Israeli heritage, and was born in Israel. At 20, she is an extremely popular entertainer in Israel, especially among younger generations. Her talent is also recognized in other countries.
Golan participated in the Eurovision Song Contest this year, advancing through several preliminary events and earning a place in the final competition, which was held in Malmo, Sweden.
And that is where all hell broke loose.
Eden Golan is a performer. She is not a politician. She is not an Israeli poster girl for what is now happening in the Middle East. In Israel, young people, especially girls, are encouraged to dance and be happy, unlike in nearby territories, where that is taboo. Eden Golan has become a symbol of that happiness.
And yet her appearance at the finals of the Eurovision Song Contest in Malmo resulted in massive so-called pro-Palestinian demonstrations in that city, blocking access to that event, protesting the participation of an Israeli performer in the contest, and putting her personal safety in significant danger.
There were more than fifteen thousand of them parading and shouting, “We will crush Zionism” and “There is only one solution – Intifada – Revolution,” among other antisemitic slogans.
For all of her time in Sweden, Elan Golan needed extensive security and protection because the demonstrators were targeting a young Jewish performer. The city was disrupted, and the police were out in force.
It would be one thing, I suppose, if this were an isolated incident, but sadly it is not. Demonstrations like this are happening all over Europe and North America, if not elsewhere. They are often violent, and they are always antisemitic in nature. They are only pro-Palestinian in the sense that they want to wipe out Jewish people. In the main, they support Hamas and celebrate what happened in Israel on October 7th.
Jewish people, who are far from Israel, are targeted. They do not feel safe in their homes, their businesses, or their place of worship. Those with any sense of history will see a frightening similarity here with events immediately before and during much of World War Two.
The hard facts are that antisemitism has spread exponentially in most parts of the world since the outbreak of the Hamas-Israeli war. Often, it is combined with genuine concern for Palestinian citizens, but nevertheless, at its base is a determination to wipe out the State of Israel and the Jewish people who live there.
I wonder sometimes if it is not the Hamas-Israeli war that has allowed millions of people around the world to find a venue to express long-held, suppressed feelings of anger, revenge, and hate not necessarily related to what is happening in the Middle East but merely an opportunity, a platform, on which they can let it all out. If that is so, it is frightening.
I would hope that most people would agree that Hamas started the war with Israel on October seventh of last year and that Israel had a right to defend itself. As well, however, there are many who believe that Israel has gone too far in retaliation and that too many innocent Palestinians have died as a result, and thousands of others are left without the necessities of life.
There are worldwide calls for a cease-fire between Hamas and Israel, and in my view, with the humanitarian crisis that now exists in that region, a cease-fire should occur.
But one should also remember that wars once started, by definition, create civilian casualties. In Europe alone, during World War Two, 38 million civilians lost their lives.
It would be good if a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas could prevent further casualties and effectively provide aid to those Palestinians who desperately need it. It is hard to understand, however, how such a cease-fire could become permanent.
Hamas and most Palestinians are dedicated to the extermination of Jews in the Middle East. It is essentially part of their DNA. Even Yasser Arafat, Chairman of the Palestinian National Authority from 1994 to 2004, who received a Nobel Peace Prize for signing the Oslo Accords in 1993, which proposed a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine, said this only a few years later. “We will not bend or fail until the blood of every last Jew, from the youngest child to the oldest elder is spilt to redeem our land.”
Can there ever be a permanent peace when one side is dedicated to the extermination of the other?
But we do need a cease-fire now, as temporary as it might be. Outside peacekeeping forces will be essential to ensure that much-needed humanitarian aid goes directly to the people who require it, that a total cease-fire is honored by both Israel and Hamas, and that the pause in fighting does not result in the buildup of more war-like resources.
But a longer and more permanent solution is not in the cards as long as Palestinians and Israelis cannot live peacefully with each other. It is hard to see how that will ever happen, and that brings us to the Gordian Knot.
A Gordian Knot, in its metaphoric state, is one in which several matters are combined and so tightly wound together that the knot cannot be torn apart.
It is my view that the Hamas-Israeli war, in itself, pretty well a regional war, has spawned a wave of unrest, clothed in antisemitism around much of the world in a manner that emulates former world conflicts and could once again threaten world peace. My fear is that the two are now so tightly wound together that they cannot be disentangled.
Hopefully, I am wrong.
Hugh Mackenzie
Hugh Mackenzie has held elected office as a trustee on the Muskoka Board of Education, a Huntsville councillor, a District councillor, and mayor of Huntsville. He has also served as chairman of the District of Muskoka and as chief of staff to former premier of Ontario, Frank Miller.
Hugh has also served on a number of provincial, federal and local boards, including chair of the Ontario Health Disciplines Board, vice-chair of the Ontario Family Health Network, vice-chair of the Ontario Election Finance Commission, and board member of Roy Thomson Hall, the National Theatre School of Canada, and the Anglican Church of Canada. Locally, he has served as president of the Huntsville Rotary Club, chair of Huntsville District Memorial Hospital, chair of the Huntsville Hospital Foundation, president of Huntsville Festival of the Arts, and board member of Community Living Huntsville.
In business, Hugh Mackenzie has a background in radio and newspaper publishing. He was also a founding partner and CEO of Enterprise Canada, a national public affairs and strategic communications firm established in 1986.
Currently, Hugh is president of C3 Digital Media Inc., the parent company of Doppler Online, and he enjoys writing commentary for Huntsville Doppler.
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