The Mail on Sunday

Islamic terrorists in plot to bomb Eurovision arena

Undercover reporters told venue will be attacked because Israel is taking part

- By Abul Taher SECURITY CORRESPOND­ENT

ISLAMIC extremists are planning to bomb the Eurovision Song Contest venue in Sweden next month in protest at Israel taking part, it was claimed last night.

Undercover reporters from an Israeli news channel said they were told by guards at the biggest mosque in Malmo – the city hosting the event – that terrorists are plotting to attack the arena where the five-day contest will be held.

Posing as Muslim British tourists, the reporters claim the security guards warned them not to attend the event as it will ‘explode’. One added: ‘Don’t go there, don’t go there. They will blow it up.’

The Israeli TV channel, Keshet 12, reported the recorded conversati­on to organisers of the event as well as the Swedish police, who are now investigat­ing.

Last night a Eurovision spokesman said the contest will still go ahead, with the 15,000-seat Malmo Arena featuring artists representi­ng at least 37 countries.

Fans from across the world are expected to attend.

Pro-Palestinia­n activists have called on Eurovision to ban Israel over the war in Gaza, which has left over 32,000 dead according to Hamas, most of whom were women and children.

Eden Golan, 20, a Russian-Israeli singer, is due to represent Israel.

Eurovision previously banned Russia after it invaded Ukraine in February 2022, but is allowing Israel to compete this year despite Ms Golan’s entry song sparking controvers­y even before the buildup to this year’s competitio­n started. Her song was initially called October Rain and aimed to give an Israeli perspectiv­e to the Hamas terror attack on October 7 which left nearly 1,200 dead.

But Eurovision demanded the lyrics be rewritten on the grounds that they explicitly referenced the massacre, which violated the competitio­n’s commitment to political neutrality.

The song had included the lines ‘There’s no air left to breathe’, and ‘They were all good children, each one of them’, but the words have since been changed and the song renamed Hurricane.

Two journalist­s from Keshet 12 visited Malmo, which has a Muslim population of 50,000, the thirdhighe­st in Sweden after Stockholm and Gothenburg. The reporters found themselves under siege on the streets as Muslim members of the public swore at them, spat on them and even assaulted the journalist­s on camera when they found out they were Israeli.

The reporting team also spoke to stall vendors who openly called for the destructio­n of Israel, and saw maps of Palestine being sold that included the whole of the land mass of Israel.

Also in the documentar­y, the two journalist­s went into the Al-Wakf mosque posing as two

Muslims from London, and spoke in English with two of the mosque’s security guards.

One, in a yellow high-vis jacket, told the reporters not to attend Eurovision as it will be attacked. The guard said: ‘They will blow it up… because there will be Israelis there.’

The second guard added: ‘Israel is going to sing there, “Palestine is s**t. Palestine is s**t.”’

The first guard added that he had family members who worked near the Malmo Arena and that they were told not to go to work for two weeks around the time that Eurovision contest is on.

He said: ‘My parents, they are working there. At the job they told them they can’t go to the job for two weeks, because maybe they will explode.’ Last night a Eurovision spokesman said: ‘We take the safety of attendees and staff at the Eurovision Song Contest very seriously.

‘Any threats that we are made aware of are reported to the relevant authoritie­s.’

• At least nine protesters were arrested in London yesterday after pro-Palestine and pro-Israel demonstrat­ors clashed with each other in front of police.

It is believed the capital has now hosted almost 15 national marches on Palestine since the October 7 Hamas attack in Israel.

‘Blow it up because Israelis will be there’

 ?? ?? CONTROVERS­IAL: Eden Golan will represent Israel at Eurovision
CONTROVERS­IAL: Eden Golan will represent Israel at Eurovision

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