A Brooklyn bar is under fire after it canceled a viewing of the Eurovision Song Contest because a young singer representing Israel is set to perform — leading a Bronx congressman to pillory the move as antisemitic.
The bar — 3 Dollar Bill on Meserole Street in East Williamsburg — had apparently planned to host a watch party for Eurovision, an annual international song competition organized by the European Broadcasting Union that this year features Israeli singer Eden Golan.
But the bar canceled the event Thursday night, saying in an Instagram post it’s forgoing the showing “in the interest of providing a safe space to ALL our patrons.”
“We’re listening to what you’re saying and recognize that hosting the Eurovision does not align with our values here at 3DB,” the post said.
“We understand the concerns raised by our community regarding the need for boycott,” the post continued. “We apologize sincerely to anyone we’ve let down and will strive to do better for our community moving forward.”
Although some in the comment section cheered the decision, Bronx Congressman Ritchie Torres skewered it in a post on X.
“Golan is being boycotted not because of what she did, but because of who she is,” Torres wrote. “There’s a word for this: Antisemitism.”
The Democratic rep also claimed that even though the anti-Israel movement often says they’re anti-Zionists, not antisemites, such incidents prove otherwise.
“The boycott of Eden Golan — the prohibition of performing while Jewish — tells a different story,” he wrote in a follow-up post.
Golan, a 20-year-old performer, represented Israel in the show’s semifinal on Thursday. But many didn’t want her or her country to be in the contest at all, according to the New York Times.
Pro-Palestine groups and some fans tried for months to get her banned from the show because of Israel’s war in Gaza, which began after Hamas attacked the country last October and killed more than 1,200 people, the Times said.
The protests gathered strength after it was announced in February that the singer’s entry song was “October Rain,” an apparent reference to the attacks, the outlet said.
The lyrics were changed after the uproar, and the song was retitled “Hurricane.”
Golan herself remained defiant, saying she wouldn’t “let anything break me, or move me off track,” according to the Times.
“I am here to show the voice of an entire nation, to show that we’re here, that we are strong, but emotional and broken,” Golan said.
Many who commented on the bar’s Instagram post were also angry about the establishment’s decision.
“Nice virtue signaling,” one user wrote. “Cool to know that as a queer Jewish woman who has friends and family in Israel, I’m not welcome in your establishment.”
“I know you’re being pressured, but holding a singer responsible for her home country’s government is not the stand for justice you think it is,” another said. “Viewing her as a proxy of a government you oppose is xenophobic. Discriminating based on nationality is not anti-racist. It’s just racist.”
