The ‘Palestinian Lady Gaga’, whose songs include Intifada on the Dance Floor, could represent Iceland at the Eurovision Song Contest – which would cause political headaches for organizers

Palestinian pop singer Bashar Murad hopes to represent Iceland at the Eurovision Song Contest in May and bring a Palestinian voice to the event, he said.

However, the man dubbed the ‘Palestinian Lady Gaga’, whose songs include ‘Intifada on the Dance Floor’, could pose a headache for the event’s organizers.

The Eurovision Song Contest, which attracts millions of television viewers, bills itself as a non-political event and can disqualify those it believes break this rule.

Alarm bells have already been ringing about Israel’s entry, ‘October Rain’ sung by 20-year-old Russian-Israeli Eden Golan – after a member of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) reportedly informed an Israeli official about the country’s accession was overly political and contrary to the rules of impartiality.

Reports that the ballad was under investigation spread last week after leaked lyrics suggested the song focused on the October 7 massacre by Hamas.

This year the competition will take place between May 7 and 11 in the Swedish city of Malmö, against a backdrop of protests and boycotts over the ongoing Gaza war – sparked by the attack – which have affected cultural events across Europe.

Eurovision Song Contest organizers have resisted calls to exclude Israel from the competition, but said last week they were scrutinizing the Israeli entry.

Iceland will choose its participant on Saturday, with Murad taking part in the national final with a song co-written by Einar Stefansson of the Icelandic band Hatari, known for raising a banner with Palestinian flags during the Eurovision Song Contest 2019.

Murad, 31, has hits such as ‘Intifada on the Dance Floor’ and wants to represent Iceland with his song ‘Wild West’, which is about an artist’s desire for freedom.

However, the music video suggests it could pose a problem for the Eurovision Song Contest organizers as it is full of symbols of Palestinian resistance.

In it, the pop star is seen driving through an orange grove in the West Bank, flying over the Separation Wall in a plane and looking down on Jerusalem – specifically the golden dome of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in the city’s eastern district.

Ultimately, the video shows him landing in a snowy area that resembles Iceland.

He is then confronted by an armed cowboy dressed in black while holding a snowball, evoking an uneven battle between good and evil.

“I wanted to illustrate how many obstacles we as Palestinians have to overcome to be heard… we are excluded from any mainstream platform,” Murad told Reuters news agency in an interview.

He told The Times: ‘This is my personal experience of living in Jerusalem and being born under occupation, being separated from other Palestinians and having to go through checkpoints to get to them, and not being able to travel to Gaza.’

Under the rules of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which organizes the competition, entrants are chosen by EBU member broadcasters to represent their country from across Europe and beyond.

There is no Palestinian accession because no Palestinian broadcaster is a member of the EBU.

Russia was banned from the competition in 2022 due to its large-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Singers of any nationality can take part in Iceland’s domestic qualification if they sing their song in the first semi-final in Icelandic.

Murad, who was born and lives in Jerusalem, said it was difficult to learn the song in Icelandic, but he saw some similarities with the Arabic language.

In his entry ‘Wild West’, Murad told Reuters it tells the story of challenging boundaries and chasing dreams against all odds.

‘Everyone has theories about my participation. And everyone is politicizing my existence, while I am actually just a human being who had a dream and signed up for this fair competition.’

When asked if Murad wanted Israel to participate in the competition, he said: “Of course I don’t want my occupier to be there.

“But my main focus right now is to be able to bring a Palestinian voice to the main stage for the first time in history.”

The annual competition has been won four times by Israel, where the competition is popular and often seen as a barometer of the country’s international standing.

This year, its own arrival is already causing a storm.

Eden Golan’s “October Rain” reportedly contains lines such as “there’s no air left to breathe” and “they were all good children, every one of them,” as well as references to people trapped in bomb shelters during Hamas’s attacks.

The song also refers to “flowers,” said to be military code for war dead in Israel.

The controversial censorship, reported by Israeli news site Walla!, comes after a rap song calling for the deaths of British singer Dua Lipa and American model Bella Hadid topped the Israeli charts. The pro-war drill song was criticized for telling pro-Palestinian celebrities that they deserve “what’s coming.”

As a non-political event, the Eurovision Song Contest can disqualify participants who are deemed to have violated strict impartiality rules.

However, top Israeli officials and public figures have said that any attempt to sanction the ballad would be “outrageous.”

Israeli Culture Minister Miki Zohar complained on social media about the reports of extra checks on Israel’s entry.

“The Song of Israel, which will be sung by Eden Golan, is a moving song that expresses the feelings of the people and the country of our times, and is not political,” he wrote.

‘The EBU’s intention to disqualify the Israeli song from the Eurovision Song Contest – outrageous.’ Israeli-British illusionist Uri Geller also commented.

“For God’s sake,” he said. ‘Ukraine’s (Kalush Orchestra) winning entry in 2022 was about the resilience of the Ukrainian people, so what’s the problem?

“It’s obviously a different rule because it concerns Israel.”