内容摘要：“It should be a happy occasion that Eurovision is finally in Switzerland, but it’s not,” said Lea Kobler, from Zurich. “How can we rightfully exclude Russia but we’re still welcoming Israel?”

“It should be a happy occasion that Eurovision is finally in Switzerland, but it’s not,” said Lea Kobler, from Zurich. “How can we rightfully exclude Russia but we’re still welcoming Israel?”

after its 2022 invasion of Ukraine.“It should be a happy occasion that Eurovision is finally in Switzerland, but it’s not,” said Lea Kobler, from Zurich. “How can we rightfully exclude Russia but we’re still welcoming Israel?”

Pro Palestinian protesters demonstrate, during the opening ceremony of the 69th Eurovision Song Contest, in Basel, Switzerland, Sunday, May 11, 2025. Sign read, ‘11th Commandment: Israel is allowed to do everything.’ (Georgios Kefalas/Keystone via AP)Pro Palestinian protesters demonstrate, during the opening ceremony of the 69th Eurovision Song Contest, in Basel, Switzerland, Sunday, May 11, 2025. Sign read, ‘11th Commandment: Israel is allowed to do everything.’ (Georgios Kefalas/Keystone via AP)Others have criticized hostility toward the Israeli contestant. Israel’s public broadcaster KAN complained to Swiss police about an alleged threatening gesture made toward Raphael by a pro-Palestinian protester during the opening Eurovision parade on Sunday.

German Culture Minister Wolfram Weimer told parliament on Wednesday that “the boycott calls, the threats, also the verbal attacks on the singer from Israel, who herself only survived Hamas’ mass murder at the Nova music festival because she hid under corpses, are from my point of view an intolerable scandal.”Last year, Israeli competitor Eden Golan received boos when she performed live at Eurovision. Raphael told the BBC that she expects the same and rehearsed with background noise so she won’t be distracted.

“But we are here to sing and I’m going to sing my heart out for everyone,” she said.

A demonstration in support of Israel and against antisemitism was held in central Basel on Thursday.Yuval Raphael from Israel performs the song “New Day Will Rise” during the dress rehearsal for the second semi-final of the 69th Eurovision Song Contest, in Basel, Switzerland, Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)

Yuval Raphael from Israel performs the song “New Day Will Rise” during the dress rehearsal for the second semi-final of the 69th Eurovision Song Contest, in Basel, Switzerland, Wednesday, May 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Martin Meissner)Raphael performed Thursday in the

at the contest in the Swiss city of Basel, securing enough votes from viewers to secure a place in Saturday’s final with her anthemic song “New Day Will Rise.” Oddsmakers make Raphael, a survivor of Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on a music festival in southern Israel that started the Gaza war, one of the favorites to win the contest.But some would prefer she was not here. A handful of protesters attempted to disrupt a rehearsal by Raphael on Thursday with “oversized flags and whistles,” contest organizers said. Videos on social media appeared to show a large Palestinian flag being extended in the crowd across several people.