Israel's Public Broadcasting Corporation filed a complaint on Sunday with Swiss police following an incident in which a man wearing a keffiyeh and holding a Palestinian flag made a throat-slitting gesture towards Israel's Eurovision contestant, Yuval Raphael, and spat at members of the Israeli delegation, KAN News reported.
Israel's Public Broadcasting Corporation contacted the European Broadcasting Union, requesting that action be taken to identify the individual who made the gesture and spat at the Israeli delegation.
The incident occurred during the traditional Eurovision delegation parade held on Sunday in Basel, Switzerland, where the international song competition is taking place this year.
Open letter against KAN
The public display of hate occurred less than a week after over 70 former Eurovision participants wrote an open letter demanding that KAN not be allowed to send Raphael to participate in the competition.
The letter claimed that, “KAN is complicit in Israel’s genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza and the decades-long regime of apartheid and military occupation against the entire Palestinian people.”
“Rather than acknowledging the widespread criticism and reflecting on its own failures, the EBU responded by doubling down – granting total impunity to the Israeli delegation while repressing other artists and delegations, making the 2024 edition the most politicized, chaotic, and unpleasant in the competition’s history," the letter added.
Despite the backlash she's received, Raphael has said she is committed to honoring her country.
“I’m 100 percent focused on the music, I’m 100 percent focused on my song,” she told the Times of Israel last month. “There are things that I can control and things that I can’t control. Ultimately, there’s no point investing energy in something I can’t control... the most important thing to me is to bring honor to my country and do the best I can.”