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A survivor of the Nova music festival terrorist attack by Hamas Oct. 7, 2023, has channeled her therapeutic journey through music and on Thursday secured the slot to represent Israel at the Eurovision Song Contest in Basel, Switzerland.
Yuval Raphael, 24, reportedly began singing as a way to cope with the trauma she endured after she, four of her friends and roughly 40 others attempted to hide in a roadside bomb shelter near Kibbutz Re'im after they fled the festival by car after the attack.
Raphael, who was forced to hide under the bodies of those killed in front of her for about eight hours before help arrived, has shared her story and described how Hamas terrorists repeatedly returned to the bomb shelter and opened fire on those hiding inside.
Eventually, the terrorists began throwing grenades into the concrete shelter, a story similar to what dozens endured that day, including American-Israeli Hersh Goldberg-Polin.
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"Music is one of the strongest ingredients in my healing process," she said during the competition Thursday, The Times of Israel reported.
Despite having no previous experience as a singer, Raphael secured her top spot after singing "The Writings on the Wall" followed by a rendition of ABBA's "Dancing Queen" dedicated to "all the angels" killed in the October 2023 terrorist attack. The show, "Rising Star", is shown on Israel's Keshet channel 12.
Raphael had previously garnered international attention not with her powerhouse voice but by sharing her experience with the United Nations Human Rights Council in a move she said was not politically motivated but an attempt to bring attention to what innocent civilians endured that tragic day.
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"I want to tell them the story of the country, of what I went through, of what others went through," she reportedly said ahead of the final. "I want to tell the story, but not from a place of seeking pity. I want it to be from a place of standing strong in the face of this and in the face of the boos I'm 100% sure will come from the crowd."
Raphael's comments were in reference to the pushback she and other Israelis have faced during the international competitions, including in 2024, following the terrorist attack and subsequent Israel Defense Forces' (IDF) operations in Gaza.
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Israel has faced calls to be banned from the international competition, but the European Broadcasting Union has rejected the push, affirming that Eurovision is a non-political music event. The 2024 Israeli contestant, Eden Golan, faced anti-Israeli protests and had to be granted a Shin Bet security detail.
Golan was also required to change the name of her song, "October Rain," to "Hurricane" because event officials believed it was too political, The Times of Israel reported.
