Israel’s Eden Alene Wins Place in Eurovision Final as Pro-Palestinian Activists Protest Outside

Israel’s Eden Alene won a place Tuesday in the finals of the Eurovision song contest, despite pro-Palestinian protests outside the event in Rotterdam, Netherlands. She is the country’s first Ethiopian Jewish contender in the annual European song contest.

Alene’s song, “Set Me Free,” features the highest note ever sung in the competition. The song includes lyrics in English, Arabic, and Hebrew — Israel’s three official languages. She is considered among the favorites to win the final competition on Saturday.

The Jerusalem Post, citing Israeli television, reported an anti-Israel demonstration outside the competition venue

Pro-Palestinian activists protested outside the semi-finals of the Eurovision song contest in Rotterdam on Tuesday evening, ahead of Israeli contestant Eden Alene‘s performance, N12 reported.

Alene posted a message on Instagram earlier this week referring to the war with Gaza saying,  “I am in Holland now, but my heart is with you every minute, hurting, loving, strengthening, and following with worry everything that is happening in Israel.”

Ethiopian Jews lived in relative isolation before being rescued by Israel from famine and persecution in the 1980s and 1990s.

Alene sent a message to her country after making it through the semifinals: “Thank you for the support. I love my country. I love everyone. And this is for you, Israel.”

Israel has been fighting Palestinian Hamas terrorists for the past 10 days.

Here are Israel’s past four Eurovision winners:

Netta, “Toy,” 2018:

Dana International, “Diva,” 1998:

Milk and Honey, “Hallelujah,” 1979:

Izhar Cohen and the Alphabeta, “A-Ba-Ni-Bi,” 1978:

 

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the new e-book, The Zionist Conspiracy (and how to join it). His recent book, RED NOVEMBER, tells the story of the 2020 Democratic presidential primary from a conservative perspective. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.