'I want the world to hear our story' - Yuval Raphael, Israeli representative at Eurovision, to be joined by Oct 7 survivors

Amid the challenging times unfolding around the world, a beacon of hope shines brightly in Israel. Her name is Yuval Raphael, and she will proudly represent Israel at the prestigious Eurovision Song Contest this May 13-17 in Basel, Switzerland. Accompanying her will be a group of survivors from the Hamas-led massacre that ravaged southern Israeli communities on Oct. 7, 2023.

As a precaution over safety concerns, the names of those traveling with her are being withheld.

One of the survivors planning to join Raphael told Walla News, "I am very excited to be with Yuval and represent Israel. I wish her the best of luck, and I know it will be very exciting." 

Raphael and her friends were among the thousands of young people who attended the Nova Musical Festival in southern Kibbutz Re’im when the rockets were fired at Israel at 6:29 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 7. The Hamas militants, who numbered 3,800 from their elite Nukhba forces, along with an estimated 2,200 Gazan civilians, invaded and launched a massacre so brutal it would be the deadliest day the Jewish people have encountered since the Holocaust.

Raphael and her friends attempted to escape the festival in a vehicle, but after realizing they were surrounded by armed terrorists with guns and grenades, they sought refuge with nearly 50 others in a roadside bomb shelter near Kibbutz Be’eri.

The terrorists eventually found them and began spraying the shelter with bullets and tossing grenades into their hiding spot.

Hiding under piles of dead bodies for eight hours, Raphael could feel the weight of the lifeless people on top of her. "I can’t explain how heavy a body becomes when it is dead," she remarked.

"I could feel the heat of the explosions, feel my body being crushed under the weight of the dead," she later told Channel 12. "I kept repeating to myself, ‘Don’t breathe. Don’t move. Stay dead.”

With an unprecedented rise in global antisemitism, Raphael knows she will face scrutiny and hate from some contest attendees, as well as from those who will inevitably be lurking online. "I know some people won’t want me there," Raphael told Israel Hayom. "But that’s exactly why I have to go. I want to stand on that stage, wrapped in the Israeli flag, and make sure the world hears our story."