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Eurovision Organizers ‘Disappointed’ Jury Member Improperly Withheld Points From Israel Due to Gaza War

Eden Golan performing “Hurricane” for Israel at the Grand Final at Malmö Arena. Photo: Sarah Louise Bennett/EBU

Organizers of the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest told The Algemeiner on Monday they were saddened to discover that one of the competition’s jury members knowingly violated rules of the contest by refusing to allocate points to Israeli singer Eden Golan because of his personal bias against Israel and its ongoing war targeting Hamas terrorists in the Gaza Strip.

“We have been made aware by our Norwegian Member NRK about the comments made by one of the jurors regarding their voting in the Eurovision Song Contest,” the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) said in a statement. “We are disappointed if the juror in question disregarded the instructions that they confirm they had received as part of the Voting Rules of the Contest. The voting procedure is monitored in all countries and the EBU received a notarized result from NRK signed by each jury member confirming that they did vote according to the rules.”

The EBU did not address The Algemeiner‘s inquiry about disciplinary measures that might be taken against Norwegian jury member Daniel Owen for breaching rules of the competition.

Each participating member of the EBU has a national jury that votes in the Eurovision Song Contest. Jury members vote individually and are required to distribute points to Eurovision contestants based solely on their songs and performances in the competition. The final winner of the Eurovision Song Contest is chosen by combining jury votes and public votes, also called the audience’s televotes.

The Norwegian broadcaster NRK is a member of the EBU and, following the Eurovision 2024 Grand Final on Saturday, Owen said he was shocked and upset that the Norwegian jury awarded eight points in total to Israel. He admitted that he himself refused to give a single point to Golan, who ultimately finished in fifth place in the competition that took place this year in Malmo, Sweden.

“I was not involved in the allocation of points to Israel,” he said. “Although I was not involved in the awarding of points to Israel, I would like to apologize that this was shown from the Norwegian jury.”

Owen’s actions were in violation of Eurovision rules, which he admitted in a video posted on social media. He said that before the Eurovision was broadcast, the jury was shown a video detailing rules of the competition, one of which states that “you must not favor or discriminate against any participant based on nationality, gender, suitability, political views, or any other reason other than the song and performance. Do not let political views affect how you evaluate a song and/or an artist.”

Owen deliberately ignored Eurovision rules by withholding points for Israel. He said in the social media video that it was “impossible” for him not to take into consideration the ongoing Israel-Hamas war when distributing points.

“What is happening in Palestine is heartbreaking, and I cannot in any way support Israel’s actions. In my opinion, Israel should not be allowed to participate in Eurovision at all,” he said. “Eurovision promotes the motto ‘united by music.’ But when the party is over and the music has stopped, the situation remains unchanged. This is something we cannot ignore.”

He concluded by saying, “My heart and all my support go out to Palestine. Free Palestine.”

A member of the Norwegian Eurovision Song Contest jury admits that he refused to give Eden Golan and Israel any points at all due to the war in Gaza

24-y-old Daniel Owen ends his message with “Free Palestine”

How many such cases were there among jury members yesterday?

pic.twitter.com/0tQ1d9RsZB

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) May 12, 2024

Leading up to the start of the Eurovision, organizers came under fire for allowing Israel to participate in the competition, anti-Israel activists urged contestants to pull out of the contest to boycott the Jewish state’s involvement, and thousands protested against Israel in Malmo, including outside Golan’s hotel room.

Gunilla Süssmann, who was also on the Norwegian jury alongside Owen, said about the jury allocating eight points to Israel: “The fact that the jury did not choose to boycott artists is not the same as us supporting war. This was a purely professional assessment where we had to assess the best song based on our musical expertise. That is what we have done.”

Stig Karlsen, head of the Norwegian delegation, said the EBU was notified regarding Owen’s breach of Eurovision rules. “The jury must judge the song, artist, and performance without being colored by politics or other non-musical matters,” he added.

Switzerland’s Nemo won the 2024 Eurovision Song Contest with the song “The Code” and a total of 591 points from jurors in each participating country and the global public. Croatian artist Baby Lasagna was the runner-up with 547 points, Ukraine was third with 453 points, and France came in fourth place with 445 points. Rounding out the top five was Israel with 375 points. Twenty-five countries competed in the Eurovision grand finals this year.

After arriving back home to Israel on Sunday, Golan told reporters she was not shocked when she heard the low scores given to Israel by the national juries. “I think it was understood [that it would turn out that way],” she said.

Israel performed quite well in terms of the public vote, according to the Times of Israel.

Voters in 14 different countries out of the 37 eligible to vote, as well as those in all non-participating Eurovision nations, which are grouped together, allocated the most possible points — 12 — to Israel. The Jewish state got 12 votes from countries including Australia, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, San Marino, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. It also got 10 points, the second-highest allocation possible, from Albania, Austria, Cyprus, Czechia, Moldova, Slovenia, and Ireland.

The post Eurovision Organizers ‘Disappointed’ Jury Member Improperly Withheld Points From Israel Due to Gaza War first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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The Jewish People Perform Another Miracle

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah is seen addressing supporters, in Beirut, Lebanon. Photo: Reuters.

JNS.orgThis Oct. 7 will not only be an anniversary of tears, of pure contrition, even if the memory is burning as the people of Israel live. As to how, it wasn’t at all obvious. Our whole history is made of miracles—from the splitting of the sea to escape from the Egyptians to the Inquisition to the pogroms to the thousand other genocidal attacks to which the Jews have been subjected. In every case, the results are always incredible and surprising, especially for how we have emerged active, faithful to our Torah tradition and committed to the return to Jerusalem until we made it happen.

The War of Independence in 1948 was fought by concentration-camp veterans, yet we defeated all the Arab armies, united in hatred, who marched against us. Later, in 1967, 1973 wars were won by a hair’s breadth with miraculous strokes of imagination and leaders who gave birth to ideas that people would have expected. No one would have ever bet a euro, penny or shekel on the idea that Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah and his entire hierarchy could be eliminated, petrifying Iran, especially since we have already reduced its other favorite proxy, Hamas, to pieces. And now we have bombed Iran’s other proxy, the Houthis, some 2,000 kilometers away, destroying the airport from which they receive their weapons and aid from the ayatollahs. The Islamic Republic’s leader, Ali Khamenei, is reportedly hiding underground, the Iraqi and Syrian Shi’ites are waiting to see if they are next, and cities controlled by Tehran are shaking.

As President Joe Biden said, it is a measure of justice, but one that Israel has undertaken in an impossible fashion, defending its citizens amid a thousand prohibitions with determination and without fear. Only in this way can a 76-year-old young state, which has been attacked from all sides, defend itself. The country’s existence is the latest chapter in the history of a people born many millennia ago in the Land of Israel, who are finally back home and defending their state.

The war is certainly not over, as Hezbollah reportedly had 100,000 fighters. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu knows that he must see this fight through to the end, despite the international pressure to which Israel has been subjected for nearly a year. Israel’s leadership understands that its very existence is at definitive risk if there is no “new Middle East” in the aftermath of Oct. 7.

While previous generations and Israeli leaders hoped that peace agreements would establish peace in the region, today’s leaders know that there is also a need for battle to stop those who, dominated by absurd fanatical and religious beliefs, wish to kill you. (After all, what do the Houthi rebels in Yemen have to do with the Jews and Israel?)

This is the lesson of our time—not just for Israel and the Jewish people but for everyone. The Jewish people are writing a new page in history, one in which the free world must write and fight alongside them, as it is a battle for the survival of Western ideals. Israel has eliminated the two most dangerous terrorist groups in the world—Hamas and Hezbollah—with operations that will set a precedent for decades. And it challenges Iran. I would like to hear the applause, please.

The post The Jewish People Perform Another Miracle first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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New Year, New Light, New Life

A Torah scroll. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

JNS.orgHey, does anybody still make New Year’s resolutions?

Maybe you do, and yours goes something like mine, “My New Year’s resolution this year is to keep the resolutions I made last year!”

My friend said that his goes like this, “My New Year’s resolution is to have a fat bank account and a skinny body. Last year, I got mixed up.”

Most people I know have long stopped making New Year’s resolutions because they know it doesn’t work. They just go “in one year and out the other!”

In much of the world today, especially for us Jews in Israel and around the world, people are living with uncertainty and confusion. We hope and pray for a victory, and a long-lasting, peaceful outcome. But we’re still anxious—and with good reason. We are so preoccupied with the latest news from Israel that we can hardly think about Rosh Hashanah or ourselves. But we must. So, let me share an idea about Rosh Hashanah that I believe can help us confront the confusion and find some clarity.

In Jewish thought, the New Year is not only when we need to buy a new calendar, dress or a seat in shul. It means a new light. According to the mystics, every new year, a Divine light comes into the world for the very first time since Creation. Implicit in this new light is the potential for new opportunities on every level.

A new year with its infinite new light means there really can be a new Me and a new You. Yes, believe it or not, we really can reinvent ourselves. How? Good question. But that’s not what Rosh Hashanah is about. It’s not about the details. It’s about the potential, the hope, the commitment and the resolve to do better than we did last year. How? We will have to figure that out. But first things first.

I recall that back in my yeshivah days in Montreal, there was a moment when the mashpia, my spiritual mentor, made a deep impression on me with an idea culled from one of the philosophical treatises we were studying at the time.

In the second section of Tanya, the author, Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi, explains the concept of “Continuous Creation.” Briefly, it goes something like this: God created the universe from nothing way back when it obviously required a powerful flash of Divine energy to bring the world into being from nothingness. It follows that this creative force can never be removed from the universe, or the world would simply cease to exist. Without the creative force of God, which brought the world into existence originally, it would simply revert to its original state of … nothingness.

This is the deeper meaning of the expression used in our morning services, describing the wonders of the Creator, how God “in His goodness, renews daily, continuously, the work of Creation.”

Not only does the Creator renew our world every morning; He does it perpetually, continuously—hence the concept of Continuous Creation. God didn’t create the world all those years ago and then go on a permanent vacation to the Caribbean. He hasn’t retired or even semi-retired. And He doesn’t suffer from midlife crises either. His involvement with His world—our world—is continuous and constant. If the Creator would forget about us, even for a second, we would cease to exist. Taking His eye off the ball is equivalent to pulling the plug on the universe. It would simply go back to its default position, which was nonexistence.

Isn’t it encouraging to know that God has us in mind and that we haven’t been forgotten or left to our own devices? This is the real meaning of the term Divine Providence: that the world isn’t working randomly or even on autopilot. There is a Higher Plan—or in the words of Tevye the Fiddler, a “vast eternal plan.” He is involved and looking after us, then, now and forever.

And if He renews the work of Creation every day, every hour, every minute, second and nanosecond, then effectively, this means that every day it’s a brand-new world. And not only every day but every moment. Every second, the world has just been recreated. And if it’s a new world, then this presents us with a brilliant new opportunity. It’s a new world now, and I needn’t be burdened by the past. That was an old world. I can make a new beginning today, this hour, this second. “Hey, I really can start again!”

A new world brings with it the opportunity of a new you, personally, psychologically, physically and spiritually. We can reinvent ourselves at any given moment. We can change our attitude at any given moment. And we can change the way we look at our surroundings, wherever we may be, any time we want to. In a second, things can improve. If we would only be a little more objective, we would see the many positive and encouraging things going on around us instead of only focusing on the negative.

I know about all the problems in the world. Israel is on our minds every moment of the day. I’m not wearing blinkers, and I’m not naive. But the world is too beautiful and too precious to let it slip away into oblivion because of negativity and pessimism. I realize that it’s not easy this year because of what’s going on in the world, but let us renew ourselves, our families, our community, our country and our world.

There’s a new light coming this Rosh Hashanah. And with it comes a new world with new life, new beginnings, new opportunities and new blessings for all of us. God knows we need it!

I wish all my readers and all of Israel Shanah Tovah with peace of mind, health, happiness, success, nachas and all of the Almighty’s abundant blessings!

The post New Year, New Light, New Life first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Israeli Forces Redeploy to Northern Gaza to Quell Hamas Resurgence

Smoke rises following Israeli strikes, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Jabalia refugee camp northern Gaza Strip, May 13, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa/File Photo

JNS.orgThe Israel Defense Forces said on Sunday that Israeli forces had encircled Jabaliya in northern Gaza ahead of an operation there to prevent Hamas from reestablishing itself there.

The army said that soldiers from the 162nd Division were redeployed to the Jabaliya area overnight Saturday after being stationed along the Philadelphi Corridor separating Gaza from Egypt’s Sinai.

Troops from the 401st and 460th brigades had encircled the area and were continuing to operate there on Sunday, according to the IDF. They were assisted by the Israeli Air Force before and during the ground operation, directed by the 215th Brigade. Among the targets hit were weapons storage facilities, underground infrastructure, terrorist cells and additional military sites.

The terror group reported that during the operation 30 people were killed and 150 were injured.

“This operation to systematically dismantle terrorist infrastructure in the area will continue as long as required in order to achieve its objectives,” the IDF said.

The 162nd Division last month defeated Hamas’s Rafah brigade after four months of targeted raids in the Gaza Strip’s southernmost city near the border with Egypt.

Speaking with reporters on Sept. 12, 162nd Division commander Brig. Gen. Itzik Cohen declared that “four battalions have been destroyed, and we have completed operational control over the entire urban area.”

However, intelligence showing a Hamas resurgence in Jabaliya prompted the 162nd Division to move north to the neighborhood.

IDF expands al-Mawasi humanitarian zone

The IDF on Sunday morning published a new evacuation map for the northern Gaza Strip, pointing noncombatants to an expanded humanitarian zone at al-Mawasi, which includes field hospitals, tent complexes, food, water, medicine and medical equipment.

As part of the effort to alert the residents of northern Gaza to get out of the active combat zone, the IDF dropped leaflets from the air and Lt. Col. Avichay Adraee, head of the Arab Media Branch in the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit, tweeted in Arabic with accompanying maps.

“The terrorist Hamas continues its attempts to solidify its terrorist infrastructure in your area, exploiting civilians, shelters and medical facilities as human shields,” Adraee wrote, followed by evacuation details.

“I remind you that the northern Gaza Strip remains a dangerous combat zone,” Adraee warned.

Plans to turn northern Gaza into military zone

Kan News reported around a month ago that senior IDF officials were considering a plan to turn the northern Gaza Strip into a military zone.

Known as the “Island Plan,” it would see the IDF evacuate more than 200,000 Gazans from the northern part of the Strip, placing the area entirely under Israeli military control.

Sinwar wants wider war, not interested in a deal

Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar wants a wider regional war and is not interested in reaching a ceasefire deal, The New York Times reported on Friday, citing U.S. officials.

The article noted that Sinwar, the mastermind of the Oct. 7 massacre and who is believed to be hiding in Gaza’s vast tunnel network, has long believed that he won’t survive the war and has hardened his attitude in recent weeks.

Hamas holds 101 hostages, including 97 of the 251 kidnapped during the onslaught on the northwestern Negev nearly one year ago, in which 1,200 people were killed and thousands more wounded.

“Hamas has shown no desire at all to engage in talks in recent weeks, U.S. officials say. They suspect that Mr. Sinwar has grown more resigned as Israeli forces pursue him and talk about closing in on him,” according to the Times.

“A larger war that puts pressure on Israel and its military would, in Mr. Sinwar’s assessment, force them to scale back operations in Gaza, the U.S. officials said,” it continued.

However, despite the war widening to include an expanded conflict with Hezbollah in Lebanon and a direct engagement with Iran, the Gaza front remains active. American officials said that the failure of Hezbollah and Iran to damage Israel signals the miscalculation made by Sinwar.

The Times article noted that some Israeli officials have questioned whether Sinwar is still alive, with American and Israeli officials acknowledging that there has been no sign of him for months. However, in the absence of hard evidence of his death, U.S. officials believe he is still alive and in charge of Hamas.

Qataris say Sinwar ‘disappeared’

Channel 12 reported on Saturday that the Qatari officials involved in negotiations between Israel and Hamas told the families of hostages in recent days that Sinwar has “disappeared.”

“Sinwar is currently not communicating with us. He has disappeared from us as well and has not made contact. He stopped using phones because of the assassinations, and now he communicates using paper and pen, which makes things very difficult,” the Qataris reportedly told the relatives.

The Qatari officials also told the family members that they believe Sinwar has surrounded himself with hostages and that despite his disappearance, there is no indication that Sinwar is dead.

The Qataris, who maintain close ties with Hamas, also claimed that Israel’s policy of assassinations makes reaching a deal more difficult.

“Israel’s assassination policy has worsened the deal. In the past, there was Haniyeh, and he was assassinated. Now there is Khaled Mashal, and he is much more difficult than Haniyeh,” they were quoted as saying. However, the families of the hostages say that these claims should be taken with caution due to Doha’s close relations with the terror group.

Sharon Sharabi, the brother of Yossi Sharabi, who was murdered in captivity and whose body is being held by Hamas, criticized the Qataris at the meeting, telling them that “the blood of our families is on your hands because you transferred the money to the terrorists, but you may also be the ones who can try to save the hostages.”

The post Israeli Forces Redeploy to Northern Gaza to Quell Hamas Resurgence first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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