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Singer Regina Spektor had to pause her concert on Saturday thanks to raucous anti-Israel protesters in the crowd.
During Spektor’s performance in Portland, Oregon, multiple people in the audience began yelling “Free Palestine,” prompting the musician to pause her set and get security to escort them out.
“You’re just yelling at a Jew,” she told the hecklers before they were directed to leave the premises.
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Singer Regina Spektor had to pause her Portland, Oregon concert on Saturday to deal with anti-Israel protesters in the crowd. (Photo by Steve Jennings/Getty Images)
Video footage captured by a fan, and reshared on TikTok by music outlet Stereogum, showed the moment one member of the audience began yelling, “Free f—— Palestine!” at the singer inside Portland’s Revolution Hall.
The protesters’ outburst was met by cries from fed-up concertgoers, one of whom chanted, “Am Yisrael Chai” – or “The people of Israel live” – in response.
The footage showed Spektor, a Jewish woman who immigrated to New York from the Soviet Union when she was a child, appearing to communicate with someone offstage to get security involved.
“I don’t know what he thinks he’s doing,” the singer told the crowd, referencing the outburst. Some in the crowd responded by applauding Spektor, and apologizing for the interruption.
“I really appreciate the security,” she added in a soft tone, prompting laughter from the crowd. Some yelled, “We love you!”
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Still, the outbursts weren’t over. Another individual started screaming, “Free, free Palestine! Say it! Say it!”
Again, someone responded, “Am Yisrael Chai!” By the time the lights turned on in the venue, revealing the crowd, Spektor quipped, “I thought this was different than the internet. This is real life.” The crowd applauded again.
Still another protester spoke up, saying, “There’s a genocide happening.” Spektor addressed the heckler, saying, “You can leave the show if you want. This is not an internet comment section. I know that you are mistaking my show for a YouTube video––”
“I’m not,” the heckler replied. “You are,” Spektor shot back.
“I’m watching children dying. That hurts,” the anti-Israel agitator added.
“Yeah, I think you should go because this is not the place for that conversation,” the singer said.
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Elsewhere, Spektor told the crowd, “The only reason I even speak English is because I came here to escape this s—. I only speak English because I came from a country where people treated Jews as othered, and I’m being othered here, and it sucks.”
Spektor has publicly spoken out about the Israel-Hamas conflict in the past. Just days after the October 7 Hamas massacre, she mourned for Israelis and Palestinians alike in an Instagram post.
“My tears are endless but my heart has enough room… Room for murdered, raped, and kidnapped innocent Jews. Room for bombed innocent Palestinians suffering and dying in Gaza. Fury at Hamas whose mission is exterminating Jews while hiding behind Palestinian human shields.”
As the post went on, Spektor criticized Israel’s government, but defended the nation and its people.
“Israeli government is NOT its people, like any other government on earth. Netanyahu does NOT speak for all Israelis, or all Jews living across the world. In the Middle East – Israel is the ONLY democracy with a chance to vote/protest/change its government. The ONLY land where LGBTQ people are able to live safely. The ONLY land which doesn’t mandate women’s dress or behavior.”
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Reps for Spektor and Revolution Hall did not immediately reply to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
