Eurovision Was Traditionally a Lighthearted Spectacle – But It Has Become a Cynical Way to Whitewash War.

An new acronym came to light a couple of months into Israel’s bombardment of Gaza. Referred to as WCNSF, it stands for “Child casualty without any family left”. This term is found only in Gaza, as stated by health professionals like paediatricians. Normally, it is rare for medical staff to attend to a young patient who has been bereaved of their complete family. Yet, there has been nothing “normal” about the devastating conflict in Gaza, where whole bloodlines have been eradicated and the number of children who have lost limbs exceeds that of any other region in the world. Nothing ordinary in scores of doctors coming back from a devastated terrain with accounts of children being intentionally shot at.

A Living Nightmare In Spite Of a Supposed Ceasefire

The Gaza Strip continues to be an utter catastrophe. Critical healthcare resources are failing to reach those in need, and groups like Amnesty International assert that genocidal acts are ongoing. Officials has denied these accusations, just as it denies all charges it is implicated in. Yet as grieving children who lost parents are now freezing in temporary shelters, there is a piece of uplifting information: nothing is going to stop the Eurovision from continuing with its declared purpose of “togetherness and cultural exchange.” Eurovision will continue to roll out a blood-red carpet for Israel, even though at least four European countries have now boycotted in dissent. Since this, apparently, is what unity manifests as.

The contest, notably prohibited Russia from participating in 2022 due to the “unprecedented crisis in Ukraine”. Yet the conflict in Gaza is completely different.

A Selective Vision

Overlook the circumstance that Israel was criticized for questionable voting tactics last year in what seems to have been an attempt to politicise Eurovision. Ignore the report that a toddler was reportedly killed in Gaza recently. Pay no mind to the evidence that settler violence and systematic expulsions in the West Bank have increased dramatically. Overlook the situation that foreign reporters are still denied independent reporting in Gaza. This entire context, apparently, should be seen as a barrier of Eurovision’s cherished spirit of unity.

The Contest Continues Against a Backdrop of Profound Human Cost

Eurovision reaches its seventieth anniversary next year – roughly two times the projected longevity of a person in Gaza at present. The event will proceed, but it will find it impossible to reclaim the whimsical pleasure it once represented. A competition that was originally built on togetherness has transformed into a blatant mechanism to sanitize military aggression.