Eurovision Was Once a Campy Joy – But It Has Become a Cynical Way to Gloss Over Warfare.
A freshly coined term emerged a couple of months after the start of the military campaign against Gaza. Referred to as WCNSF, it means “Child casualty without any family left”. This term is unique to Gaza, as stated by doctors including child health specialists. Normally, it is unusual for medical staff to treat a child who has been bereaved of their complete family. Yet, there has been no semblance of normality concerning the devastating conflict in Gaza, where complete genealogies have been wiped out and the number of young amputees is greater than that of anywhere else in the world. Nothing normal in many doctors coming back from a sea of ruins with accounts of children being intentionally shot at.
A Hell on Earth Despite a Announced Cessation of Hostilities
The Gaza Strip continues to be a profound humanitarian disaster. Critical healthcare resources are being blocked those in need, and major human rights organizations assert that genocidal acts are continuing. Officials has denied these allegations, just as it denies each claim it is implicated in. Meanwhile, while traumatised orphans are now freezing in improvised encampments, there is a piece of uplifting information: nothing is going to stop the international singing competition from continuing with its declared purpose of “unity and cultural exchange.” Eurovision will continue to extend a blood-red carpet for Israel, despite the fact that several European countries have now withdrawn in objection. Since this, we are told, is what unity manifests as.
Eurovision, of course excluded Russia from competing in 2022 due to the “serious conflict in Ukraine”. Yet the conflict in Gaza is completely different.
A Selective Vision
Forget the fact that Israel was alleged to have used irregular participation methods last year in what seems to have been an attempt to politicise Eurovision. Set aside the news that a toddler was reportedly killed in Gaza just days ago. Forget the fact that settler violence and forced displacement in the West Bank have escalated. Disregard the condition that foreign reporters are still denied unfettered access in Gaza. This entire context, apparently, should be allowed to get in the way of Eurovision’s self-proclaimed spirit of unity.
The Pageant Proceeds While Ignoring Staggering Tragedy
Eurovision turns 70 next year – almost double the current lifespan of an individual in Gaza now. The broadcast will air, but it will find it impossible to reclaim the camp joy it once represented. An institution that was originally built on harmony has devolved into a cynical way to whitewash war.
