Eurovision Was Traditionally a Campy Joy – But It Has Become a Calculated Tool to Whitewash War.
A new term came to light several months into the intensive bombing of Gaza by Israel. Labeled WCNSF, it means “Child casualty without any family left”. This acronym is found only in Gaza, according to health professionals including paediatricians. Ordinarily, it is unusual for medical staff to treat a young patient who has lost their entire family. But, there has been nothing “normal” regarding the widespread destruction in Gaza, where complete genealogies have been wiped out and the number of young amputees surpasses that of any other region in the world. No sense of normalcy in many doctors returning from a landscape of rubble with accounts of children being systematically aimed at.
A Living Nightmare Regardless of a Reported Truce
Conditions in Gaza persist as hell on earth. Vital medicines and equipment are failing to reach those in need, and international watchdogs assert that violations are still being committed. Officials rejects these allegations, consistent with how it denies everything it is accused of. But while young survivors are now suffering from the cold in temporary shelters, there is a piece of uplifting information: apparently nothing is going to stop the Eurovision from pursuing its declared purpose of “togetherness and artistic sharing.” Eurovision will continue to extend a blood-red carpet for Israel, even though at least four European countries have now boycotted in dissent. Because this, we are told, is what global togetherness looks like.
Eurovision, of course excluded Russia from participating in 2022 because of the “grave situation in Ukraine”. Yet the conflict in Gaza seems completely different.
A Selective Vision
Overlook the circumstance that Israel was accused of questionable voting tactics last year in what could be seen as an bid to politicise Eurovision. Set aside the news that a three-year-old girl was reportedly killed in Gaza recently. Neglect the data that attacks by settlers and forced displacement in the West Bank have surged. Disregard the condition that international journalists are still prevented from freely reporting in Gaza. All of this, apparently, should be allowed to get in the way of Eurovision’s self-proclaimed spirit of unity.
The Show Goes On Against a Backdrop of Unimaginable Suffering
Eurovision turns 70 next year – almost double the average life expectancy of a person in Gaza now. The broadcast will air, but it will find it impossible to reclaim the pure, unadulterated fun it once represented. An institution that initially championed harmony has transformed into a blatant mechanism to whitewash war.