Eurovision Used to Be a Lighthearted Spectacle – But It Has Become a Calculated Tool to Sanitize Conflict.
A recent term surfaced a couple of months into Israel’s bombardment of Gaza. Referred to as WCNSF, it signifies “Child casualty without any family left”. This designation is specific to Gaza, per insights from health professionals including paediatricians. Ordinarily, it is uncommon for medical staff to treat a child who has been bereaved of their complete family. Yet, there has been nothing “normal” about the genocide in Gaza, where whole bloodlines have been eradicated and the number of young amputees is greater than that of any other region in the world. No sense of normalcy about scores of doctors arriving back from a landscape of rubble with accounts of children being deliberately targeted.
A Hell on Earth In Spite Of a Announced Cessation of Hostilities
The Gaza Strip continues to be a profound humanitarian disaster. Vital medicines and equipment are being blocked those in need, and major human rights organizations have stated that violations are ongoing. The Israeli government has denied these allegations, just as it denies each claim it is accused of. Meanwhile, while young survivors are now freezing in makeshift tent camps, there is a piece of uplifting information: nothing is going to stop the international singing competition from pursuing its stated mission of “unity and cultural exchange.” Organizers will continue to roll out a prestigious stage for Israel, even though a number of European countries have now withdrawn in objection. Since this, it seems, is what international harmony looks like.
Eurovision, of course excluded Russia from competing in 2022 over the “unprecedented crisis in Ukraine”. But the crisis in Gaza is treated differently.
A Double Standard
Disregard the reality that Israel was accused of unfair vote practices last year in what appears to have been an attempt to inject politics into Eurovision. Ignore the report that a toddler was allegedly fatally struck in Gaza recently. Neglect the data that settler violence and coerced removal in the West Bank have increased dramatically. Forget the fact that foreign reporters are still blocked from freely reporting in Gaza. None of this, it would seem, should be allowed to get in the way of Eurovision’s much-touted ethos of unity.
The Show Goes On Amidst Staggering Tragedy
The contest marks seven decades next year – almost double the current lifespan of an individual in Gaza at present. The show may go on, but it will find it impossible to reclaim the whimsical pleasure it historically embodied. A competition that initially championed harmony has devolved into a blatant mechanism to provide a cultural veneer for conflict.
