Eurovision Used to Be a Campy Joy – But It Has Transformed Into a Cynical Way to Whitewash War.
A new initialism surfaced a few months after the start of the intensive bombing of Gaza by Israel. Known as WCNSF, it signifies “Child casualty without any family left”. This acronym is specific to Gaza, as stated by health professionals such as child health specialists. Typically, it is rare for doctors to care for a young patient who has seen the death of their complete family. Yet, there has been no semblance of normality regarding the devastating conflict in Gaza, where entire family lineages have been eradicated and the number of young amputees is greater than that of any other place in the world. No sense of normalcy in many doctors arriving back from a devastated terrain with accounts of children being systematically aimed at.
A Hell on Earth Despite a Announced Cessation of Hostilities
Gaza remains an utter catastrophe. Vital medicines and equipment are failing to reach those in need, and groups like Amnesty International have stated that genocidal acts are ongoing. The Israeli government disputes these allegations, just as it refutes each claim it is implicated in. Yet as traumatised orphans are now suffering from the cold in improvised encampments, there is a little heartwarming news: nothing is going to stop the Eurovision song contest from continuing with its declared purpose of “unity and artistic sharing.” Organizers will continue to extend a prestigious stage for Israel, despite the fact that a number of European countries have now withdrawn in objection. Since this, apparently, is what global togetherness looks like.
Eurovision, of course excluded Russia from competing in 2022 over the “unprecedented crisis in Ukraine”. But the crisis in Gaza appears to be completely different.
A Double Standard
Disregard the reality that Israel was criticized for unfair vote practices last year in what appears to have been an attempt to manipulate Eurovision. Forget the fact that a three-year-old girl was reportedly killed in Gaza just days ago. Pay no mind to the evidence that aggression from Israeli settlers and coerced removal in the West Bank have increased dramatically. Forget the fact that foreign reporters are still blocked from unfettered access in Gaza. None of this, it would seem, should be seen as a barrier of Eurovision’s self-proclaimed spirit of unity.
The Pageant Proceeds Against a Backdrop of Staggering Tragedy
Eurovision reaches its seventieth anniversary next year – nearly twice the current lifespan of someone in Gaza at present. The show may go on, but it will find it impossible to reclaim the whimsical pleasure it once represented. A contest that once promoted togetherness has transformed into a blatant mechanism to provide a cultural veneer for conflict.
