The Eurovision Song Contest Was Traditionally a Campy Joy – Yet It Has Become a Calculated Tool to Sanitize Conflict.
An freshly coined term came to light several months into the military campaign against Gaza. Referred to as WCNSF, it signifies “Child casualty without any family left”. This term is found only in Gaza, according to medical experts such as paediatricians. Ordinarily, it is unusual for physicians to attend to a minor who has seen the death of their whole family. However, there has been no semblance of normality concerning the genocide in Gaza, where whole bloodlines have been wiped out and the number of children who have lost limbs exceeds that of anywhere else in the world. Nothing normal about scores of doctors arriving back from a landscape of rubble with reports of children being systematically aimed at.
An Unimaginable Crisis Regardless of a Announced Cessation of Hostilities
Conditions in Gaza persist as hell on earth. Vital medicines and equipment are not getting in those in need, and groups like Amnesty International have stated that violations are continuing. Officials disputes these accusations, consistent with how it denies everything it is implicated in. Meanwhile, while grieving children who lost parents are now enduring frigid conditions in improvised encampments, there is a little heartwarming news: apparently nothing is going to stop the Eurovision song contest from pursuing its stated mission of “togetherness and artistic sharing.” The contest will continue to roll out a blood-red carpet for Israel, even though several European countries have now pulled out in protest. And this, it seems, is what unity looks like.
Eurovision, of course prohibited Russia from taking part in 2022 because of the “serious conflict in Ukraine”. However, the situation in Gaza appears to be entirely distinct.
A Double Standard
Overlook the circumstance that Israel was alleged to have used questionable voting tactics last year in what could be seen as an bid to manipulate Eurovision. Forget the fact that a toddler was reportedly killed in Gaza just days ago. Pay no mind to the evidence that aggression from Israeli settlers and systematic expulsions in the West Bank have surged. Overlook the situation that global media are still blocked from unfettered access in Gaza. All of this, evidently, 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 – roughly two times the current lifespan of someone in Gaza at present. The event will proceed, but it will find it impossible to reclaim the whimsical pleasure it historically embodied. A contest that initially championed harmony has now become a cynical way to sanitize military aggression.
