Eurovision Used to Be a Lighthearted Spectacle – Yet It Has Become a Cynical Way to Sanitize Conflict.
A new term emerged a couple of months after the start of the military campaign against Gaza. Referred to as WCNSF, it stands for “Injured child with no living relatives”. This designation is unique to Gaza, according to medical experts such as paediatricians. Normally, it is unusual for physicians to treat a minor who has been bereaved of their whole family. But, there has been nothing “normal” about the widespread destruction in Gaza, where complete genealogies have been wiped out and the number of young amputees is greater than that of any other region in the world. No sense of normalcy in scores of doctors arriving back from a landscape of rubble with reports of children being deliberately targeted.
An Unimaginable Crisis In Spite Of a Supposed Ceasefire
Gaza remains an utter catastrophe. Essential medical supplies are being blocked those in need, and international watchdogs assert that atrocities are continuing. Officials has denied these accusations, just as it denies everything it is accused of. But while traumatised orphans are now enduring frigid conditions in improvised encampments, there is some ostensibly positive news: nothing is going to stop the international singing competition from continuing with its stated mission of “togetherness and artistic sharing.” The contest will continue to roll out a prestigious stage for Israel, although a number of European countries have now withdrawn in objection. And this, it seems, is what unity looks like.
Eurovision, of course prohibited Russia from participating in 2022 due to the “unprecedented crisis in Ukraine”. However, the situation in Gaza seems entirely distinct.
A Double Standard
Forget the fact that Israel was alleged to have used questionable voting tactics last year in what appears to have been an bid to inject politics into Eurovision. Ignore the report that a toddler was reportedly killed in Gaza recently. Pay no mind to the evidence that settler violence and coerced removal in the West Bank have surged. Forget the fact that foreign reporters are still denied independent reporting in Gaza. This entire context, evidently, should be allowed to get in the way of Eurovision’s much-touted ethos of unity.
The Pageant Proceeds While Ignoring Unimaginable Suffering
Eurovision turns 70 next year – nearly twice the current lifespan of an individual in Gaza at present. The event will proceed, but it will find it impossible to reclaim the pure, unadulterated fun it once represented. A competition that was originally built on togetherness has now become a cynical way to sanitize military aggression.
