Eurovision Used to Be a Campy Joy – Yet It Has Evolved Into a Calculated Tool to Whitewash War.
A recent initialism emerged a couple of months into Israel’s bombardment of Gaza. Labeled WCNSF, it means “Wounded child, no surviving family”. This designation is found only in Gaza, per insights from medical experts like paediatricians. Ordinarily, it is unusual for medical staff to care for a young patient who has lost their whole family. However, there has been absolutely nothing ordinary about the genocide in Gaza, where whole bloodlines have been obliterated and the number of child amputees is greater than that of any other region in the world. No sense of normalcy in scores of doctors returning from a sea of ruins with accounts of children being intentionally shot at.
A Hell on Earth In Spite Of a Supposed Ceasefire
The Gaza Strip continues to be an utter catastrophe. Vital medicines and equipment are failing to reach those in need, and international watchdogs assert that atrocities are ongoing. Officials rejects these accusations, consistent with how it denies everything it is accused of. But while traumatised orphans are now suffering from the cold in makeshift tent camps, there is a little heartwarming news: nothing is going to stop the Eurovision song contest from advancing its professed goal of “togetherness and artistic sharing.” The contest will continue to extend a welcoming platform for Israel, even though a number of European countries have now withdrawn in objection. Because this, we are told, is what international harmony manifests as.
Historically, Eurovision excluded Russia from taking part in 2022 due to the “unprecedented crisis in Ukraine”. But the crisis in Gaza appears to be entirely distinct.
A Selective Vision
Disregard the reality that Israel was alleged to have used questionable voting tactics last year in what seems to have been an effort to politicise Eurovision. Set aside the news that a toddler was allegedly fatally struck in Gaza recently. Forget the fact that aggression from Israeli settlers and systematic expulsions in the West Bank have escalated. Forget the fact that global media are still denied independent reporting in Gaza. This entire context, evidently, should be seen as a barrier of Eurovision’s much-touted ethos of unity.
The Show Goes On Against a Backdrop of Staggering Tragedy
Eurovision reaches its seventieth anniversary next year – roughly two times the current lifespan of a person in Gaza now. The show may go on, but it will likely never recapture the camp joy it was formerly known for. A contest that was originally built on peace has now become a cynical way to sanitize military aggression.
