Eurovision Was Once a Whimsical Delight – However It Has Evolved Into a Calculated Tool to Gloss Over Warfare.
A new term emerged several months after the start of Israel’s bombardment of Gaza. Labeled WCNSF, it stands for “Injured child with no living relatives”. This term is found only in Gaza, as stated by doctors including child health specialists. Normally, it is uncommon for physicians to care for a young patient who has been bereaved of their whole family. Yet, there has been nothing “normal” regarding the genocide in Gaza, where whole bloodlines have been eradicated and the number of young amputees is greater than that of any other place in the world. Nothing normal in numerous doctors returning from a landscape of rubble with reports of children being intentionally shot at.
A Hell on Earth Regardless of a Supposed Ceasefire
Conditions in Gaza persist as an utter catastrophe. Critical healthcare resources are failing to reach those in need, and international watchdogs have stated that genocidal acts are still being committed. The Israeli government has denied these claims, consistent with how it refutes each claim it is implicated in. Yet as grieving children who lost parents are now suffering from the cold in temporary shelters, there is a piece of uplifting information: apparently nothing is going to stop the Eurovision song contest from advancing its declared purpose of “unity and cultural exchange.” The contest will continue to extend a welcoming platform for Israel, even though a number of European countries have now boycotted in dissent. Since this, we are told, is what international harmony manifests as.
Historically, Eurovision prohibited Russia from taking part in 2022 over the “unprecedented crisis in Ukraine”. But the crisis in Gaza is treated differently.
Contradictory Principles
Forget the fact that Israel was accused of unfair vote practices last year in what appears to have been an attempt to politicise Eurovision. Set aside the news that a three-year-old girl was allegedly fatally struck in Gaza just days ago. Pay no mind to the evidence that attacks by settlers and coerced removal in the West Bank have increased dramatically. Forget the fact that global media are still denied unfettered access in Gaza. None of this, apparently, should be allowed to get in the way of Eurovision’s self-proclaimed spirit of unity.
The Show Goes On Amidst Staggering Tragedy
Eurovision turns 70 next year – roughly two times the projected longevity of a person in Gaza at present. The show may go on, but it will likely never recapture the camp joy it historically embodied. A contest that was originally built on harmony has devolved into a cynical way to sanitize military aggression.
