The Eurovision Song Contest Was Traditionally a Campy Joy – But It Has Evolved Into a Cynical Way to Gloss Over Warfare.
An new acronym came to light a couple of months after the start of the intensive bombing of Gaza by Israel. Known as WCNSF, it stands for “Child casualty without any family left”. This term is specific to Gaza, per insights from medical experts like paediatricians. Normally, it is rare for physicians to attend to a child who has been bereaved of their entire family. But, there has been nothing “normal” about the genocide in Gaza, where complete genealogies have been obliterated and the number of children who have lost limbs is greater than that of any other region in the world. Nothing ordinary about scores of doctors coming back from a landscape of rubble with testimonies of children being systematically aimed at.
An Unimaginable Crisis Despite a Announced Cessation of Hostilities
Gaza remains a profound humanitarian disaster. Essential medical supplies are failing to reach those in need, and major human rights organizations contend that atrocities are ongoing. Officials disputes these accusations, just as it disavows everything it is accused of. Yet as young survivors are now enduring frigid conditions in temporary shelters, there is some ostensibly positive news: nothing is going to stop the Eurovision song contest from advancing its stated mission of “unity and artistic sharing.” Organizers will continue to extend a prestigious stage for Israel, although at least four European countries have now boycotted in dissent. Since this, it seems, is what global togetherness manifests as.
Eurovision, of course excluded Russia from participating in 2022 because of the “unprecedented crisis in Ukraine”. But the crisis in Gaza appears to be treated differently.
A Double Standard
Forget the fact that Israel was accused of questionable voting tactics last year in what appears to have been an attempt to inject politics into Eurovision. Ignore the report that a young child was allegedly fatally struck in Gaza recently. Pay no mind to the evidence that settler violence and forced displacement in the West Bank have increased dramatically. Disregard the condition that foreign reporters are still denied independent reporting in Gaza. This entire context, apparently, should be seen as a barrier of Eurovision’s much-touted ethos of unity.
The Pageant Proceeds Amidst Profound Human Cost
The contest marks seven decades next year – almost double the average life expectancy of an individual in Gaza today. The event will proceed, but it will never be able to restore the whimsical pleasure it historically embodied. A contest that once promoted peace has devolved into a cynical way to whitewash war.
