The Eurovision Song Contest Was Once a Whimsical Delight – Yet It Has Become a Calculated Tool to Sanitize Conflict.

An freshly coined acronym came to light several months into the intensive bombing of Gaza by Israel. Referred to as WCNSF, it means “Child casualty without any family left”. This acronym is found only in Gaza, as stated by health professionals like child health specialists. Normally, it is unusual for doctors to attend to a child who has seen the death of their complete family. Yet, there has been no semblance of normality regarding the devastating conflict in Gaza, where whole bloodlines have been eradicated and the number of child amputees is greater than that of any other place in the world. Nothing ordinary in numerous doctors returning from a devastated terrain with reports of children being systematically aimed at.

A Hell on Earth In Spite Of a Reported Truce

Gaza remains a profound humanitarian disaster. Vital medicines and equipment are not getting in those in need, and major human rights organizations assert that genocidal acts are continuing. Authorities disputes these claims, consistent with how it denies each claim it is charged with. Meanwhile, while grieving children who lost parents are now freezing in makeshift tent camps, there is some ostensibly positive news: apparently nothing is going to stop the Eurovision from advancing its stated mission of “unity and cultural exchange.” Organizers will continue to offer a blood-red carpet for Israel, even though a number of European countries have now withdrawn in objection. Because this, we are told, is what international harmony looks like.

Eurovision, of course excluded Russia from participating in 2022 because of the “unprecedented crisis in Ukraine”. But the crisis in Gaza seems entirely distinct.

Contradictory Principles

Disregard the reality that Israel was alleged to have used questionable voting tactics last year in what appears to have been an effort to manipulate Eurovision. Ignore the report that a toddler 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 escalated. Disregard the condition that global media are still blocked from independent reporting in Gaza. All of this, it would seem, should be seen as a barrier of Eurovision’s much-touted ethos of unity.

The Show Goes On Amidst Profound Human Cost

Eurovision reaches its seventieth anniversary next year – roughly two times the projected longevity of a person in Gaza at present. The broadcast will air, but it will likely never recapture the camp joy it once represented. A contest that was originally built on togetherness has transformed into a cynical way to provide a cultural veneer for conflict.