Eurovision Was Once a Campy Joy – But It Has Become a Calculated Tool to Sanitize Conflict.

An freshly coined initialism surfaced a few months into the intensive bombing of Gaza by Israel. Labeled WCNSF, it means “Injured child with no living relatives”. This designation is found only in Gaza, per insights from doctors including paediatricians. Ordinarily, it is rare for doctors to care for a child who has been bereaved of their entire family. However, there has been no semblance of normality regarding the devastating conflict in Gaza, where entire family lineages have been eradicated and the number of child amputees exceeds that of any other region in the world. No sense of normalcy about scores of doctors returning from a landscape of rubble with reports of children being intentionally shot at.

A Living Nightmare Regardless of a Reported Truce

The Gaza Strip continues to be a profound humanitarian disaster. Vital medicines and equipment are being blocked those in need, and major human rights organizations contend that atrocities are continuing. The Israeli government has denied these claims, just as it disavows each claim it is accused of. Yet as young survivors are now suffering from the cold in makeshift tent camps, there is a little heartwarming news: apparently nothing is going to stop the Eurovision from advancing its stated mission of “unity and artistic sharing.” The contest will continue to roll out a prestigious stage for Israel, despite the fact that at least four European countries have now withdrawn in objection. Since this, we are told, is what international harmony resembles.

The contest, notably excluded Russia from participating in 2022 because of the “grave situation in Ukraine”. However, the situation in Gaza is entirely distinct.

A Double Standard

Overlook the circumstance that Israel was accused of questionable voting tactics last year in what could be seen as an bid to inject politics into Eurovision. Ignore the report that a three-year-old girl was reportedly killed in Gaza on a recent Sunday. Neglect the data that settler violence and forced displacement in the West Bank have escalated. Forget the fact that international journalists are still blocked from independent reporting in Gaza. This entire context, evidently, should be allowed to get in the way of Eurovision’s cherished spirit of unity.

The Show Goes On Against a Backdrop of Profound Human Cost

Eurovision reaches its seventieth anniversary next year – roughly two times the current lifespan of a person in Gaza at present. The show may go on, but it will never be able to restore the pure, unadulterated fun it historically embodied. A competition that was originally built on togetherness has devolved into a blatant mechanism to whitewash war.