Eurovision Was Traditionally a Whimsical Delight – However It Has Become a Calculated Tool to Whitewash War.

An new term surfaced a couple of months following the onset of the intensive bombing of Gaza by Israel. Known as WCNSF, it signifies “Child casualty without any family left”. This designation is found only in Gaza, according to medical experts like paediatricians. Ordinarily, it is unusual for doctors to attend to a child who has been bereaved of their complete family. Yet, there has been absolutely nothing ordinary about the devastating conflict in Gaza, where whole bloodlines have been wiped out and the number of young amputees exceeds that of any other place in the world. No sense of normalcy about scores of doctors coming back from a landscape of rubble with reports of children being deliberately targeted.

A Living Nightmare Despite a Supposed Ceasefire

Gaza remains hell on earth. Essential medical supplies are not getting in those in need, and major human rights organizations assert that atrocities are ongoing. The Israeli government has denied these claims, just as it disavows everything it is implicated in. But while young survivors are now freezing in makeshift tent camps, there is a piece of uplifting information: apparently nothing is going to stop the international singing competition from continuing with its stated mission of “unity and cultural exchange.” Organizers will continue to roll out a blood-red carpet for Israel, despite the fact that several European countries have now pulled out in protest. Since this, it seems, is what unity looks like.

Eurovision, of course excluded Russia from competing in 2022 over the “serious conflict in Ukraine”. Yet the conflict in Gaza is entirely distinct.

A Double Standard

Overlook the circumstance that Israel was accused of irregular participation methods last year in what could be seen as an effort to politicise Eurovision. Ignore the report that a young child was reportedly killed in Gaza recently. Forget the fact that attacks by settlers and forced displacement in the West Bank have increased dramatically. Forget the fact that foreign reporters are still denied independent reporting in Gaza. This entire context, evidently, should be seen as a barrier of Eurovision’s cherished spirit of unity.

The Show Goes On While Ignoring Profound Human Cost

The contest reaches its seventieth anniversary next year – roughly two times the average life expectancy of a person in Gaza now. The show may go on, but it will never be able to restore the whimsical pleasure it once represented. A contest that initially championed harmony has devolved into a cynical way to provide a cultural veneer for conflict.