Eurovision Was Once a Lighthearted Spectacle – But It Has Become a Cynical Way to Whitewash War.
An recent initialism surfaced a few months following the onset of Israel’s bombardment of Gaza. Known as WCNSF, it signifies “Wounded child, no surviving family”. This designation is unique to Gaza, according to doctors including paediatricians. Normally, it is unusual for medical staff to care for a young patient who has been bereaved of their whole family. However, there has been no semblance of normality regarding the genocide in Gaza, where complete genealogies have been obliterated and the number of young amputees exceeds that of any other place in the world. Nothing normal about scores of doctors arriving back from a landscape of rubble with reports of children being systematically aimed at.
A Living Nightmare In Spite Of a Announced Cessation of Hostilities
The Gaza Strip continues to be an utter catastrophe. Essential medical supplies are failing to reach those in need, and groups like Amnesty International contend that violations are continuing. The Israeli government disputes these claims, consistent with how it disavows all charges it is charged with. But while 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 continuing with its declared purpose of “unity and cultural exchange.” The contest will continue to offer a prestigious stage for Israel, although a number of European countries have now pulled out in protest. And this, apparently, is what international harmony resembles.
The contest, notably excluded Russia from taking part in 2022 due to the “unprecedented crisis in Ukraine”. However, the situation in Gaza is entirely distinct.
A Selective Vision
Forget the fact that Israel was criticized for questionable voting tactics last year in what appears to have been an attempt to manipulate Eurovision. Forget the fact that a toddler was allegedly fatally struck in Gaza on a recent Sunday. Pay no mind to the evidence that aggression from Israeli settlers and coerced removal in the West Bank have surged. Disregard the condition that international journalists are still blocked from independent reporting in Gaza. None of this, apparently, should be seen as a barrier of Eurovision’s cherished spirit of unity.
The Show Goes On Amidst Profound Human Cost
The contest turns 70 next year – roughly two times the projected longevity of someone in Gaza at present. The broadcast will air, but it will never be able to restore the whimsical pleasure it historically embodied. An institution that once promoted harmony has now become a cynical way to provide a cultural veneer for conflict.
