Eurovision Was Once a Campy Joy – However It Has Become a Cynical Way to Sanitize Conflict.
A freshly coined acronym emerged a few months into Israel’s bombardment of Gaza. Labeled WCNSF, it stands for “Wounded child, no surviving family”. This acronym is specific to Gaza, as stated by doctors including paediatricians. Normally, it is rare for doctors to attend to a young patient who has seen the death of their whole family. But, there has been nothing “normal” regarding the widespread destruction in Gaza, where whole bloodlines have been wiped out and the number of child amputees exceeds that of any other place in the world. No sense of normalcy about many doctors coming back from a landscape of rubble with reports of children being deliberately targeted.
A Living Nightmare In Spite Of a Supposed Ceasefire
Gaza remains hell on earth. Essential medical supplies are being blocked those in need, and international watchdogs contend that genocidal acts are ongoing. Authorities has denied these allegations, consistent with how it refutes everything it is accused of. But while young survivors are now suffering from the cold in makeshift tent camps, there is a piece of uplifting information: nothing is going to stop the Eurovision song contest from advancing its professed goal of “unity and artistic sharing.” The contest will continue to roll out a welcoming platform for Israel, despite the fact that at least four European countries have now withdrawn in objection. Since this, we are told, is what unity manifests as.
Eurovision, of course banned Russia from taking part in 2022 over the “grave situation in Ukraine”. Yet the conflict in Gaza is completely different.
Contradictory Principles
Overlook the circumstance that Israel was criticized for questionable voting tactics last year in what appears to have been an bid to inject politics into Eurovision. Ignore the report that a three-year-old girl was allegedly fatally struck in Gaza recently. Forget the fact that aggression from Israeli settlers and systematic expulsions in the West Bank have increased dramatically. Forget the fact that international journalists are still prevented from freely reporting in Gaza. None of this, evidently, should be allowed to get in the way of Eurovision’s much-touted ethos of unity.
The Show Goes On Amidst Profound Human Cost
Eurovision turns 70 next year – almost double the current lifespan of someone in Gaza now. The broadcast will air, but it will never be able to restore the pure, unadulterated fun it historically embodied. An institution that once promoted peace has devolved into a cynical way to provide a cultural veneer for conflict.
