Eurovision Used to Be a Lighthearted Spectacle – But It Has Become a Strategic Method to Sanitize Conflict.

An recent term emerged 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 term is unique to Gaza, as stated by doctors like paediatricians. Ordinarily, it is unusual for medical staff to attend to a young patient who has been bereaved of their whole family. But, there has been no semblance of normality concerning the genocide in Gaza, where entire family lineages have been obliterated and the number of young amputees is greater than that of any other region in the world. No sense of normalcy in scores of doctors coming back from a devastated terrain with accounts of children being intentionally shot at.

A Hell on Earth Despite a Reported Truce

Gaza remains hell on earth. Critical healthcare resources are being blocked those in need, and international watchdogs have stated that genocidal acts are continuing. The Israeli government rejects these claims, consistent with how it disavows everything it is accused of. Yet as young survivors are now suffering from the cold in improvised encampments, there is some ostensibly positive news: apparently nothing is going to stop the Eurovision song contest from pursuing its declared purpose of “togetherness and cultural exchange.” Eurovision will continue to offer a blood-red carpet for Israel, despite the fact that at least four European countries have now pulled out in protest. Because this, it seems, is what international harmony manifests as.

Eurovision, of course banned Russia from taking part in 2022 because of the “unprecedented crisis in Ukraine”. Yet the conflict in Gaza is completely different.

Contradictory Principles

Disregard the reality that Israel was alleged to have used questionable voting tactics last year in what could be seen as an bid to politicise Eurovision. Forget the fact that a young child was reportedly killed in Gaza on a recent Sunday. Neglect the data that aggression from Israeli settlers and coerced removal in the West Bank have increased dramatically. Disregard the condition that international journalists are still denied independent reporting in Gaza. None of this, evidently, should be permitted to obstruct of Eurovision’s much-touted ethos of unity.

The Pageant Proceeds Amidst Profound Human Cost

The contest turns 70 next year – almost double the current lifespan of someone in Gaza today. The show may go on, but it will never be able to restore the pure, unadulterated fun it was formerly known for. An institution that was originally built on togetherness has transformed into a blatant mechanism to sanitize military aggression.