Eurovision Was Once a Whimsical Delight – But It Has Transformed Into a Calculated Tool to Whitewash War.
An new initialism came to light a few months after the start of the intensive bombing of Gaza by Israel. Known as WCNSF, it means “Wounded child, no surviving family”. This designation is specific to Gaza, according to medical experts including child health specialists. Ordinarily, it is unusual for medical staff to treat a child who has been bereaved of their complete family. But, there has been no semblance of normality about the devastating conflict in Gaza, where whole bloodlines have been wiped out and the number of children who have lost limbs is greater than that of any other place in the world. Nothing ordinary in scores of doctors returning from a landscape of rubble with accounts of children being deliberately targeted.
An Unimaginable Crisis Regardless of a Reported Truce
Gaza remains a profound humanitarian disaster. Critical healthcare resources are not getting in those in need, and groups like Amnesty International have stated that violations are ongoing. The Israeli government disputes these claims, consistent with how it refutes everything it is accused of. Meanwhile, while young survivors are now enduring frigid conditions in improvised encampments, there is some ostensibly positive news: nothing is going to stop the Eurovision song contest from continuing with its declared purpose of “unity and artistic sharing.” Organizers will continue to offer a blood-red carpet for Israel, although a number of European countries have now withdrawn in objection. Since this, it seems, is what international harmony manifests as.
Eurovision, of course excluded Russia from competing in 2022 because of the “serious conflict in Ukraine”. However, the situation in Gaza is completely different.
A Double Standard
Disregard the reality that Israel was accused of questionable voting tactics last year in what appears to have been an effort to inject politics into Eurovision. Ignore the report that a three-year-old girl was allegedly fatally struck in Gaza just days ago. Neglect the data that settler violence and systematic expulsions in the West Bank have escalated. Disregard the condition that global media are still denied freely reporting in Gaza. This entire context, apparently, should be permitted to obstruct of Eurovision’s cherished spirit of unity.
The Pageant Proceeds Amidst Staggering Tragedy
The contest marks seven decades next year – nearly twice the average life expectancy of an individual in Gaza today. The broadcast will air, but it will find it impossible to reclaim the whimsical pleasure it historically embodied. A contest that was originally built on togetherness has transformed into a transparent instrument to provide a cultural veneer for conflict.
