Eurovision Used to Be a Lighthearted Spectacle – But It Has Become a Calculated Tool to Sanitize Conflict.

A recent initialism came to light a couple of months into the intensive bombing of Gaza by Israel. Known as WCNSF, it means “Wounded child, no surviving family”. This acronym is found only in Gaza, according to health professionals such as paediatricians. Ordinarily, it is rare for physicians to care for a young patient who has seen the death of their complete family. But, there has been absolutely nothing ordinary regarding the genocide in Gaza, where whole bloodlines have been obliterated and the number of young amputees surpasses that of anywhere else in the world. No sense of normalcy in numerous doctors arriving back from a landscape of rubble with reports of children being intentionally shot at.

An Unimaginable Crisis Despite a Announced Cessation of Hostilities

Gaza remains an utter catastrophe. Vital medicines and equipment are being blocked those in need, and international watchdogs assert that genocidal acts are ongoing. Authorities has denied these allegations, just as it denies everything it is accused of. But while 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 continuing with its declared purpose of “unity and cultural exchange.” The contest will continue to extend a blood-red carpet for Israel, despite the fact that at least four European countries have now pulled out in protest. Since this, it seems, is what international harmony resembles.

Historically, Eurovision excluded Russia from competing in 2022 over the “unprecedented crisis in Ukraine”. But the crisis in Gaza is completely different.

A Selective Vision

Overlook the circumstance that Israel was accused of questionable voting tactics last year in what seems to have been an effort to politicise Eurovision. Ignore the report that a young child was reportedly killed in Gaza just days ago. Neglect the data that settler violence and forced displacement in the West Bank have escalated. Overlook the situation that global media are still prevented from unfettered access in Gaza. None of this, it would seem, should be allowed to get in the way of Eurovision’s self-proclaimed spirit of unity.

The Show Goes On Against a Backdrop of Profound Human Cost

The contest turns 70 next year – roughly two times the average life expectancy of a person in Gaza today. The event will proceed, but it will never be able to restore the whimsical pleasure it once represented. A competition that initially championed peace has devolved into a cynical way to provide a cultural veneer for conflict.