Eurovision Used to Be a Campy Joy – However It Has Become a Calculated Tool to Sanitize Conflict.

An recent acronym came to light several months into the military campaign against Gaza. Known as WCNSF, it means “Wounded child, no surviving family”. This designation is specific to Gaza, as stated by medical experts such as paediatricians. Normally, it is uncommon for doctors to care for a young patient who has been bereaved of their complete family. However, there has been no semblance of normality regarding the devastating conflict in Gaza, where entire family lineages have been eradicated and the number of young amputees is greater than that of any other place in the world. Nothing normal about scores of doctors coming back from a sea of ruins with reports of children being systematically aimed at.

A Hell on Earth Regardless of a Supposed Ceasefire

The Gaza Strip continues to be hell on earth. Vital medicines and equipment are failing to reach those in need, and international watchdogs have stated that atrocities are ongoing. The Israeli government disputes these allegations, just as it disavows all charges it is implicated in. Yet as grieving children who lost parents are now freezing in makeshift tent camps, there is a little heartwarming news: nothing is going to stop the Eurovision from pursuing its professed goal of “togetherness and cultural exchange.” Organizers will continue to offer a welcoming platform for Israel, despite the fact that at least four European countries have now boycotted in dissent. Because this, it seems, is what global togetherness manifests as.

Historically, Eurovision prohibited Russia from competing in 2022 over the “grave situation in Ukraine”. Yet the conflict in Gaza appears to be entirely distinct.

A Double Standard

Disregard the reality that Israel was accused of irregular participation methods last year in what seems to have been an effort to manipulate Eurovision. Forget the fact that a young child was reportedly killed in Gaza recently. Forget the fact that attacks by settlers and systematic expulsions in the West Bank have increased dramatically. Disregard the condition that global media are still blocked from unfettered access in Gaza. None of this, apparently, should be allowed to get in the way of Eurovision’s much-touted ethos of unity.

The Pageant Proceeds Against a Backdrop of Profound Human Cost

Eurovision turns 70 next year – nearly twice the current lifespan of someone in Gaza at present. The event will proceed, but it will find it impossible to reclaim the whimsical pleasure it was formerly known for. An institution that was originally built on togetherness has devolved into a blatant mechanism to provide a cultural veneer for conflict.