Eurovision Used to Be a Whimsical Delight – Yet It Has Transformed Into a Strategic Method to Gloss Over Warfare.

An recent initialism surfaced a few months after the start of Israel’s bombardment of Gaza. Known as WCNSF, it means “Child casualty without any family left”. This acronym is specific to Gaza, according to doctors such as paediatricians. Ordinarily, it is rare for medical staff to attend to a child who has lost their complete family. However, there has been no semblance of normality about the widespread destruction in Gaza, where entire family lineages have been obliterated and the number of young amputees surpasses that of any other region in the world. Nothing normal about scores of doctors arriving back from a sea of ruins with accounts of children being deliberately targeted.

A Hell on Earth In Spite Of a Reported Truce

Gaza remains a profound humanitarian disaster. Vital medicines and equipment are not getting in those in need, and international watchdogs contend that atrocities are continuing. The Israeli government rejects these allegations, just as it disavows everything it is implicated in. Meanwhile, while traumatised orphans are now enduring frigid conditions in makeshift tent camps, there is some ostensibly positive news: nothing is going to stop the Eurovision from continuing with its stated mission of “togetherness and cultural exchange.” The contest will continue to extend a blood-red carpet for Israel, although a number of European countries have now pulled out in protest. Because this, apparently, is what unity resembles.

Eurovision, of course banned Russia from taking part in 2022 over the “serious conflict in Ukraine”. However, the situation in Gaza is entirely distinct.

A Double Standard

Forget the fact that Israel was accused of irregular participation methods last year in what could be seen as an effort to politicise Eurovision. Forget the fact that a three-year-old girl was reportedly killed in Gaza recently. Forget the fact that aggression from Israeli 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. All of this, it would seem, should be seen as a barrier of Eurovision’s cherished spirit of unity.

The Contest Continues Against a Backdrop of Unimaginable Suffering

The contest turns 70 next year – nearly twice the current lifespan of someone in Gaza today. The broadcast will air, but it will find it impossible to reclaim the whimsical pleasure it once represented. An institution that was originally built on togetherness has now become a transparent instrument to whitewash war.