The Eurovision Song Contest Was Once a Lighthearted Spectacle – Yet It Has Become a Calculated Tool to Whitewash War.

An new initialism emerged a couple of months after the start of Israel’s bombardment of Gaza. Labeled WCNSF, it means “Child casualty without any family left”. This designation is found only in Gaza, according to health professionals including paediatricians. Ordinarily, it is rare for physicians to treat a young patient who has been bereaved of their whole family. But, there has been nothing “normal” regarding the devastating conflict in Gaza, where whole bloodlines have been obliterated and the number of child amputees exceeds that of any other region in the world. Nothing ordinary in many doctors returning from a devastated terrain with accounts of children being intentionally shot at.

A Living Nightmare Regardless of a Supposed Ceasefire

Conditions in Gaza persist as a profound humanitarian disaster. Critical healthcare resources are not getting in those in need, and international watchdogs assert that violations are continuing. Authorities disputes these claims, consistent with how it disavows everything it is charged with. Meanwhile, while traumatised orphans are now enduring frigid conditions in makeshift tent camps, there is a piece of uplifting information: apparently nothing is going to stop the international singing competition from advancing its professed goal of “unity and cultural exchange.” Eurovision will continue to offer a welcoming platform for Israel, although several European countries have now boycotted in dissent. And this, it seems, is what global togetherness looks like.

Eurovision, of course excluded Russia from competing in 2022 because of the “serious conflict in Ukraine”. Yet the conflict in Gaza appears to be completely different.

Contradictory Principles

Forget the fact that Israel was alleged to have used questionable voting tactics last year in what seems to have been an bid to manipulate Eurovision. Set aside the news that a young child was allegedly fatally struck in Gaza just days ago. Forget the fact that aggression from Israeli settlers and coerced removal in the West Bank have escalated. Overlook the situation that global media are still denied freely reporting in Gaza. All of this, evidently, should be seen as a barrier of Eurovision’s cherished spirit of unity.

The Pageant Proceeds While Ignoring Unimaginable Suffering

Eurovision turns 70 next year – almost double the projected longevity of an individual in Gaza at present. The event will proceed, but it will find it impossible to reclaim the whimsical pleasure it historically embodied. A competition that once promoted peace has transformed into a transparent instrument to whitewash war.