{"id":114850,"date":"2024-08-10T17:00:26","date_gmt":"2024-08-10T15:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=114850"},"modified":"2024-08-09T08:05:54","modified_gmt":"2024-08-09T06:05:54","slug":"10-00-100","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=114850","title":{"rendered":"Belgian City Accused of Antisemitism for Banning Israeli Athletes From International Frisbee Tournament"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>Belgian City Accused of Antisemitism for Banning Israeli Athletes From International Frisbee Tournament<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/h5>\n

Shiryn Ghermezian<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

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People walk at a square where Israeli flags are displayed, amid the ongoing conflict between Hamas and Israel, in Tel Aviv, Israel, July 16, 2024. Photo: Reuters\/Ricardo Moraes<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

The Belgian city of Ghent and organizers of an international frisbee tournament are being accused of antisemitism and discrimination after an Israeli delegation of athletes was prohibited from participating in or even being present at the competition that started this week.<\/span><\/p>\n

A delegation of Israeli boys and girls aged 13 to 17 are in Belgium to compete in the Under-17 European Championship Frisbee Tournament in Ghent that was scheduled to start on Tuesday and run until Aug. 10 at the Blaarmeersen, a sports and recreation park in the city. A total of 33 Israeli athletes traveled to Belgium to compete in the open and mixed divisions of the tournament, which will feature teams from 11 countries.<\/span><\/p>\n

The city of Ghent had moved all of Israel\u2019s matches in the tournament to the Moerkensheide sports park in the municipal of De Pint, amid security concerns about the presence of Israeli athletes at the Blaarmeersen. However, anti-Israel activists vandalized the Moerkensheide on Monday night, spray-painting buildings in the park with the message \u201cBOYCOTT ISRAHELL NOW!\u201d After Monday night\u2019s vandalism at Moerkensheide, the mayor of De Pint rescinded permission to have the Israeli delegation compete at the sports park.<\/span><\/p>\n

In a\u00a0statement<\/a>\u00a0posted on the official Instagram account of the Israeli Flying Disc Association, the Israeli delegation said that on the opening day of the tournament, early in the morning and mere hours before the athletes were ready to compete, they were informed that the entire Israeli delegation has been banned from the competition following the vandalism that took place the night before and because of \u201cfear of pro-Palestinian demonstrations.\u201d The Israeli athletes believe the decision was made because of \u201clocal antisemitism.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt makes no sense that 15-year-old players and players can\u2019t play the sport they love so much because of politics and antisemitism,\u201d they said in a released statement.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Israel Flying Disc Association said in a separate\u00a0statement<\/a>: \u201cWe are mad. We are mad because we see this as a political decision and not a security related one. Our security detail repeatedly say that there is no risk in us coming to any of the fields. We are mad because the tournament was so eager to take up a role in preventing a team in participating or spectating the tournament, just because of their nationality, which is discrimination by definition.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The European Ultimate Federation (EUF) and European Flying Disc Federation (EFDF), both of whom are organizing the tournament,\u00a0announced<\/a>\u00a0on Tuesday that Ghent authorities made the decision to ban the Israeli delegation \u201cgiven the current local and international unrest, threats and recent incidents.\u201d They added that authorities have concerns \u201cof high risk disturbance of public order, a significant threat and the inability to guarantee safety at the event if all teams were to participate as planned.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The city of Ghent announced that it \u201cprohibits the participation of the Israeli delegation\u201d and \u201cthe presence of the Israeli delegation\u201d in the Under-17 European Championship Frisbee Tournament. The city also said it forbids \u201cany references related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (such as flags, clothing, inscriptions, pamphlets, etc.) during the tournament due to safety risks, aiming to prevent potential escalation.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

All matches on Tuesday, which was supposed to be the first day of the tournament, were postponed until Wednesday at the Blaarmeersen.<\/span><\/p>\n

The EUF and EFDF said they were \u201cdisappointed to have to make this sad announcement\u201d but, nevertheless, they \u201cmust respect and follow the instructions given by the authorities and we must ensure that safety for all our participants, players, volunteers, and spectators is our number one priority.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cEUF and EFDF recognizes this situation is sad, disappointing, and unfortunate, and we know that all players have come to Ghent to focus on playing Ultimate, to make new friends, and to create memories to last a lifetime,\u201d the federations said. \u201cWe ask each and every participant, our Ultimate Community and all supporters to respect this decision and to show good Spirit both on and off the field to continue to promote Youth development within our sport.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The Israel Flying Disc Association criticized tournament organizers, as well as Ghent authorities, for the decision.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe are sad because we need to spend this morning explaining to 15-year-old boys and girls why the sport they love so much and is a sport that accepts anyone, from any race and origin, is having a competition where one specific nationality is not allowed to participate, and still the competition continues,\u201d the association said. \u201cMoreover, it is absurd that the Ghent police won\u2019t do anything to make sure the event is secured and safe for everyone but will be there to ensure that no Israeli \u2014 15-year-old girls and boys would be able to even get into the event.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe event organizers are even preventing us from arriving at the venue to contest the decision. This is exactly the opposite of Ultimate as a sport that communicates disagreements. This is discrimination,\u201d the statement continued.<\/span><\/p>\n

A municipal decree by Ghent\u00a0states<\/a>\u00a0that in light of the \u201ccurrent precarious situation in the Middle East, in particular the conflict between Israel and Palestine \u2026 there is a high risk of disturbance of public order following the presence of an Israeli delegation at a public event\u201d and also a \u201csignificant terrorist threat.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe presence and participation of the Israeli delegation in this tournament is a threat to public order and safety of the participants involved. For the sake of the aforementioned security problems, it is therefore absolutely necessary for the organizer to remand the Israeli delegation from the tournament,\u201d the decree further stated, while additionally noting that \u201cpeople and organizations\u201d oppose Israel\u2019s participation in the tournament because of the ongoing Israel-Hamas war.<\/span><\/p>\n

Ghent ruled that because of the open nature of the Blaarmeersen and its vastness, \u201csafety cannot be guaranteed\u201d at the park and \u201cthe areas can neither be shielded nor secured.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIn addition, there is no security from the organization on site, nor are security measures currently being provided,\u201d the city decree stated. It also mentioned other concerns that the city has, like the fact that the tournament is open to the public and expected to attract a large number of attendees. The decree additionally lists several anti-Israel protests, demonstrations, and vandalisms that have taken place in Ghent in the past year \u201cresulting in a lot of disturbances and calamities.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The city said all these reasons \u201cshow undeniably that the probability is very real that there will be actions if an Israeli team participates in a European championship, with all the consequences that entails. Taking this into account, it is clear that the public order and safety of the spectators and participants cannot be guaranteed if the tournament were to take place on the Blaarmeersen in the presence of an Israeli delegation.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

A number of Jewish groups condemned the decision to ban the Israeli delegation from the frisbee tournament, including the World Jewish Congress (WJC).<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cProhibiting Israelis from an international frisbee tournament highlights a troubling trend of xenophobia in sports,\u201d WJC said in a statement\u00a0shared<\/a>\u00a0on X\/Twitter. \u201cThis move by the European Ultimate Federation should be unequivocally rejected. It undermines the principles of fairness and inclusivity and contradicts the core values of sportsmanship. Not allowing Israelis to play because THEY face security threats appeases those who might commit aggression and represents a total failure of to protect the victims of such bigoted threats.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The Combat Antisemitism Movement\u00a0said<\/a>\u00a0the \u201chorrendous, spineless decision hands a win to the terrorists and their supporters.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The American Jewish Committee (AJC) called the move \u201cblatant discrimination.\u201d The AJC\u00a0said<\/a>: \u201cWe are shocked that Israel\u2019s National Ultimate Frisbee team, already victims of anti-Israel vandalism, has now been banned from the European Youth Ultimate Championship in Belgium \u2018for their own safety.\u2019 This is blatant discrimination! Jewish athletes should never be excluded due to antisemitism. Host countries must stand up to bigotry, not reward it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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Belgian City Accused of Antisemitism for Banning Israeli Athletes From International Frisbee Tournament Shiryn Ghermezian People walk at a square where Israeli flags are displayed, amid the ongoing conflict between Hamas and Israel, in Tel Aviv, Israel, July 16, 2024. Photo: Reuters\/Ricardo Moraes The Belgian city of Ghent and organizers of an international frisbee tournament […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[26,24],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114850"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=114850"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114850\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":114875,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/114850\/revisions\/114875"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=114850"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=114850"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=114850"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}