‘’It makes no sense for 15-year-old players to be prevented from playing the sport they love so much because of cheap politics and anti-Semitism,’’ said Elias Ben Zion, CEO of the Israeli Association of Frisbee.

The city of Ghent decided that the organizers should exclude Israeli participants from the tournament. “It is also important that all possible references to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (flags, clothing, inscriptions, pamphlets…) are banned during the tournament to avoid any possible escalation”, the Ghent authorities said.

 

Under pressure of the authorities of the Belgian city of Ghent, organizers of a Frisbee championship for teenagers has decided to drop a young Israeli delegation from the program, Belgian daily La Dernière Heure reported. 

Eleven countries, including Israel have been represented by delegations of teenage players.

“We are disappointed to have to announce this sad news: the young Israeli delegation can no longer take part in the Frisbee tournament in Ghent,’’ the organizers, the European Ultimate Federation and the European Flying Disc Federation,  said Wednesday.

On Tuesday,  pro-Palestinian slogans such as “BOYCOTT ISRAHELL NOW!” were written on a sports field, which alerted the local authorities, the newspaper said.

The organization suspended the tournament to try to find a solution with the city of Ghent so that the Israeli delegation – a team made up of  of girls and boys aged 13 to 17- could safely take part in the competition.

But no solution could be found and as a result, a revised tournament schedule has been published which doesn’t include the Israeli delegation.

“Despite our many attempts to make the European Youth Ultimate Championship accessible to all countries, we are disappointed to have to make this sad announcement. We must observe the directives of the authorities and we must think of the safety of all our participants, players, volunteers and followers, that is our priority”, the organizers said.

The Ghent police had decreed that there were ‘’risks’’ associated with the tournament. and the city mayor, Bram Van Braeckevelt, who is from the Flemish Green party, referred to a “terrorist threat”.

The city also decided that the organizers should exclude Israeli participants from the tournament. “It is also important that all possible references to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (flags, clothing, inscriptions, pamphlets…) are banned during the tournament to avoid any possible escalation”, the Ghent authorities said.

‘’We are currently in Belgium after receiving a message informing us that our participation in the European Championship, which is starting right now, has been banned due to local anti-Semitism,’’ wrote Eilat Ben Zion, CEO of the Israeli Frisbee Association, in a message to Jewish community members.

He explained that about three weeks before the European Youth Championship ‘’ we received a message saying that the mayor of Ghent refuses to let us take part in the tournament and threatens to cancel the entire tournament if Israel takes part.’’

The Israeli association insisted on taking part in the tournament legally in accordance with the sporting regulations and asked the tournament organizers to find a solution after receiving authorization from the Israeli security unit to come and take part in the tournament from a security point of view.

‘’About two weeks before the flight, the tournament organizers informed us that we would find an alternative field, detached and away from the general championship complex, where Israel could play, but the condition of participation was that the Israeli delegation would not be able to take part in the opening ceremony and any championship social events,’’ said Ben Zion.

The Israeli association accepted the conditions and continued to organize accordingly.

Ben Zion continued: ‘’At 6 a.m. on the first day of the competition, when we were already in Belgium and preparing to compete, the head of the delegation received a message stating that during the night our courts had been vandalized by anti-Zionist graffiti and that there was a fear of pro-Palestinian demonstrations, so we were forbidden to play on the same court and consequently would not be able to take part in the tournament.’’

Despite the efforts of the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Sports, the Israeli Embassy in Belgium and the “Eilat” association, which accompanied the Israeli delegation throughout the process, an official notice went out on Tuesday from the city of Ghent  prohibiting the team’s participation in the tournament and even its appearance as a spectator in the competition.

The municipality’s decision stated that the police are unable to provide security due to the participation of Israeli players and ordered the police to remain on the tournament complex to ensure that no Israeli delegation will arrive at the championship complex.

aeli delegation will arrive at the championship complex.

At present, the team is stuck in Belgium as there are no alternative air tickets to the country.  Due to the explosive security situation, the team is obliged to stay in a hotel with no possibility of movement.

In a call to the Jewish community, Ben Zion said: ‘’We need you on our side in the fight against anti-Semitism,’’

‘’It makes no sense for 15-year-old players to be prevented from playing the sport they love so much because of cheap politics and anti-Semitism,’’ he added.

Last June, the city of Brussels decided to refuse to host a soccer match between Belgium and Israel in the framework of the UEFA Nations League set to take place in September ”for security reasons linked  to the situation in Gaza.” The match will now take place in Hungary.