A volleyball game pitting Israel against Serbia in Turkey was surrounded by violence Saturday when pro-Palestinian Authority protesters clashed with Ankara police.
Dozens of the demonstrators showed up for the game, about two blocks away from the hall where an Israeli women's team was scheduled to play in the European Volleyball League.
The match had been closed to the public due to concerns there would be violence by anti-Israel protesters. Heavy security protected the players and the hall; roads were blocked around the area and Israeli security personnel protected the players, who rode in a bus with tinted windows to the indoor stadium. The stadium itself was nearly empty, except for a handful of supporters, family, friends, coaches and staff.
“Don't be dogs of Zionism. G-d will hold you to account,” some 100 demonstrators threatened riot control police. They hurled water bottles and poked and rapped on the shields of the police officers with their PA flag poles.
“Esteemed friends,” a police commander appealed to the hostile crowd. “Please don't cause trouble.”
The demonstrators had been coached by organizers to show up one by one in order to thwart security attempts to prevent the protest. Email messages advising protesters to hide Palestinian Authority flags and banners, and shout slogans when they arrived at the hall, were caught and blocked by security personnel. According to the Associated Press, one message named the hotel housing the Israeli athletes. In 1972, eleven Israeli athletes were killed by terrorists at the Munich Olympics.
Israel lost the match, 3-0. The team is scheduled to play against Turkey on Sunday.
Coach Arie Selinger, who in the past coached the U.S. women's volleyball team to a silver medal in the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, and the Dutch men's team to a silver medal in 1992 in Barcelona, said the loss was a “good experience” for his team.
He then thanked the Turkish authorities and praised the tight security measures.
Public sentiment has been unstable towards Israel since Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan launched harsh criticism of the Jewish State during its three-week winter war against Hamas terrorists in Gaza at the beginning of 2009.
The most recent escalation came when nine members of the terror-linked Turkish IHH organization were killed in a clash with Israeli Navy commandos. The armed terrorists had attacked the soldiers when they boarded the Turkish Mavi Marmara vessel (one of six in an aid flotilla sent to break Israel's maritime blockade of Gaza) in order to redirect that boat and the others to Ashdod Port.
Following the incident, Turkey threatened to cut diplomatic ties, demanding that Israel apologize, compensate the families of the terrorists and lift its blockade of Gaza.
