An Israeli delegation has been banned from a youth ultimate frisbee competition in Belgium after they were targeted by anti-Israel protests and vandalism.
According to the ultimate frisbee site Ultiworld, the Israeli delegation to the U-17 European Youth Ultimate Championships in Ghent, Belgium, consisted of two teams, competing in the open and mixed divisions. From the get-go, the organizers of the competition were met with heavy pressure due to the Israeli participation.
Shortly before the competition was set to begin, the Ghent city council and police decided to ban the Israeli teams from playing in the city due to a fear of protests stating that the team's safety "could not be guaranteed.” As a result, Israel's games were moved to the nearby town of De Pinte.
The night before the competition, anti-Israel activists vandalized the building in De Pinte, where the Israeli team was supposed to play, with red paint. According to Belgian newspaper De Standaard, they left behind the slogan 'boycott Israel now' and claimed responsibility for the action in an anonymous statement. "The Palestinian community of Ghent and pro-Palestinian people are furious," it said.
Following the incident authorities in De Pinte decided to ban the delegation from playing there as well. In addition, the European Ultimate Federation (EUF) and local authorities postponed all of Tuesday's games.
Later in the day, the EUF announced the Israeli delegation would no longer be permitted to take part in the tournament, writing in a statement: “EUF and EFDF recognize 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. We 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.”
The Israel Flying Disc Association commented:
"We 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.
"We are mad because the official letter from the mayor puts part of the blame on the other teams by stating they are afraid that matches will be boycotted.
"We 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.
"Moreover, it is absurd that the Ghent police won’t do anything to make sure the event is secured and safe for everyone but will be there to ensure that no Israeli – 15 year olds girls and boys would be able to even get into the event.
"The 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."