Israeli teens in Belgium to take part in an international frisbee tournament have been forced out after pro-Palestine activists campaigned against their presence at the main venue in the city of Ghent.
The city in Northwest Belgium is hosting an international youth frisbee tournament with competitors from 11 countries.
The Israel team had already been forced to play in the nearby town of De Pinte “because security could not be guaranteed”, according to the tournament’s organisers.
Activists have accused Israel of war crimes in Gaza and said it was unacceptable for the country to be represented in such a tournament, despite the team being made up of 15 to 17-year-old players with no known political affiliations.
After Ghent authorities and the local police decided to move the Israeli games to De Pinte, activists targeted the sports arena where the team had been set to play, scrawling “Boycott Israel now” on the wall and splashing red paint across the premises.
“Ghent Palestinian community and Pro-Palestinian people are furious,” the apparent culprits wrote online anonymously.
This prompted the organisers to kick the Israelis out of the competition.
De Pinte’s acting mayor Lieve Van Lancker told news outlet De Standaard on August 7: “We were contacted as an emergency solution after the Ghent city council judged that security could not be guaranteed on its own territory.
“Despite an initial preliminary positive assessment and the willingness of our municipality to see what was possible, last night we were confronted with vandalism to the infrastructure of Moerkensheide sports park.
“We strongly condemn this vandalism and will do everything possible to help identify the perpetrators. However, given these facts, our local police also judge that there are too many uncertain factors to ensure the safety of those present during the sports tournament on our territory as well.”
“Despite our numerous efforts to make the tournament possible for all countries, we are disappointed that we have to make this sad announcement,” the organisers echoed. “We have to respect the guidelines of the authorities and we have to think about the safety of all our participants, players, volunteers and spectators.”
Acting mayor in Ghent, Bram Van Braeckevelt spoke of a “significant terrorist threat.”
As a result, only the opening ceremony was held on August 6 with no games played.
Not everyone is convinced about the alleged security threat.
Idit Rosenzweig-Abu, Israel’s ambassador in Belgium, noted that at the Tomorrowland event, one of the world’s most popular music festivals, Israel flags were waved without any trouble. He added there may have been political motivations regarding in the Ghent decision.
Both Ghent and De Pinte decided they can’t possibly handle the HUGE security burden of having 🇮🇱 participants at a frisbee (FRISBEE 🥏) contest.
Too dangerous, they say, local police just can’t cope.Meanwhile, 40 min drive from there, in Boom, festival of 400,000 people 👇🤷🏽♀️ pic.twitter.com/nq4QjYQR97
— Ambassador Idit Rosenzweig-Abu (@IditAbu) August 7, 2024
Benjamin Dalle, outgoing Flemish minister of Youth, was present. He stated that frisbee, “appeals to youth with a focus on fair play and gender equality, equal numbers of men and women and mixed teams.”
Dalle only addressed the matter with Israel sideways, stating, “The principles of frisbee can be inspiring for sport, but also for politicians around the world and certainly in Israel.”
It is unclear if the tournament will take place at all.
The European Federation website, wrote, “We regret to inform you that due to unexpected political demonstrations, the European Ultimate Federation has had to cancel all games for the ultimate event EYUC in Gent until further notice. Consequently, all live streams are also cancelled.”
Earlier, Belgium decided not to play a football game against Israel in its own country over safety issues and instead opted to play its home game in Hungary.
Belgium will play its home match against Israel in Budapest after Belgian cities said they lacked the willingness or capacity to ensure adequate security for the Israeli team. https://t.co/USP4rfFJ4y
— Brussels Signal (@brusselssignal) July 17, 2024
The controversy comes just days after the publication of a column by a progressive writer, Herman Brusselmans, who wrote on August 5 in a satirical column in the Flemish magazine Humo that he was so enraged about what he saw in Gaza, that he “wants to push a pointy knife through every Jew’s throat”.
“One has to think, of course, not every Jew is a murderous bastard shuffling through my street, dressed in a dirty shirt, fake cotton pants and old sandals. I pity him, and almost tear up, but moments later I also wish [he would go] to hell.”
Representative organisations of Jews in Belgium are outraged and are suing Humo and the writer for incitement to murder. Brusselmans says the accusations against him are “out of order” and that he wanted to create “a metaphorical image of revenge” in light of the atrocities in Gaza.
“In doing so, I wrote in the sentence afterwards that I do not lump all Israelis together. If you do, then you are a racist, and I am absolutely not.”
Humo called the piece “satire, not to be taken literally”.
