Edited by: Fern Sidman

An Israeli teen ultimate Frisbee team was barred from participating in an international competition in Belgium last week, after anti-Semitic graffiti was discovered near their playing field, as was indicated in a report on Sunday in The New York Post. The decision to exclude the team has left the young athletes and their coaches devastated and questioning the motives behind the ban.

The Israeli delegation, comprising 33 players aged 13 to 16 and nine adult coaches and chaperones, had spent years preparing for the European Youth Ultimate Championship in Ghent, Belgium. According to information provided in The Post report, the team, representing the Israeli Flying Disc Association, had traveled thousands of miles to compete in the prestigious tournament. But just as they were about to take the field for their first match on Tuesday morning, their dreams were abruptly crushed.

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Israeli Frisbee team banned from competition after antisemitic graffiti appears near playing field, claim police chief said: ‘This is your war, not mine’#News #WorldNews #Antisemitism #Jew #Israel #Belgium #Olympics #sportv
A group of Israeli teen ultimate Frisbee… pic.twitter.com/B4cPZFwdIV

— Awesome People (@Awesomepeopleuk) August 12, 2024

Chen Bankirer, president of the Israeli Flying Disc Association, recounted the shocking turn of events. As the team was getting ready for the inaugural games, the tournament director informed them that someone had spray-painted anti-Semitic graffiti near their playing field, as was reported by The Post. The message, which read “Boycott Israhell now!” was discovered by local authorities, who then took drastic action.

Following the discovery of the graffiti, the mayor of Ghent and the local police stepped in, informing the Israeli team that they would not be allowed to participate in the tournament. The Post report revealed that Daniel Ben David, a 22-year-old assistant coach from near Tel Aviv, described the interaction with the police chief as particularly distressing. According to Ben David, the police chief told the adults, “This is your war, not mine,” and suggested that the presence of the Israeli team would cause problems in Belgium.

🚨🚨🚨The Israeli Youth Ultimate Frisbee teams were banned from a major competition in Europe.

The Israeli teams traveled over 2,700 miles to compete and are being prohibited from even watching the tournament. https://t.co/IkqM0Oxr49

— Virginia Allen (@Virginia_Allen5) August 10, 2024

Ben David expressed his frustration and disbelief at the situation. “It’s just very anti-Semitic, honestly,” he told The Post. “We just want to let our kids play. We aimed to win this tournament, we’ve been working for three years just to prepare. And to have it robbed from the kids is horrible,” he added.

Ben David described the heartbreaking moment when they had to tell the players that they would not be allowed to compete. “Seeing their faces when we told them the news … it was one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to see,” he told The Post. “They were devastated.”

Ben David, who had to maintain a facade of strength for the sake of the team, admitted that the experience was deeply painful for him as well. “I had to keep a facade of being strong and fine, but deep inside, I was so hurt and disappointed just to see them like that — they deserve to play,” he said.

Bankirer echoed these sentiments, explaining that the local officials claimed the decision was made out of concern for the team’s safety. “Basically they said to us, ‘You’re not going to play. The claim of the police and the city is that the fields are too open, and they cannot protect the fields [or] ensure the safety of the tournament,” Bankirer told The Post.

The news was delivered to the team early Tuesday morning, just hours before they were set to compete. “We were sad. We were waiting for [the kids] to wake up. And then we gathered all of them together, and we broke the news to 33 kids that they cannot play because they’re Israelis. And they were heartbroken,” Bankirer recalled as he spoke to The Post.

They appealed to both the tournament organizers and local officials, hoping to find a way for the team to compete. However, their pleas fell on deaf ears. As per the information contained in The Post report, the European Ultimate Federation, which oversees the tournament, placed the blame squarely on the city, claiming that the decision was out of their hands. Despite these attempts, the city refused to budge, leaving the Israeli team excluded from the competition.

Despite the intervention of Israel’s Foreign Affairs and Culture and Sports Ministries, the final decision to exclude the team was made on Tuesday night, leaving the young athletes and their coaches devastated, The Post report said.

“It’s kind of a reality that, as a Jew, you have to get used to it at some point,” Bankirer reflected when speaking to The Post, highlighting the painful resignation that often accompanies experiences of anti-Semitism. The decision to ban the team not only deprived the young athletes of their opportunity to compete but also sent a chilling message about the challenges Jewish teams face on the global stage.

With their appeals rejected and no other recourse available, Bankirer and the coaches sought to salvage the situation by keeping the kids engaged in the sport they had come so far to play. The information in The Post report indicated that they took the team to local Jewish fields in Ghent, where the players spent their time practicing and playing ultimate Frisbee on their own. “Basically, we were winging it,” Bankirer said. “So we played.”

The young athletes, who had dedicated years of their lives to preparing for this moment, were left devastated by the decision. For many of them, this tournament represented the pinnacle of their sporting achievements, a chance to compete on an international stage and showcase their hard work and dedication. To have that opportunity taken away, not because of their performance or ability, but because of their nationality, was a crushing blow.

The exclusion of the Israeli team has raised serious questions about the fairness and integrity of international sports competitions. While the local authorities justified their decision as a matter of safety, the players and coaches feel that the real issue was rooted in anti-Semitism. The graffiti, which was clearly intended to intimidate and marginalize the Israeli team, was met with a response that many see as capitulating to the very hate it sought to propagate.

The emotional toll on the players was profound. Itamar Kaplun, the 16-year-old captain of the team, described the city’s decision as beyond shocking. “It was like everything I worked for, someone just snapped, and it was gone,” Kaplun told The Post. The young captain struggled to process the news, saying, “I couldn’t eat. I couldn’t talk.”

Kaplun emphasized that the team had experienced no issues at the tournament until the ban was announced. The Post report also said that the Israeli players had gotten along well with everyone else there, making the decision to exclude them all the more baffling and hurtful. “I was surprised that for 15-year-old kids who worked for three years … They just took it away from us,” he said. “And to find out in such a difficult way — because there was no way to say it easily — it was heartbreaking.”

Bankirer and the team are not letting the matter rest. They have filed formal appeals with the organizations that run the tournament, seeking to challenge the decision and hold those responsible accountable, as per the information in The Post report. In addition to these appeals, they are considering legal action, with plans to sue over the discriminatory treatment the team faced.

“This is something that should be in the heart — and the basis — of every single sport,” Bankirer told The Post, emphasizing the fundamental principle that international sporting events should be inclusive of all participants, regardless of their background. “An international event has to be able to include everyone. Or not exist.”

The decision to pursue legal action is not just about seeking justice for the Israeli team; it is also about setting a precedent that discrimination of this kind will not be tolerated in the world of sports. By standing up to the authorities in Ghent, the team hopes to send a message that exclusion based on nationality or religion has no place in international competitions.