I admit I didn’t realize Frisbee was an internationally competitive sport. However, it is, especially in Europe. You can compete in tournaments in several different age brackets. Well, you can compete unless you are from Israel!
This past week, the European Youth Ultimate Championships was played in Ghent, Belgium. This tournament is a yearly competition for players under the age of 17, and this year, it was to feature teams from 11 countries across three divisions.
Israel sent two teams to Belgium, competing in two different brackets. But before the Israeli youth could even take the field, the European Ultimate Federation, the tournament organizer, city officials, and law enforcement from the city of Ghent decided the teams could not participate. The mayor of Ghent released an official statement. Due to the ongoing conflict in Gaza, it was determined that it was unsafe for the citizens of Ghent to have players from Israel participate in the tournament.
The European Ultimate Federation
At first, the EUF (the European Ultimate Federation) and local Ghent authorities postponed the games. Then, the EUF announced that the Israeli delegation would no longer be permitted to take part in the tournament. The EUF said the decision had been taken out of its hands by the local authorities.
The Mayor of Ghent said he was concerned with a potential increase in the risk of terrorism. He was also concerned that the Israeli youth had armed escorts with their teams. If you have ever been to Israel while touring and come upon a school having a class field trip, you will see that every class has armed escorts with them. Having armed escorts goes back to a time when students were on a field trip near the Jordan River, and shots were fired from across the river, coming from the nation of Jordan, killing several Israeli students. Ever since then, there have always been armed escorts whenever youth traveled, so what took place at this frisbee tournament was the standard operating procedure for Israeli youth while on a trip or public event.
When the games were first postponed, local officials said they were made aware that the Israeli delegation intended to disregard safety issues, despite being well aware of the situation, and still planned to attend the tournament. So, because Israel refused to back out of the tournament, those city and law enforcement officials instructed the EUF, the tournament sponsors, not to allow the Israeli delegation to participate. It was then made known that local police would be present to “oversee compliance” with those orders, keeping the Israeli teams from participating.
“Boycott ISRA-HELL Now”
The European Ultimate Federation also issued a statement saying that it:
“…recognizes this situation is sad, disappointing, and unfortunate. 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 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 promoting youth development within our sport.”
The mayor’s office confirmed that vandals had vandalized a wall at the sports complex with red paint spraying the words “BOYCOTT ISRAHELL NOW!” Because of this, city officials and law enforcement publicly said:
“It is undeniably clear that there is a very real possibility of actions occurring if an Israeli team participates in a European championship, with all the associated consequences. Considering this, it is evident that public order and the safety of spectators and participants cannot be guaranteed if the tournament were to occur in an Israeli delegation’s presence.”
Officials then told the coaches and team members they couldn’t watch the games. Israeli youth who want to play competitive frisbee in a major Western European city—Belgium’s third-largest city—are being banned from participating and even watching a sporting event because they’re Jewish. A team coach said the Police Chief said to Israeli Kids, “This is your war, not mine.”
The Israel Flying Disc Association also released a statement:
“We are mad. We are mad because we see this as a political decision, not a security-related one. Our security detail repeatedly says 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 from 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 has 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 ensure the event is secured and safe for everyone but will be there to ensure that no Israeli 15-year-old girls and boys can 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.”
J Street
This is not just happening in Europe. We are seeing a significant shift going against Israel happening here in America as well. Organizations such as J Street have publicly made this move against Israel.
J Street is a United States non-profit organization created in November 2007 to promote American leadership in ending the Arab-Israeli conflict. J Street’s stated aim is to provide a political home for pro-Israel, pro-peace Americans who believe that a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is essential to Israel’s survival.
J Street describes itself as “the political home for pro-Israel, pro-peace Americans who want Israel to be secure.” However, things slowly changed. This change makes clear just how comfortable the American Democratic leadership has become with their party’s sharp turn away from Israel. I say that because J Street was a key lobbyist for President Obama’s nuclear deal with Iran, which was devastating for Israel. Going back as far as 2012, it has campaigned to defeat pro-Israel lawmakers and to elect anti-Israel lawmakers. In 2014, 37 House members voted not to support a House measure to fund Israel’s Iron Dome system. J Street supported eleven of the House members who voted no.
To show how anti-Israel this group has become, in 2014, J Street was denied membership into The Conference of Presidents of the American Jewish Community, which is a United States organization that represents over fifty U.S Jewish organizations.
Prophetic Fulfillment
Besides being very upsetting, they are not allowing kids to participate in an international frisbee tournament just because they are from Israel. This does, however, paint a picture of the end times. Scripture has made it clear that in the last days, Israel will be alone and rejected by nations, and God will respond to that rejection with judgment on those nations. Old Testament passages such as Isaiah 41:15, Ezekiel 22:19-21, Ezekiel 38 and 39:7, Zechariah 12:3, 10, and in the New Testament Jesus prophesied in Matthew 23:37-39, what we are seeing take place in our world today.
David Bowen is a Teaching Evangelist for Lamb & Lion Ministries, co-host of the Christ In Prophecy television program, and the Founding and Senior Pastor of Standing Stones Community Church.
