Brussels: Europe and the Arabs

An Israeli delegation will not participate in the European Frisbee Championship "Flying Disc" to be held in Blaermersen in Ghent, Flemish. According to what local media reported from the Belgian News Agency this morning, which added: "Eleven countries, including Israel, sent children aged 14, 15 and 16 to Belgium to participate. For safety reasons, it was decided to hold the matches with Israeli youth in another place with a limited audience. Yesterday morning, Tuesday, pro-Palestinian slogans were found in one of the rooms of the sports field.

It was announced that consultations had begun to find a solution so that the Israeli delegation could participate in the championship. However, no solution was found, and after contacting the EFDF (European Flying Disc Federation). The championship administration published a modified schedule in which the Israeli teams are no longer participating. The event organizer said:

"Despite our many efforts to make the EYUC (European Youth Final Championship, ed.) possible for all countries, we are disappointed that we had to make this announcement Sad. And to all the teams who worked so hard to train and get to the event. We must respect the authorities' instructions and we must take into account the safety of all participants, players, volunteers and spectators." "This is our first priority."
"Terrorist threat"
The Ghent city police had previously decided that there were risks associated with the tournament, but in the city mayor's decision, ratified by acting mayor Bram van Breekevelt (Green) on Tuesday, there was a "high terrorist threat".
The mayor's decision stated that the Israeli team had armed guards and planned to "ignore security issues". "Although people are sufficiently aware of the problems, they still intend to be at the tournament," the mayor's decision continued.
"This increases the risk of confrontations, disturbances and misfortunes of all kinds, making police management impossible." The organization must prevent Israeli participants from taking part in the tournament, whether in Blaermersen or elsewhere, the city of Ghent decided.
Flags
"In addition, it is also important to exclude all possible references related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (such as flags, clothing, inscriptions, leaflets, etc.) during the tournament to avoid escalation "Possibly".
The organization had already chosen the city of Ghent to host the European Championships in mid-2023. But since the escalation of the conflict in the Middle East, there have been numerous protests in Ghent to counter the violence. There have been numerous marches, and the university building has been occupied for weeks. Financial institutions have also been defaced with pro-Palestinian graffiti, and even the bicycle tunnel has been the target of pro-Palestinian actions.
The organization said the Frisbee tournament will take place on Wednesday at 12 noon in Blaermersen in Ghent, with teams from ten other countries taking part.