Europe Netball cancellation takes ball from Israeli court

The Europe Netball Open Challenge was cancelled over security threats to the tournament because it included an Israeli team. But, instead of excluding the Israeli team as demanded by protesters, the organisers decided to cancel the tournament.

Though Israeli team members, led by South African-born captain Keren Gordon, were upset that they couldn’t play, they were relieved that Europe Netball didn’t succumb to the demands.

“No players were directly targeted, but we heard that protesters were planning to disrupt the games or target those who were participating in the tournament to try and get them not to play against Israel,” said Gordon.

The manager of Israeli netball, Rebecca Cox, confirmed that though the Israeli team didn’t receive any backlash or threats, Europe Netball “certainly received a lot of negative social media attention and was condemned for hosting us as a country”.

Gordon said the continental tournament was a massive deal because they had spent two years training and fundraising for it, and were ready to go to Cardiff in Wales when suddenly, they were informed about the cancellation.

Scheduled to take place from 7 to 11 May, the tournament was cancelled by Europe Netball on 29 April citing security concerns for its players, coaches, officials, volunteers, and fans.

“The safety and well-being of everyone involved in our events – players, coaches, officials, volunteers, and fans – is always our top priority,” the organisation said. “It is with regret that we announce the cancellation of our open tournament at Cardiff next week. This decision hasn’t been made lightly but reflects our unwavering commitment to safeguarding our netball family and ensuring a positive experience for all.”

The cancellation followed an intensive campaign led by anti-Israel activists to exclude Israel from the tournament.

The House of Sport, the Cardiff venue of the tournament, received threats that anti-Israel protesters would protest outside the venue and disrupt entry.

Cox said that at no point did Europe Netball suggest that the Israeli team not participate. “They just wanted us to play.”

The decision stands in contrast to the decision by the South African Rugby Union (SARU) in February 2023 to disinvite Tel Aviv Heat, an Israeli rugby team, from the Mzanzi Challenge tournament after members of SARU were allegedly sent death threats by anti-Israel lobbyists who threatened to disrupt the tournament.

Shan Berman, the Israeli squad coach, said, “We’ve played with these teams for years, so we know them and never had any hostility. We played against girls in hijabs, and we only had good experiences of Europe Netball and all the other teams. We weren’t concerned about hostility on the court.”

However, like the organisers, she was worried about “a minority of very loud people who were trying to stir up trouble and trying to get people to come out to protest and demonstrate, and they were going all out on social media.”

Gordon said the Israeli team had been competing in Europe Netball tournaments for more than a decade as it was their only opportunity to compete on the international stage.

“Europe Netball backed us all the way. They made sure we had the security we needed. They never let anything come against us, which was comforting,” she said, “They accommodated us all the way. They organised things so that we could join the competition without playing games on Shabbat. They stood behind us the whole time.”

So it was disheartening for the team, which consists of a few South African olim as well as Gordon, to be told after they missed the tournament last year because of the war that this tournament would be cancelled.

Gordon said participation in these tournaments was privately funded as netball isn’t yet recognised by the Israeli government, but players were willing to do whatever they could to get to play.

“We did two years’ worth of training for this tournament, which meant a lot of time on court, fitness work, and commitment from players physically and financially,” she said, “We held a fundraising campaign to raise money for the private security we would need while in Cardiff. We reached our goal in about four days and were able to raise a significant amount of money”

The private security was over and above the security organised by Europe Netball.

Gordon said it was devastating to have the tournament cancelled. “We just want a place for the love of netball. We want to keep politics out of it. We’ve been training for so long, everyone put in so much effort, and we were so proud to be able to represent our country, especially in these tough times. It was disappointing, and I’m sure for all the other countries involved as well.”

Gordon said that on 2 May, when the team met for training for the first time after the announcement, they came together to work through the disappointment of not being able to compete.

Said Berman, “It’s crazy how the world is accepting the lies and untruths being told and the bullying. We wouldn’t accept it in our classrooms, so why do we accept it in sport? Don’t we teach our kids to accept others? That’s the point of sport.”

“We won’t give up,” Gordon said. “We’ll keep pushing. We’ll keep training at national level, for all our junior teams, and keep working hard towards whatever the next goal is, whether it’s the Maccabiah in July or next year’s tournament. Hopefully, that will go ahead with no problems, taking into account all the logistics needed to be in place beforehand, even if it includes setting up our own tournaments with countries we have connections with, constantly working to improve and keep being able to play at that level, while continuously improving our level here, starting at junior level.”