A major cycling race in Spain was disrupted by protests against an Israeli team. A basketball game in Poland was preceded by fans booing the Israeli national anthem. And several European countries are threatening to boycott a signature entertainment event if Israel takes part.
The global backlash against Israel over its genocide in Gaza has spread into the arenas of sports and culture. However, critics say it's not enough, as Israel should be sidelined from international events just like Russia has been since it started attacks on Ukraine in 2022.
Unlike Russia, which faced widespread condemnation and Western sanctions, Israel has not been shut out by global sports institutions like the International Olympic Committee or the world football body FIFA. Besides the small international Muay Thai federation, there’s been little will in international sports to prevent Israeli athletes from competing under their national flag.
But Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez raised the temperature earlier this week by siding with pro-Palestinian protesters who disrupted the Spanish Vuelta cycling race, saying it’s time to boycott Israel from international sports events until the “barbarity” in Gaza ends.
A day later, Spain’s public broadcaster joined three other European countries saying to withdraw from and not carry next year’s Eurovision Song Contest – a hugely popular event in Israel and across Europe – if Israel is allowed to compete.
Earlier this month, some Hollywood filmmakers, actors and other industry figures signed a pledge to boycott Israeli film institutions — including festivals, broadcasters and production companies.
Why, Sánchez asked, shouldn’t Israel be expelled from sports just like Russia?
“This is different,” the IOC’s executive director for Olympic Games, Christophe Dubi, said this week in Milan when asked to compare the two.
Gaza genocide
Both the IOC and FIFA have claimed the legal reasons for acting against Russia have not been reached in Israel’s case, but haven’t given detailed explanations.
FIFA declined a request for comment on its Israel policy and the delayed work of two panels reviewing formal complaints by the Palestinian football federation, which has long tried to bar Israel from competition over its occupation of Palestinian lands.
Russia was swiftly blacklisted by most sports federations after its attacks on Ukraine in February 2022, with its athletes competing under a neutral flag at the Paris Olympics.
However, Israel has not faced comparable measures or international isolation despite its genocide in Gaza, which has killed more than 65,100 Palestinians since October 7, 2023.
Still, some analysts said the move by Spain is significant, not least because it is a major football power set to co-host the 2030 World Cup. It will also host an NFL game next month and the opening stage of next year’s Tour de France bike race.
“Until now we haven’t seen this type of outrage against Israeli action in Gaza,” said Antoine Duval of the Asser Institute, a Netherlands-based think tank.
‘Not a scenario we would wish’
On Thursday, a British lawmaker in Birmingham called on European football body UEFA to “urgently cancel” football team Aston Villa’s November 6 Europa League match against Israeli club Maccabi Tel Aviv “to ensure public safety and community harmony.”
UEFA has not shown any indication that it will do so.
In Europe, several sports federations have groused about having to play Israeli teams, while noting they have no choice since Israel isn't banned from international competitions.
“Facing Israel in these circumstances is not a scenario we would wish,” Basketball Ireland chief executive John Feehan said last month about being drawn to play Israel in a Women’s Eurobasket qualifying game in November. “But there has been no change in Israel’s status within sport.”
The Israeli army resumed its brutal attacks on Gaza on March 18 and has since killed 12,590 people and wounded 53,884 others, shattering a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreement that took hold in January.
Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Earlier this week, the UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory confirmed that Israel had committed genocide in Gaza.
