2025 European Championships in Israel

[onodian]

They just wanted to be tacky and gay and we said yes. I hardly think it has anything to do with actual broadcasters. They just had an audience for it and that’s how Europe works, you gotz the money, you get to be whatever u want baby.

 

[irichluck21]

Israel competing in European competitions is strictly due to politics and exclusion of Israel from Asia.
It was not a decision that was made by Israel.

Previously, Israel competed in Asian competitions and the Asian Games from 1954 to 1974.

However, in 1962 Indonesia, the host country banned both Israel (religious reasons) and Republic of China/Taiwan (political reasons) as a result the IOC stepped (they previously sponsored the Asian Games) and terminated Indonesia as a member of the IOC and Indonesia was banned from the 1964 Olympics.

Then in 1978, Thailand hosted the Asian Games, Israel was banned for political reasons.
Then in 1982, Israel was banned permanently on the grounds that the Asian Olympic Council (formerly Asian Games Federation) felt that Israel was too much of a security risk due to Israel’s conflict with various Asian countries. So the conclusion was to exclude Israel from Asia.

Europe invited Israel to European competitions in 1989 and in 1990 became a full member of the European Olympic Council. They also began competing in the World Cup qualifiers as part of the UEFA in 1994.

Israel had been invited to compete at the EuroVision competition since 1973. So their inclusion likely has other rationale, unlike the sports options, which were inclusion due to being excluded from Asia.

 

[YurchenkoLoop]

This event is in 462 days. In November last year, the Jerusalem Post released an article about the potential of Israel being banned from the 2024 Games. On January 18, over 300 Palestinian sports club and civil society organizations urged the IOC to ban Israel from the Games. On January 26, the ICJ ruled that it is "plausible" Israel committed genocide in Gaza. Yet children in Gaza are still doing backflips. This is an issue affecting the gym world.

Israel's genocide wasn't launched between the Games and the Paralympics, no, the distinction is that we are not discussing a country's illegal invasion, like Russia's on Ukraine, we are discussing genocide. In 1964 when South Africa interior minister insisted on a white only Olympic team, their invitation was withdrawn from the Games. In 1970 South Africa was formally expelled from the IOC. On June 21, 1988, the IOC adopted a declaration against "apartheid in sport," for the total isolation of apartheid sport.

This is from The Nation in November:
"Last month, the IOC banned the Russian Olympic Committee from participating at the Paris 2024 Olympics. This means that Russia is not eligible to receive a portion of Olympic broadcast or sponsorship money, depriving them of millions. (Side note: The IOC did not do this when Russia invaded Crimea back in 2014 between the Olympics and Paralympics, which Russia was hosting in Sochi, pointing to the IOC’s selective morality.) Russian athletes may still be able to participate in Paris, but as neutrals who can’t unfurl the Russian flag and won’t hear the country’s national anthem while on the medal stand.
The IOC based its decision to ban the Russian Olympic Committee on two factors: its blatant abrogation of the Olympic Truce, a nonbinding resolution passed every two years by the United Nations that encourages countries to refrain from war during the Games, and its breach of the Olympic Charter when it violated the territorial integrity of the national Olympic committee of Ukraine by taking over “regional sports organizations which are under the authority of the National Olympic Committee of Ukraine (namely Donetsk, Kherson, Luhansk and Zaporizhzhia).” In short, the IOC tightly—and strategically—couched its decision in sporting terms.

What does this mean for Israel? The fiction known as the Olympic Truce is not relevant here, but what if Israel were to annex territory that houses Palestinian sports organizations? Palestine has its own National Olympic Committee, based in the West Bank, that is recognized by the IOC.

The IOC is willing to overlook crimes against humanity, but perhaps not what it considers crimes against sport. It must be said, however, that in the last decade FIFA has not cared when the Israeli military killed Palestinian soccer players and bombed Palestine’s soccer stadiums. FIFA may be a different organization from the IOC, but what binds them is greater than what separates them."

Should Israel’s Flag Be Raised at the Paris Olympics?

How the IOC is penalizing Russia provides insight into how it could treat Israel at the 2024 Games.

www.thenation.com

How many months would a nation state need to prepare to host Euros next year, in the event Israel faces restrictions similar to those put upon South Africa and Russia?

 

[MaryClare]

If you are genuinely asking how long would an alternative host need to prepare to host euros, then the rest of your post is completely irrelevant to that and feels like an attempt to get people to challenge your statement on the situation in Israel and Palestine.

The answer is around 4 weeks. It’s not difficult. It’s a complete non issue.

 

[JaJa]

If you are genuinely asking how long would an alternative host need to prepare to host euros, then the rest of your post is completely irrelevant to that and feels like an attempt to get people to challenge your statement on the situation in Israel and Palestine.

That is precisely what I thought. Plus it was somewhat of a mischaracterization of what happened at the ICJ. The Court made no ruling on the charge of genocide they merely agreed a prima facie case had been made and the ICJ will rule on it at a later (likely several years later) time. The very fact that they did not issue preliminary orders for a cease fire indicates that the court knows very well Israel's actions do not amount to genocide. (Contrast the case brought by Ukraine against Russia where the ICJ did understand genocide was being committed and did order a cease Fire) But I thought we were not supposed to be discussing politics here. I would ask for these comments (including my own) to be stricken.

 

[ArnoldRimmer]

Mmm, I very much doubt that the provisional measures decision is going to make any difference to the likelihood of sporting sanctions against Israel. There was much less said in that decision than has been claimed from some quarters.

There might be a discussion to be had about whether they get moved on safety grounds at some point, though. As an example, I know the governments of the UK, Ireland and Malta advise against all but essential travel to Tel Aviv at this time. Which isn't to say the conflict will still be ongoing in 15 months, but presumably at some point a call gets made.

 

[Denn]

@rlayt and @irichluck21 rightly deleted some posts temporarily until we could confer.

@YurchenkoLoop You're right about the relevance to the gymnastics world, and it's fair to raise questions about whether the European gymnastics federation will allow Tel Aviv to host and how fast a replacement host can be found. But your post creeps into the politics in a slippery way — your second paragraph speaks about genocide as if it's an assumption that all agree on when you know fully well that many do not. That does make your post seem like it's less about hosting a gymnastics event and more about using that as an excuse to share your view — which, frankly, you could have just plainly stated, in the spirit of honesty, while acknowledging it's a debate we wouldn't have here at Gymnaverse.