Banning Israel from tennis tournaments should not even be a line call

Amid protests and calls for boycotts, Israeli athletes like Lina Glushko continue to face scrutiny over their ties to Israel's military and the global response to Israel's war on Gaza.

At the ASB Classic tennis tournament this week, Israeli player Lina Glushko took to the court alongside audible chants of ‘free Palestine’ and ‘blood on your hands’ from a group protesting outside. The chants briefly interrupted play. Protesters challenged Glushko’s participation in the tournament given that she is a reservist solider in an army currently committing genocide in Gaza.

“Apartheid is a crime against humanity wherever it is practiced. Just as we protested apartheid South African players at sports tournaments in the past we are protesting an Israel player today” - Palestine Solidarity Network of Aotearoa

In 2009, another Israeli player, Shahar Pe’er faced similar protests outside the ASB Tennis Centre in Auckland. If anything, the case for excluding Israeli athletes from tennis tournaments like the ASB Classic is stronger now than in 2009. Especially given both Glushko and Pe’er have voiced outright support for the actions of their government.

In comments to the media Pe’er claimed “I don’t have anything to do with politics. I am just a tennis player who wants to enjoy the tour like other players”.

Yet when she was drafted into the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) in 2005 she described the event as “more exciting than playing Maria Sharapova”, posed with a tank and a draft notice, seemingly welcoming the opportunity to encourage other other young Israelis to join up.

Pe’er also promoted her military service on her own website (www.shaharpeer.co.il - now offline)

"Israeli citizens have mandatory army service at the age of 18. Shahar and her family strongly believe in the importance of contributing and giving back to the country. Shahar realized the importance of carrying out this service and felt it was her duty as an Israeli citizen. In Israel, there is a special program for outstanding athletes where the army helps the athlete continue their career while still assigning them a job in the army. As a member of this program, Shahar, like every other Israeli woman, had a required two-year period in the army. She did basic training for three weeks, then got an office job in a small unit. Starting in October 2005, every time she was home in Israel, Shahar attended her job in the army. She completed her army service in October 2007."

Was Glushko a member of a similar programme? It would be interesting to know if the IDF also used the profile of Glushko as a ‘sports star’ as part of their propaganda.

Pe’er ignored the requests from protesters to speak out against the Israeli occupation in 2009 and appears to have remained unrepentant in her support for Israel. On her retirement in 2017 Pe’er talked of the “huge honor I was given to represent the state of Israel”. She also posted on Twitter about an incident in February 2009 where she was denied a visa to play in a tennis tournament in the United Arab Emirates. Given this was on her mind at the time of her retirement, one hopes she also remembered the protest in her honor in Auckland.

One rule for Russia, another rule for Israel

Despite strong support for Israel in the past, the International Tennis Federation (ITF) reacted swiftly to the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The Russian Tennis Federation and the Belarus Tennis Federation were suspended from the ITF, banned from team competitions, and players from these countries could only compete on tours as neutrals without national flags. To not impose similar restrictions on the participation of Israel is an absurd and ridiculous double standard. It seems Russia can violate the sovereignty of one country (Ukraine) and get banned, whereas Israel can violate the sovereignty of at least three countries/territories over the past year (Gaza, Lebanon, Syria) and the ITF does nothing. Its actually worse than nothing, as the ITF continues to support the participation of Israel in the Davis Cup, but the ban on Russia remains.

In the past few days, as Glushko prepared to take the court in Auckland, a United Nations report found that “Israel’s pattern of deadly attacks” on and near hospitals “has led to the destruction of most hospitals in Gaza”. The report only covered damage to the health system between 7 October 2023 and 30 June 2024. On 27 December 2024 the IDF raided Kamal Adwan hospital in Northern Gaza, forcibly evacuating patients and staff and detaining the hospital director. The hospital is now out of service, leaving the population of Northern Gaza with no access to health care.

In a tweet on 11 March 2022 former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton put the issue plainly -”If Russian leadership would rather not be accused of committing war crimes, they should stop bombing hospitals.” Yet Clinton fails to apply the same logic to Israel, and continues to support genocide in Gaza.

Glushko supports genocide

According to the latest estimates from the Gaza Health Ministry, which are widely considered to be reliable, Israel is responsible for the deaths of 45,541 people in Gaza, including 18,858 children. Children represent 41.4% of casualties.

Yet Glushko continues to express her support for Israel on her social media channels. In one post she said “In these tough days, what my country is going through I can’t be more proud and happy to play with the Israeli flag next to my name and win matches.”

Sadly, Glushko gives the strong impression she thinks only Israeli lives matter.

Other posts from Glushko deny Israel is an apartheid state.

War crimes did occur on October 7; however, the violations by Hamas are dwarfed by the scale of the repeated violations of international law carried out by Israel. But nor can violations by one side be used to justify other violations in response - international law is non-reciprocal. Yet the Israeli President, Issac Herzog, has openly endorsed collective punishment of the Palestinian population, including children. Withholding supplies such as water, electricity and fuel is a clear example of collective punishment that are contrary to international law. Perhaps Glushko could “educate” herself about the Hague and Geneva Conventions?¹

As a Dad I want to be clear - one kid killed in war is one kid too many. According to the latest data from Bituah Leumi, Israel’s national social security agency, 39 children aged under 18 died on October 7, representing 3.5% of total casualties.

Military and security forces represented around a third of the deaths on October 7. Attendees at the Supernova music festival also included off-duty soldiers.

Commenting on the release of the Bituah Leumi data, Agence France-Press (AFP) noted:

“The data gives a clear picture of the scale of the atrocities at the Supernova music festival in Reim where 364 people were killed. But it also invalidates some statements by Israeli authorities in the days following the attack. In particular, a claim made on October 10 on the government's official X (formerly Twitter) account spoke of "40 babies murdered" at Kfar Aza kibbutz, based on a report by i24NEWS channel. Questioned by AFP the following day, Israel's foreign ministry, which runs the X account, said it could not "confirm any number at this stage" - AFP.

One would think the events of October 7 were awful enough without a need to exaggerate and make unsubstantiated claims - unless your aim is to justify a disproportionate and deadly response.

While sporting boycotts can be uncomfortable, they can be effective

In terms of New Zealand attitudes to sporting boycotts it’s interesting how few people would now say they supported the Springbok rugby tour of 1981, despite the country being divided over the issue at the time. This led to a situation where Prime Minister John Key was famously forgetful.

From his prison cell, African National Congress (ANC) leader Nelson Mandela strongly supported international boycotts of South African teams at international sports events, and cheered when protestors shut down a game between a Waikato team and the Springboks in July 1981.

Speaking as President of South Africa on a visit to New Zealand in 1995, Mandela said “he would never forget the day the game at Hamilton was called off”, and noted that leaders of the anti-apartheid movement in New Zealand had spoken out when it was less fashionable to do so.

In April 2002, another ANC leader, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, dared to label the situation in Israel by an accurate name - apartheid. In a landmark judgement on 19 July 2024 the International Court of Justice (ICJ) agreed with Desmond Tutu, declaring Israel’s occupation of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank to be unlawful, adding that Israel’s legislation and measures violate the international prohibition on racial segregation and apartheid. Independent human rights experts said the decision should be regarded as “declaratory in nature and binding on Israel and all states supporting the occupation.”

Given the way the Israeli state uses its tennis stars to support an illegal occupation, banning Israel from tennis tournaments should not even be a line call.

1. I use ‘educate’ in an ironic sense here as I have a personal distaste for the demand to ‘educate yourself’. I tend to find people who use it are overly ideological, immune to evidence, too intellectually lazy to construct a cogent argument, and not that keen on self education themselves.