European Aquatics (formerly LEN) has announced that they will move the planned January 2024 European Aquatics Championships out of Netanya, Israel amid ongoing fighting between Israel and Palestine.
“Both institutions (European Aquatics and Israeli Water Polo Association) have agreed that it will be impossible to host the European Water Polo Championships in Netanya, Israel, as planned in January 2024,” European Aquatics said in a statement. “Different options are currently being investigated regarding the proper qualification procedure for the next World Aquatics Water Polo Championships in Doha, and further information on the topic will be communicated as soon as possible.”
“European Aquatics would like to take this opportunity once again to strongly condemn those responsible for the terrorist atrocities against Israeli citizens and to express our support and sympathy with them at this difficult time.”
2024 was due to be the first time that Israel had hosted the biannual continental championship. The 2026 edition is scheduled for Belgrade, Serbia.
This is not the first event that has been moved from Israel since the October 7 attacks by Hamas in Israel. World Aquatics moved a crucial December open water race from Israel to Portugal last month shortly after fighting began.
European Aquatics has also said that the “political situation in Europe” has delayed planning of the 2024 European Aquatics Championships, though they did not specify if that was related to plans in Israel, Ukraine, both, or somewhere else.
Netanya is in the Northern Central District of Israel, about 20 miles (31 kilometers) north of Tel Aviv. While the city hasn’t seen any missile attacks yet, it has been home to civil unrest, including an incident last week where Israeli student protestors trapped Palestinian-Israeli students at Netanya Academic College inside their dorm rooms chanting “Death to Arabs!” and “Go back to Gaza.”
Still, with the country at war and many reservists being called up to active duty, staging an international sporting event under the circumstances would be a massive logistical and political challenge.
its not really accurate to say “ongoing fighting between Israel and Palestine” when Palestine is under Israeli occupation and not legally allowed to have a military. Meanwhile Israel gets 10 of billions of dollars in U.S. military aid. The October 7th attacks were awful and tragic, but in less than a month Israel has flattened dozens of villages in Gaza and killed roughly 10,000 Palestinians civilians, nearly half of whom were children.
Guess which country receives the largest US foreign aid BY FAR.
Hint: it’s not impoverished country, it’s not even a strategic alliance. It’s name starts with “I” and ends with “L”.
Gaza Strip is not under occupation since November 2005, despite the nonsense your friends in the UN claim.
Why does it matter what they are legally allowed to? They clearly have a military, with which they attacked Israel on October 7th, and with which they have been launching rockets at Israeli cities for nearly two decades.
Israel attacked structures and tunnels used by Hamas and other terrorist organizations.
Israel has not flattened any villages in the Gaza Strip. Most of the Gaza Strip is dense urban area. There are no places in the Gaza Strip which could realistically be described as villages. There are towns and cities, and Israel did not “flatten” any of them.
The numbers of killed… Read more »
“No amount of evidence will ever persuade an idiot”. Finally a smart comment around here. I’m actually curious how people think they become “experts” from watching a 30 seconds TikTok about the conflict. Thanks for standing with the right side of history 🤝
I was surprised that the World Junior Championships were held in Israel a couple of months ago. I was thinking at the time that I hope World Aquatics know what they are doing sending young people into such a volatile region.
So was I.
What were they thinking?
The war is NOT between Israel and Palestine
ISRAEL IS AT WAR WITH HAMAS….. An international recognized terrorist organization!
Feels so disingenuous. If you kill thousands of civilians, you can no longer claim you are not at war with them.
You can blame Hamas for their deaths, you can say Hamas started it, blah blah blah. But if you’re killing thousands of people from an area, you are at war with them.
(Plus you can’t say ‘they elected Hamas so they deserve it’ and then say ‘we’re not at war with them’ in the same breath. Cognitive dissonance at 11).
Nah I think what he means is “the Palestinian people are completely unequipped to fight back or defend themselves so it’s not really much of a war.”
So, Israel shouldn’t fight back because Hamas builds its operations using human shields for protection? Probably should just let it slide. Let it happen again.
I mean, for tens of years UN has consistently issued numerous resolutions against illegal occupation by Israel, and British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli forcibly took over land from Palestinians to give to European Jews, when they were never living in the Levant for a thousand years.
People need to learn history to understand the root of the problems in middle east
Benjamin D’israeli did not do that. He died in 1880, more than 30 years before Britain gained control of the land that is modern-day Israel. You’re just assuming he is responsible for British actions because he is a Jew, and you are a Jew-hater.
Britain did not give European Jews anything. It had promised a national home for Jews of all origins, a promise it then gradually backtracked from. The Zionist Jews later fought to push the British out, and then won a war against local and regional Arabs. Israel was won through Jewish blood, sweat and tears.
Jews had been living in modern day Israel continuously for over 3000 years. From the 2nd half of the 19th century, Jerusalem… Read more »
Illegal occupation? Do you realize that Jews have been living in that land for thousands of years right? When the Jews escaped slavery in Egypt where did they settled? Last time I checked, the Bible was written long before the Islam became a thing.
“People need to learn history to understand the root of the problems in Middle East” – the irony hits different
“An international recognized terrorist organisation” – recognized by the US and EU maybe but not by the UN.
Yeah the same UN organization who appoints Iran to be the chair of the human rights council. The same Iran who executes women for showing some hair.
The UN is a complete Joke and so is your comment.
… My comment’s a joke for speaking the truth?
An international recognized terrorist organization?
Only by US and Western Europe.