Ice Hockey Australia’s decision to withdraw from hosting a lower-tier men’s world championship event citing safety concerns, has been denounced by Jewish and Israeli organisations as antisemitic, yet there’s no evidence of this. What is evident is that red flags are now appearing when Israeli national teams seek to participate in international sporting events.

This is a significant development and not an isolated one. Israel has become a pariah state and even if some international sporting bodies don’t have the courage to openly ban or boycott Israel because of its unspeakable human rights violations and Gaza Genocide, they are taking action to remove themselves from any association with this state on various pretexts.

Australians supported sporting bans on South Africa due to its apartheid system and while calls to ban apartheid Israel from major sporting events are gathering momentum internationally, Australian politicians and media provide cover for Israel, accepting that any criticism or action that displeases Israel is construed as antisemitic.

Last month, Ice Hockey Australia notified the International Ice Hockey Federation that the tournament due to be held in Melbourne in April and May (involving Australia, Israel, Belgium, Serbia, theNetherlands and the UAE), would not proceed. Leaked documents from IHA president and director, Ryan O’Handley, to the IHA Board, indicate that this decision was “not political” and was made due to concerns for security associated with the increase in “anti-Israel protests and events” including the arson attack on the Adass Israel synagogue, although the Israeli team’s participation was not cited specifically.

What was also not cited was any reference to the recent sports violence in November last year as Israel Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters rampaged through Amsterdam burning Palestinian flags and celebrating the carnage in Gaza, leading to violent clashes with locals and Palestinian supporters. This violence was outrageously mischaracterised by Jeremy Leibler from the Zionist Federation of Australia, as well as the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, as a pogrom.

It’s reasonable to assume the events in Holland would have had some bearing on the decision by the IHA board to withdraw from hosting the event. Their action was immediately condemned and branded as antisemitic with Alex Ryvchin from the ECAJ stating that “violent extremists can’t be allowed to dictate which sporting teams come to our country” and that the IHA was “playing directly into the hands of thugs and racists who have calculated that their violence and threats will lead to Israelis being abandoned and cut adrift". One wonders at the malicious characterisation of Palestinian supporters as “thugs” and “racists” given the well documented behaviour of Israeli football fans worldwide and indeed the Israel Defence Force or illegal Israeli settlers.

Cutting Israel “adrift” is exactly what has to happen until this state is forced to abide by international law and end its frenzied genocidal colonial project to take as much of Gaza and the West Bank as it can.

Peak Jewish and Zionist bodies immediately called for intervention by state and federal sports ministers. Predictably Prime Minister Albanese commented and also chose to link the cancellation of the event with antisemitism, “This is a decision made by Ice Hockey Australia… we should be opposed, and are, as a country to any form of racism, but particularly to antisemitism.” Victorian Police Minister Anthony Carbines maintained that there was no threat to the event, but chose however to chastise the IHA by claiming that its actions “have caused unnecessary alarm in the Jewish community” and that “it is not acceptable to throw in the towel just because people might protest the participation of Israeli athletes".

Why claim that the IHA’s actions have caused alarm in the Jewish community? Why claim, as Albanese did, that the IHA’s action is antisemitic? Conflating the “threat” of Gaza protests with Jewish safety and antisemitism has now become the norm, fed by right-wing Jewish and Zionist organisations and parroted by politicians and media. But no mention or suggestion from anyone, including the IHA, of a link to safety in relation to Israel supporters’ and neo-Nazis actions in Melbourne, both of which could use the opportunity of the event and the subsequent legitimate protests, to fan violence which would then, of course, be labelled as antisemitic.

What is common to all these reactions is an understanding that the presence of a national Israeli team competing in Australia at this time is likely to generate protests. This is entirely justified given the team is supported by and represents a state that has been charged with plausible genocide by the International Court of Justice and one that’s committed the most horrific war crimes for 15 months now and is guilty of the crimes of apartheid and persecution.

This is the elephant in the room. It is not antisemitic for IHA to distance itself from the predictable and justifiable controversy of hosting an event that includes a national team from Israel. While citing safety reasons, it appears obvious that IHA wanted to disassociate itself and thereby protect its reputation from hosting an event that includes Israel. Some commentators have suggested that cost considerations were also significant and that the argument about safety does not stand up. I agree that the safety issues as stated and linked to pro-Palestine marches do not add up and were selectively highlighted while other elements ignored.

The IHA could have chosen to simply refuse to allow Israel to compete, as was done by its international parent body the IIHF just one year ago. In doing so, the IHA would be complying with international law, as declared by the ICJ and the UNGA Resolution of 13 September 2024, which creates positive obligations on states and private entities to prohibit collaboration with Israel in sporting events. However, the backlash the IIHF experienced would have made the IHA baulk at following that strategy. In January 2024, in a largely unreported action, the IIHF banned the Israel National Team from competing at all levels in all IIHF tournaments, citing security concerns and the “safety and well-being of all participants”, and noting that this decision was taken in consultation with all participating countries and teams.

This was a tacit acknowledgement that Israel is no longer welcome on the international sporting stage.

Even though the IIHF didn’t cite humanitarian concerns, this decision speaks volumes. The backlash was immediate and Israel took concerted action to have the decision reversed leading to a court ruling overturning the IIHF’s decision and allowing Israel to compete internationally last year.

Israel’s efforts to maintain its “normalised” presence on the world stage in sport, culture or industry is regarded as essential for its propaganda or “hasbara” objectives and it spends massively to try to achieve this.

However, it’s inevitable that more international sporting bodies will choose to exclude Israel either for overt or opaque reasons. Hopefully, we will see some with the courage to openly heed the Palestinian call to #BanIsrael from global sports for its well-documented persecution and murder of Palestinian sportspeople and its ongoing genocide, ethnic cleansing and apartheid.