World Beach Games: An Israeli ban could cause Indonesia to lose It.
Bali, World Beach Games Indonesia – Denpasar
While the people of Bali are known for their tolerance and hospitality, a foreign policy impasse dating back to the 1940s threatens to derail a little-known but symbolically significant Olympic-recognized competition on the island. The second edition of the World Beach Games, a multi-sports event for beach and water sports, is set to take place on the Indonesian island from August 5 to August 12. Athletes will compete in 14 disciplines, such as surfing and beach volleyball, that appeal to a young demographic.
The inaugural World Beach Games were held in Qatar in 2019, but subsequent events were canceled due to COVID.
With a tourism-dependent economy crippled by the pandemic, Bali’s winning bid to host the event last July signaled to the world that the island was back in business. However, Bali’s hosting rights for the event are precarious.
The Indonesian Olympic Committee promised last year that qualifying athletes from all countries would be accepted. However, Bali Governor Wayan Koster has stated that Israeli athletes are not welcome, citing a preamble to the Indonesian Constitution that calls for the abolition of colonialism and the country’s unwavering support for Palestinian statehood.
“I remain steadfast in my refusal to allow the Israeli team to compete in the 2023 World Beach Games in Bali,” he told The Jakarta Post in April.
Since the Jewish state declared independence in 1948, the preamble has barred Israeli passport holders from visiting Indonesia, even if they are Palestinians.
However, a few Israeli athletes have managed to get around the ban. Misha Zilberman, who obtained a visa to compete in the Olympic-recognized Badminton World Championships in 2015, is one of them, as are four Israeli cyclists who competed in the World Cycling Championships in Jakarta in February.
Since the Jewish state declared independence in 1948, the preamble has barred Israeli passport holders from visiting Indonesia, even if they are Palestinians.
However, a few Israeli athletes have managed to get around the ban. Misha Zilberman, who obtained a visa to compete in the Olympic-recognized Badminton World Championships in 2015, is one of them, as are four Israeli cyclists who competed in the World Cycling Championships in Jakarta in February.
On May 20, less than a month before Bali and two other Indonesian islands were set to host the 2023 FIFA Under-20 World Cup, he rejected the presence of the Israeli football team and accused FIFA of double standards for blacklisting Russia over its invasion of Ukraine while turning a blind eye to Israel’s actions.
“I invite the people of Bali to pray together so that FIFA is moved to act fairly by eliminating the Israeli team from the FIFA U-20 World Championship, just as it did with the Russian team from the 2022 FIFA World Championship in Qatar,” Koster said.
FIFA was dissatisfied. It revoked Indonesia’s hosting rights for the U-20 World Cup, expelled the Indonesian team from the competition, which was held in Argentina, and limited funding to the Indonesian Football Association.
Many have questioned why the leader of a Hindu-majority island is taking such a strong stance on Israel-Palestine.
“It’s not just my attitude; it’s the government’s attitude,” Koster said after leaving a high-level government meeting in Jakarta in March.
Former Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri, now chair of the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle, of which Koster is a representative, later ordered him to ban Israeli athletes for the party to score points ahead of next year’s general elections, according to the Indonesian news magazine Tempo.
Support for Palestinian statehood is almost universal in the world’s most populous Muslim nation, and a tough stance on Israel often appeals to conservative Muslim voters – the most important bloc in any national election.
The Ulema Council, Indonesia’s top Islamic scholars’ body, as well as the powerful Islamic Defenders Front, a hardline Islamist organization and pressure group with a prominent social media presence, and other Muslim groups that held protests in Jakarta in March in which Israeli flags were burned. Banners proclaiming “Israel is the enemy of Islam” were displayed, supporting the move to ban Israeli athletes from sporting events in Indonesia.
The central government has not publicly commented on the decision to bar Israel from competing in the World Beach Games. However, public reaction in the 280 million-strong nation to the loss of the U-20 World Cup was mixed, with thousands of netizens criticizing the government on social media for mixing politics and religion with sport.
Bali’s tourism operators have also expressed concern about lost tourism receipts, which Indonesia’s Minister of Tourism and the Creative Economy, Sandiaga Uno, has estimated to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars.
Meanwhile, the Israeli Olympic Committee is demanding that its athletes be allowed to compete in the World Beach Games. Israel also opposes subjecting its athletes to special conditions proposed by Indonesian Minister of Youth and Sports Dito Ariotedjo in a last-minute bid to save the World Cup, such as playing in empty stadiums, not flying the Israeli flag, and not playing the Israeli national anthem – all of which are prohibited in Indonesia.
Based in Dubai, the Olympic Council of Asia has officially signaled its support for Israel, stating that the council “strongly believes in the power of sport to promote inclusion.”
However, with less than two months until the start of the World Beach Games, the organizing body, the Association of National Olympic Committees (ANOC), refuses to say whether Bali will lose its hosting rights if Israeli athletes are not allowed to compete, and has dismissed such questions as hypothetical.
“We have received assurances from the Indonesian Olympic Committee that all delegates and representatives will have undivided and equal rights to qualify, register, and enter the Republic of Indonesia and the island of Bali,” an ANOC spokesperson told Al Jazeera, adding that “discrimination will not be tolerated.”
According to Richard Baka, co-director of the Olympic Research Network at Victoria University in Australia, the World Beach Games in Bali will be canceled if Israel is not allowed to participate.
“I am fairly certain that the United States and other countries would support Israel,” he said.
Susan Brownell, an internationally recognized expert on Olympic games at the University of Missouri in St Louis, agrees but suspects the International Olympic Committee (IOC) will intervene.
“The ANOC, being led by the Sheikh, would probably be happy to exclude Israel,” she said, referring to The Olympic Council Of Asia president Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah, a powerful Kuwaiti Olympic powerbroker.
Brownell added that the IOC could sanction Indonesia for violating the Olympic Charter.
“It happened when host Indonesia barred Taiwan and Israel from competing in the 1962 Asian Games.” “The IOC barred Indonesia from competing in the 1964 Olympic Games, as well as any athletes who had competed there, from competing in subsequent competitions,” she explained.
Heather Dichter, an associate professor of sports history at De Montfort University in the United Kingdom, believes history will repeat itself.
“The 1962 ban, and more recently, when the Indonesians were denied the U-20 World Cup, give us a way to predict the future,” Dichter said.
“The ANOC, being led by the Sheikh, would probably be happy to exclude Israel,” she said, referring to The Olympic Council Of Asia president Sheikh Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah, a powerful Kuwaiti Olympic powerbroker.
Brownell added that the IOC could sanction Indonesia for violating the Olympic Charter.
“It happened when host Indonesia barred Taiwan and Israel from competing in the 1962 Asian Games.” “The IOC barred Indonesia from competing in the 1964 Olympic Games, as well as any athletes who had competed there, from competing in subsequent competitions,” she explained.
Heather Dichter, an associate professor of sports history at De Montfort University in the United Kingdom, believes history will repeat itself.
“The 1962 ban, and more recently, when the Indonesians were denied the U-20 World Cup, give us a way to predict the future,” Dichter said.
If the World Beach Games follow suit, “the options don’t look great” for the ANOC. She explained that football tournaments are easier to relocate because many countries have football stadiums but lack the infrastructure for multi-event competitions such as the World Beach Games.
Former Western Australian Government Commissioner to Indonesia and founder of the Indonesian Institute, Ross Taylor, told Al Jazeera that the World Beach Games dispute is “all about” the elections but that the country and outgoing President Joko Widodo – known as Jokowi – will suffer if the games are canceled.
“It will harm Indonesia’s standing, particularly Jokowi’s legacy,” he said.
